Mid Sweden University

This article examines factors influencing the editorial processing of photographs, the impact of photojournalistic practices on those processes as well as perceptions of images. Perspectives on visual gatekeeping and the news value of photographs were applied to a newsroom and interview study with a specific focus on photographs for the main news section of a Swedish newspaper. Findings identified routines, publication formats and resources as key factors, with some challenges posed by mobile publication formats and a focus on routine news. Photo editors were found to have a key function asserting expertise in a shared and interactive process. Yet changing routines and a reduced visual expertise on weekends were found to result in some lower image quality. While the ‘observed moment’ appeared to remain a photojournalistic ideal among visual gatekeepers, there were divergent perceptions found of the current and future functions of the news photograph. 

Denna rapports syfte är att kartlägga den journalistiska bildens uttryck, funktion och förändring mellan 1995 och 2013, en period som utmärks av digitalisering och paradigmatiska förändringar i mediebranschen. Projektet är det första i sitt slag i svenskt kontext och fyller därmed en vit fläck på forskningskartan eftersom forskning om journalistik i den digitala eran huvudsakligen fokuserat på skrivande journalistik. Kapitel ett introducerar syfte och studiens tre frågeställningar som behandlar: bildernas omfång, form och tilltal; bildernas innehåll; samt vem som har tagit bilden. I kapitel två ges en bakgrund till dagens bildjournalistik som lyfter fram magasinens historiskt framträdande roll, tekniska, kulturella och ekonomiska faktorer bakom nyhetsbildens framväxt, samt mediekonvergensen där journalistiken sägs bli alltmer visuell samtidigt som yrkesrollen förändras. Kapitel tre presenterar tre teoretiska perspektiv som använts i studien: kritiska perspektiv på tabloidisering där bilden anses ha ett lågt värde som företrädesvis ”mjuk,” det vill säga mindre viktig journalistik; perspektiv på bildens nyhetsvärde, visuell gestaltning samt bildjournalistiska ideal och normer; och teoretiska perspektiv på bildens trovärdighet, den förändrade yrkesrollen i dagens journalistik och framväxten av amatörbilder i journalistiken. Avgränsning och metoder presenteras i kapitel fyra. Studien undersöker bilden i fyra dagstidningar: Dagens Nyheter, Svenska Dagbladet, Aftonbladet och Helsingborgs Dagblad. Kvantitativ innehållsanalys har använts för kartläggningen, en kvalitativ innehållsanalys har gjorts av tidningarnas förstasidor, och redaktörer har intervjuats för att besvara frågan om bildernas upphovsperson. I kapitel fem besvaras frågeställningarna genom en deskriptiv genomgång av resultaten. Antalet bilder har ökat markant, speciellt i kvällstidningen Aftonbladet, medan det är främst featurematerial snarare än nyhetsbilder som står för ökningen i de övriga tidningarna. Övergången till tabloidformat för morgontidningarna har påverkat bildanvändningen, vilket var speciellt tydligt på förstasidorna. Det är främst de mycket små, frimärksstora bilderna som står för den största ökningen i tidningen som helhet. Människor är i fokus i bildens innehåll men förändringen över tid är måttlig. En märkbar förändring är dock ett ökat antal porträtt och poserade bilder och bilder med ögonkontakt, speciellt på förstasidorna. En stor andel av bilderna tas av fotograf med byline. Amatörbilder lyser med sin nästan totala frånvaro och deras närvaro i det allmänna nyhetsflödet har inte ökat. Dock har andelen bildbyråbilder ökat, och i den digitala upplagan återfinns också generiska genrebilder.  Samtliga tre frågeställningar kan således besvaras med att det råder både förändring och stabilitet över tid. Avslutningsvis, i kapitel sex, kopplas resultaten till de teoretiska perspektiv som använts i studien. Resultaten överensstämmer med tidigare forskning i så måtto att antalet bilder har ökat kraftigt. Däremot emotsäger resultaten den utbredda uppfattningen om att journalistiken blivit alltmer visuell, eftersom det är de mycket små, ofta generiska och svårlästa bilderna som står för den största ökningen i de fyra dagstidningarna. En ökad grad av visualisering och en ökad användning av ett formspråk där bilden ingår i grafik, vilket enligt tidigare forskning kan vara ett mått på tabloidisering, återfanns på sida ett. Den kvalitativa analysen av förstasidorna visade att morgontidningarna satsar alltmer på features, ett tecken på förskjutningen av nyhetsvärderingen där händelsenyheter numera främst återfinns i den digitala upplagan medan analys och reportage publiceras i papperstidningen. I så måtto överensstämmer resultaten med tidigare forskning. Inuti tidningen visade det sig att det är features som främst bildsätts och att det är just featurebilder som ökat mest övertid.  Denna utveckling, samt en stor andel porträtt och poserade bilder och få ögonblicksbilder, kan ses som ett intimt och personifierat tilltal vilket i sin tur kan vara tecken på en mjuk journalistik. Dock har inte andelen ögonblicksbilder minskat markant över tid. Förändringar i upphovsperson var förväntade, med tanke på att litteraturen förutspår att amatörbilder kommer att bli alltmer framträdande i journalistiken. Här motbevisar dock resultaten tidigare forskning, eftersom amatörbilder har en marginell betydelse i det allmänna nyhetsflödet i de undersökta tidningarna. Sammanfattningsvis har tidigare forskning påvisat att antalet bilder i journalistiken har ökat. Denna studie ger en mer komplex bild av bildjournalistikens omfång, funktion och innehåll. Således ger studien kunskap om den journalistiska bildens utveckling och förutsättnin

