Met up with the subject of my case study today: Tim Bradley, deputy picture editor at MEN Media Group. I had previously spoken with a journalist, Steve Kingston and a photographer working for the MEN Media, Vince Cole. I had chosen Tim Bradley as unlike Vince, whose insight was invaluable incidentally, he had years of experience and had witnessed firsthand, the changes in photojournalism over the last 20 years or so. I was pleased that I had spoken to several people working in different areas of the media as it gave me different perspectives on the whole working practice of journalism and photojournalism so that when I did speak to Tim, I was far better informed.
The eerily quiet offices of the MEN hosted both journalists and several working in the picture editorial dept. The photographers no longer had a base, victims of the massive cuts in the media over the last few years. As Tim was responsible for controlling the photography in the sixteen local weeklies and the Manchester Evening News, he had a huge responsibility. His job was to ensure that the eleven photographers were allocated jobs in and around the city and that deadlines were being met. His phone was constantly ringing and I kept having to pause the tape recorder. I realised he was busy and was just appreciative of the time that he gave me to be honest. He was a really decent fella and very accommodating considering he was obviously under pressure. I learnt a lot from him and once I have transcribed the interview he has said he will answer any further questions either over the phone or via email.
I am also supposed to be meeting up with Vince Cole, the photographer in a few weeks to follow him as he goes on various assignments around the city so the whole experience has been really interesting and very useful.
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