Over at the blog, PDN Pulse, Daryl Lang found an New York Times article that stated one of the reasons that Getty Images is selling is because of the pressure from cell phone cameras replacing wire services as sources of news images.  

“Recent events - from the assassination of Benazir Bhutto, the former Pakistani prime minister, to the latest foibles of the entertainer Britney Spears - have led to a surging popularity of low-quality but on-the-scene photos, many taken by cellphone cameras,” the New York Times editorial read. 

Now, while we at askthephotographer.com wouldn’t like to offend the nice phones offered by the various cell-phone companies around the glob, but that thought does raise some eyebrows. There were a lot of determining factors in the sale of Getty Images, but the thought that 1.3 mega-pixel cellphone cameras did them in is a little bit of a stretch.

That’s like saying the automobile industry is crashing because of the introduction of the Segway.

Digital SLRs are light-years ahead of whatever you’re toting around in your pocket, and when used by someone who knows what they’re doing, can create some stunning and amazing images of photojournalism.