The purpose of this report is to analyze the development of the journalistic image over time. The study starts in 1995 and ends in 2013; a period characterized by digitalization and paradigmatic changes in the media industry. This project is the first of its kind studying a Swedish context and thus fills a blank spot on the research map, as research on journalism in the digital age has primarily focused on text journalism.

In chapter one, we introduce the purpose and the three research questions of the study: (1) the amount, form and appeal of the images; (2) the content of the images; and (3) who has taken the picture. In chapter two, we provide a background to today’s photojournalism, and here we bring up the historically prominent role of the magazines, as well as technological, cultural and economic factors behind the emergence of the news image and also media convergence, where journalism is said to become increasingly visual while the professional role is undergoing changes.

Chapter three presents three theoretical perspectives used in the study. The first represents critical perspectives on tabloidization, where the image is considered having low value as a less important form of journalism compared to texts. The second perspective concerns visual framing, the news value of the image and photojournalistic ideals and norms, whereas the third theoretical perspective brings up the credibility of the image, the changed professional role in today’s journalism and the emergence of amateur images in journalism.

Methods and limitations are presented in chapter four. In the study, we analyze photojournalism in four newspapers: Dagens Nyheter, Svenska Dagbladet, Aftonbladet and Helsingborgs Dagblad. In 2013, we also analyze the digital editions of each newspaper. A quantitative content analysis has been used for the overall survey (a total 17,400 images), whereas a qualitative content analysis has been carried out with regard to the front pages of newspapers, both in printed and digital form. In addition, we have interviewed editors to complement the content studies.

In chapter five, we answer the research questions using a descriptive rundown of the results. The main findings are the following: The number of images has increased significantly, especially in the evening paper Aftonbladet, whereas feature material rather than news images account for the increase in the other newspapers. The morning papers’ transition to the tabloid format has affected the use of images, which was particularly noticeable on the front pages. However, mainly the very small, stamp-sized images account for the largest increase in the newspapers as a whole. People are the focus of the images, but the change over time is moderate. A noticeable change, however, is an increased number of portraits and posed images, as well as images with eye contact, in particular on the front pages. A large proportion of the pictures are taken by a photographer with a byline. Amateur images are almost entirely absent, and their presence in the general news flow has not increased. All three questions may therefore be answered by there being both changes and continuity over time.

Finally, in chapter six, the results are linked to the theoretical perspectives used in the study. The results are in line with previous research in the sense that the number of images has increased significantly. On the other hand, the results contradict the widespread perception that journalism has become increasingly visual, due to the fact that the very small, frequently generic and hard-to-read images are what account for the largest increase in the four newspapers.

A higher degree of visualization and an increase in the use of a visual design where the image forms a part of graphics, which according to previous studies may be an indication of tabloidization, was found on the front pages, but not inside the newspapers in the same way. The qualitative analysis of the front pages showed that the morning papers are focusing more and more on feature material, which is possibly a sign of a shift in news value, where news events are no longer the most important on the front pages as they are already “old” by the time the newspapers are printed.

Inside the newspapers, feature images have increased the most over time. This development, in addition to a large proportion of portraits and posed images but few unposed images, may be seen as an intimate and personified appeal, which in turn may be a sign of soft journalism. However, the proportion of unposed images has not dropped significantly over time.

