The 29 photographers fired from the Chicago Sun-Times will get their due next week with a high honor for their work in their field.
The Chicago Journalists Association plans to recognize each photo journalist with Chicago Journalist of the Year awards at the group's 74th awards dinner on Sept. 27. The photojournalists, including the Pulitzer Prize-winning John White and photo editor Ernie Torres, were fired in May.
"There's no place in my heart for anger," White said. "I'm hurt, sure, I'm human, I'm disappointed, but I don't curse darkness, I light candles."
The newspaper said the decision was part of its move toward more digital content, particularly video, and said reporters to be responsible for taking photos along with freelance photographers.
The fired photographers and their supporters demonstrated in front of the newspaper's building a week after learning they were losing their jobs. "It's just numbing," photographer Scott Stewart said at the time. "It still is to this day, and it's only been a week. It's like losing a family member."
The Chicago Newspaper Guild, which represents 18 of the fired photographers, has fought to get back all of the jobs.
"They say they want to move to a digital age. Our photojournalists can do digital, they're extremely talented," Craig Rosenbaum, executive director of the Chicago Newspaper Guild, said. "They can do still, they can do digital, these are the best in the world."
