Chicago Sun-Times Lays Off Photo Staff

The Chicago Sun-Times has laid off its entire full-time photography staff.

Sun-Times Media released a statement Thursday to The Associated Press confirming "the very difficult decision" to do away with the positions at the city's tabloid newspaper and its suburban sister publications.

The statement noted that the "business is changing rapidly" and audiences are "seeking more video content with their news."

The newspaper company's statement cited its efforts to bolster reporting capabilities with video and other multimedia elements and said the resulting restructuring of multimedia goes "across the network."

Steve Buyansky, a photo editor for three of the group's suburban newspapers, says about 30 photographers heard from Sun-Times editor Jim Kirk that they were laid off at a mandatory meeting Thursday morning.

He says the photographers are "in shock."