"Gävlemodellen" : – Födseln av en unik "bildbyrå" tillhörande två konkurrerande tidningar i Gävle

Sammanfattning: The role of the professional photographer is ever changing. The changes take place as the Swedish media industry itself, due to fluctuations in the economy, is forced to change. As the demand for printed news wane, the advertisers seek out other media and free newsprint & the internet take over large portions of the market, the newspaper industry is forced to cut issues and make drastic changes to stay in business. This changes directly affects the way news bureaus are organised and inevitably changes the working conditions of their employees. The two competing newspapers “Arbetarbladet” and Gefle Dagblad” in the Gävle district were affected by this kind of change in quite a unique way. To cut costs the photo departments of the two newspapers were merged, now providing pictures for both rivals and breaking new ground as a Swedish first in doing so. The purpose of this study was/is to research if, and in that case how, the roles of the professional photographers has changed as the departments were merged. We based our research on observations of the everyday tasks at the merged department using these observations to formulate questions for the affected photographers and their supervisors. These observations made it possible for us to gain an understanding of how the photographers dealt with their new working conditions. Observing and participating in the work was also important as it let us, as researchers, gain the respect of the photographers. Our observations and experiences forming the base of our interviews made it possible for us to ask the relevant questions. During the interviews the different ways in which these photographers roles have changed became more distinct. The photographers still perform all those tasks that form the base of their trade, producing pictures, meeting people and documenting important events, but the differences compared to their former roles were drastic. The photographers were no longer expected to take an active role in the journalistic creation of news as this would destroy the neutral balancing act between the two rivalling newspapers. They no longer went to a location with just one reporter, but often with two rivalling ones all in the same car. This major change damages the teamwork between the reporter and the photographer, who are no longer able to freely discuss the way they want to present the story to the readers. The photographers can see both improvements and drawbacks in their daily work after the merge and/but are all/still convinced that future changes are inevitable.