Press use of photos

I have just received a request from a local newspaper group to use some photos I took on Sunday, with the proviso that I will be credited. In my flush of excitement I immediately replied that would be fine, and then I saw on their website it is possible to buy photos from them and they retain the copyright, so I sent a follow-up email saying I am happy for them to proceed but I will retain copyright. No doubt they will act honourably but I am wondering what your thoughts are as to how I should have responded.

My only concern would be this. Does their use of your photographs. Allow them to make their photographer redundant ?

I don’t know whether that have one. Another local photographer, a wedding pro, had some photos of the same event in another local paper and frankly they were not good - one was very crooked, another overexposed, etc. I think he was using a bridge camera and they looked like JPEGs straight out of the camera. Ordinarily I avoid doing what a pro should but in this case I was acting for a local allotment group and I can only think they submitted my photos for publicity and which I support for free.

I'm sure your images were of a very acceptable standard. Or even better...!! Rob.. But for some its a way of earning a living with mouths to feed..

I don’t do weddings or studio work, or any paid work of that kind, but if someone claims to be a professional (a much diminished term now from its true meaning) they should be better than a mere amateur for their money. If I was to do such work I would charge a proper commercial rate, not do it on the cheap.

Do whatever you want with your images, they represent your interpretation of something you support, which would otherwise likely go unreported.

If 'pros' aren't there, interested, motivated, imaginative, creative, persuasive or good enough to warrant being paid by the paper that's their lookout. If they can provide interest, insight, thought provoking and imaginative work, they deserve a decent rate (sadly unlikely with local papers struggling so badly they have to resort to swamping their websites with click bait).

There is a postscript to this story; I maligned a local pro photographer’s results rather unfairly it appears. He is compiling a video of the event and called round to use a number of my photos as stills to incorporate, and it turns out he had been asked to send the BBC shots of the event as it happened. For this he used his iPhone and sent unprocessed results right away, not something he had done before. We got on well and chatted for ages about the stuff photographers love to talk about, so maybe something will come of it.

The great days of local newspapers are over, most are struggling to exist with just skeleton staffs and rely on readers sending them images. If they use one of your pictures it will not be doing a staff photographer out of a job, those jobs have already gone.
As for copyright - that always remains with the photographer unless of course you are a pro photographer employed by the newspaper company.
David