The literature has continuously predicted that amateur images will play an increasingly important role in journalism. This has not happened. Amateur images are only marginally important in the general news flow in the studied newspapers. They may, however, be very important for individual news events, but that is an entirely different matter.

In conclusion, previous studies have shown that the number of images in journalism has increased. This study provides a more complex picture of the scope, function and content of photojournalism, and thus provides additional knowledge concerning the development and conditions for the journalistic image in Swedish daily press over the past two decades.

The photography book dates back to the infancy of the photographic medium as an important form of image presentation. Fast forward to the mid 20th century when the photo essay was popularized in book form: think Robert Frank The Americans as a prime example of the sequenced visual story. In today’s digital culture, in turn, there is a resurgence of interest in the photo book as a tool for image-makers to present their work. Indeed, there are perhaps more photo books published today than ever before, the design and distribution of the work facilitated by digital technologies. The current interest is also visible in scholarship and literature, such as in the multi-volume The Photobook: A History (Parr and Badger, Eds.), and in university courses focusing on topics such as the concept, design and process of making a photo book.

This study explores the reasons why image-makers turn to the photo book as a way of presenting work, a current trend perhaps eclipsing the exhibition. A second line of inquiry is how the photo book may structure visual story telling and a third how the photo book is perceived. Empirically, the study examines examples of two phenomena. The first phenomenon is the photo book in the realm of photojournalism and social documentary where an examination of current examples suggests that the failure of the news media to support in-depth stories has contributed to a resurgence of the photo book as an alternative way of presenting sustained visual narratives. The second phenomenon is the function of social media, where image-makers reach potential readers and, by extension, publishers for the work.

A combination of methods are used, including interviews with image-makers, designers and users of photo books, as well as analyses of the presentation of books on social media sites and analyses of narrative in visual storytelling drawing on tools from rhetoric. 

The study focuses in part on the impetus of image-makers to turn to the photo book as a tool, be it as a form of self-expression or the communication of social issues. A second, theoretical focus is the materiality of the book. The question addressed here is whether the popularity of the photo book indicates a yearning in an ephemeral, digital culture for the material object and, specifically in this case, for the presentation of photographs in durable, printed form. 

An increasing flow of amateur images of global crises presents challenges and opportunities for mainstream news media. Furthermore, many news organizations now solicit eyewitness reports for near-instant upload to Web editions. Yet, there is a lack of empirical research on amateur images in the regular news flow, in particular in newspapers. Thus, this case study examines the general frequency of amateur content, the gatekeeping process and the opinions of editors making decisions about images for publication in the online and print editions of four Swedish newspapers. Our findings, based on quantitative content analyses and interviews, indicate that a majority of the content falls in the hard-news category in contrast to findings in previous research about user-generated text content. Moreover, it appears regularly but in small numbers in a tabloid-content daily and a regional paper but hardly ever in broadsheet-content papers, and that opinions in the newsroom about amateur images vary from a lack of interest to a stated need for them in the regular news coverage. The low impact of amateur content may be due to the gatekeeping process and professional standards of photography, as well as a lack of audience interest and difficulties in implementing new structures in the newsrooms. In sum, the findings disprove predictions in the literature of a near-paradigmatic rise of amateur content in the mainstream news media. 

Paper abstract

Recent research has shown that photographs dominate over text in newspapers, especially but not exclusively on page one. However, a widespread shift to tabloid-format newspapers, new design concepts, and a pre-planned template and shifting reading habits, contribute to placing new demands on front-page images. At the same time, the emergence of digital editions in the past two decades and the introduction of video and web-TV updated on a 24-7 basis have made newsroom practices more complex.

Such recent and ongoing shifts raise questions that are the point of departure for this paper, specifically concerning decision-making processes about visual journalism and the characteristics of news photographs. Thus, through newsroom observations and interviews, and drawing from theories of news judgment, gatekeeping and commercialization, this study analyzes discursive practices and routines in two Swedish newsrooms. The specific focus is the process for page-one photographs and visual content in digital newspaper editions. A second aim is to examine what the increased visualization of the news means for photojournalism or, simply put, what constitutes photojournalism on page one. This is addressed through an aesthetic analysis of how images construe news value.

The purpose is to learn how visual journalism is discussed, framed, understood and valued, how decisions about images are made and who makes them, and how the chosen images adhere to journalistic ideals. The study is currently underway with results forthcoming in the spring of 2015.