Local Media in Trouble?

Touted as a cost saving measure, the camera crews fear major job losses:

• Beginning Monday, the news departments at four of Chicago's five largest TV stations will share resources in a daring experiment.

  NBC-owned WMAQ-Channel 5, Fox-owned WFLD-Channel 32, CBS-owned WBBM-Channel 2 and Tribune Broadcasting-owned WGN-Channel 9 will pool two camera crews from each participating station. The crews will be directed by an assignment editor and a managing editor. A source said a staff person from WMAQ's newsroom will become managing editor of the new joint venture, but a New York-based spokeswoman for WMAQ said the participating stations weren't ready to reveal that person yet.

So one giant video pool is to be created. How many jobs are they cutting? We're guessing quite a few and the holes will be filled by stringers. The electronic media is heading in the direction of the print media at a pretty good clip it seems.