In Boston, one of the top television markets in the country, local TV news used to be a cutthroat business. The competition was so fierce to report the big story of the day that a news photographer’s job wasn’t just to get the exclusive video, it was to make sure the competition didn’t get it.

"You had to fight for the story, for the exclusive aspect," said Boston Local 1228 Business Manager Andy Dubrovsky, a former television news photographer. His local represents photographers and production personnel at eight Boston-area stations. "It used to mean so much for us to beat the competition."

But times have changed. A shaky economy, massive drops in local advertising revenue and advances in technology are drastically reshaping the local TV news game. Suddenly, competition is being replaced by cooperation. Stations that used to stop at nothing to beat their competitors are now sharing resources, including work done by union employees.

For the thousands of IBEW members working at television stations nationwide, there is a looming threat. Consolidation of news-gathering means broadcasters will need fewer people to report and distribute daily stories.

In Philadelphia, stations owned by NBC and Fox Broadcasting announced a partnership in January that pools union photographers from each station’s newsroom to cover routine events like press conferences. Both stations then use the identical video in their newscasts.

In Washington, D.C., three stations, owned by Gannett, Fox and NBC, have announced a similar agreement. A news event that, in the past, would have been covered by three competing union-represented photographers, now will be covered by just one. Again, the same video is distributed to all stations.

"I believe that many companies are using the economy to take advantage of the situation," Dubrovsky said. "Today, they share two photographers, but we can see it being four, five or six in the future. This is just the beginning."

There is a battle to hold on to jobs, said Robert Wratschko, Director of Broadcasting and Recording at the IBEW’s International Office in Washington, D.C.

"The stations will get all the video coverage they need for the news.
Unfortunately, the number of technicians may be diminished," Wratschko said.

In some places, union jobs are already disappearing. A local management agreement signed in St. Louis in 2008 combined nearly all of the resources of KTVI-TV, owned by Local TV LLC, and Tribune-owned KPLR-TV.

More than two dozen IBEW workers were laid off when the two stations merged their newsrooms in October. The layoffs included KPLR photographers, editors, reporters and most of the station’s main anchor team.

"Everybody was crushed," said Clark Bowen, a former KPLR photographer and shop steward.

After 12 years with the station, Bowen, like many of his colleagues, lost his job in a matter of minutes. "They just called us into a room and said, here you go, your services are no longer required," Bowen said. He is now working on freelance projects while searching for full-time work.

Union leaders in cities across the country are trying to keep similar scenes from playing out in their local newsrooms.

In Boston, where two stations announced a deal to share photographers and a news-gathering helicopter starting this summer, Local 1228 is fighting the consolidation trend at the highest levels.

The union took the issue to the National Labor Relations Board in May, alleging that CBS-owned WBZ and Fox-owned WFXT violated the National Labor Relations Act by entering into the news-sharing agreement without consulting the union.

The union filed a grievance against WBZ, where an IBEW contract expired last fall, and an unfair labor practice charge against WFXT, where more than 100 workers were organized in March 2008. The union accuses both stations of changing working conditions without negotiating them.

"We’ve been told at the table that no one will be laid off," Dubrovsky said. "But we’re staring at a huge tidal wave change in this business. We all have to stand up and fight to preserve our jobs."