Chicago Sun-Times axes photo staff A DigitalRev customer discovered that the camera he thought he bought new was used in a YouTube demonstration video. THE Chicago Sun-Times has laid off its entire photography department and is also eliminating staff photographers at its suburban newspapers, Sun-Times Media says. The newspaper group will ask its text reporters to shoot photos and videos to accompany their stories and plans to also rely on freelancers for major stories, a source familiar with the situation told AFP. The cuts come as the US newspaper industry is struggling to cope with years of sharp declines in advertising revenues and dramatic changes in the media environment. Major dailies have folded or cut their print editions to three times a week while a growing number are seeking more revenue from readers by establishing online "paywalls" which require subscriptions. Some 28 people at the Chicago Sun-Times and its suburban papers were called into meetings on Thursday morning and told their jobs would be eliminated immediately, the source said. The source declined to comment on whether severance packages were provided. Pulitzer Prize winner John White, who is nearing retirement age, was among those who lost their jobs. "The Chicago Sun-Times continues to evolve with our digitally savvy customers, and as a result, we have had to restructure the way we manage multimedia, including photography, across the network," the newspaper said in a statement. The Sun-Times business is changing rapidly and our audiences are consistently seeking more video content with their news. We have made great progress in meeting this demand and are focused on bolstering our reporting capabilities with video and other multimedia elements. Sun-Times Media, which was driven into bankruptcy after press baron Conrad Black was caught raiding the coffers, publishes 42 suburban papers along with its flagship Chicago Sun-Times.