Another photo issue

Not a bad approach. I've been dealing with a similar situation recently involving youthful assistant metro editors (I don't report to them) who see the A1 proof remotely and question the headlines via email, often minutes before deadline when I've got about a half-dozen other things on my plate. They occasionally point out issues that really need fixing, but generally their suggestions are worthless. I've told one of these ambitious folks as nicely as possible that it has to be a big-ticket problem to make late changes and that if she and her cohorts in the peanut gallery wonder why their suggestions aren't making the paper, they can come in at 11:30 p.m. and see how the sausage is made. That's stopped the emails, at least temporarily.

 

There are a bunch of stories from my past in which photogs have overstepped their bounds. I was at a memorial gathering a few weeks ago and was talking with the former editor. We remembered one guy they hired to be photo editor who thought his job included completely redesigning the entire paper. "I just couldn't figure out what that guy was thinking," the editor said. They replaced him with a hard-charging guy who had every electronic device. UCLA opened the football season with a high-profile game against Miami and this dude sent FOUR photogs to shoot the game and demanded a photo page. At another place, the woman photo editor, another overly demanding sort, brought a photo over that a freelancer shot. "He was available so I sent him over to (big private high school) to shoot tennis." SE said, "Uh, we don't have room for it, especially since we didn't know it was coming. If we were going to shoot tennis, it wouldn't have been that match." She grabbed the page dummy from the designer and said, "Take out these three stories and put it right there." "Uh, no."
Photogs: Can't live with 'em, can't live without 'em.

 

It is imperative that you approach your work every single day with confidence that you are competent, intelligent, trained, focused and able to make decisions that best serve your readers. Too much self-doubt will lead to you being chewed up and shat out by this business (and most others).
Make the decision you think is best, he prepared to summarize your reasoning in a short sentence or two, and move forward and on to the next thing. Don't assume you are perfect; there's always more to learn. But you must insist that you are capable to make the decisions you're paid to make.
Also, fuck that small-minded, short-sighted, self-interested assbag with a camera. If he is not working with you, he is working against you and should be cheerfully ignored. Do your best, think things through and have confidence in your decisions. Don't let this prick make you work in constant self doubt. It will ruin you.

 

The Chicago Sun-Times would dare to disagree.

 

This was back in the day before all the photogs were laid off.

 

Is that a nancy joke?

 

No, just had an argument that I lost.
\

 

It's a day joke. Most people find it offensive. Not @ChrisLong.

 

Seems to me like you should have told this guy to fuck off multiple times now.

You should do it, or he's probably going to keep treating you like this.

 

Dammit. I wrote that and checked it. It was wrong, so I fixed it and posted it. Still wrong. Dammit. Not the typo to make.

 

Do you have any gay jokes? [/jreid]

 

No -- DAY jokes -- I prefer DAY jokes.