Photographs in Media

These days, it is impossible to flick through a newspaper or turn on the news and not see pictures and video clips everywhere. Images grab the attention of the audience, images can tell a story by themselves, images can give a deeper angle to your strong, images can elaborate on a story and images may also determine whether your article is read or not.

Editors want photographs and so do the public. Images do not always elaborate on the text or angle of the story and sometimes they may tell a story that is completely different to what has been written. Problems with images include the irrelevancy to the article as well as the publishing of unethical images. How many times have you selected an article purely because the image is eye catching? How many times have you made an assumption based on that image and read the story, only to find yourself confused or disappointed with the connection between the two? How many times have you seen a confliction between the two?

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A good image is most often one which uses the rule of thirds- a guideline which enables the photographer to take a photo with a more interesting and visually appealing angle. These pictures are framed, exposed and timed appropriately and also, depending on the story, capture the moment. The picture used in an article should be so relevant that the 1000 words that have been painted in your head relate in some way to the article text. Below is a good and a bad example of picture storytelling.

-Alex McKinnon's Injury-

 

 

This is a "good" example of photography in journalism.

The image is eye catching. It captures the anxiety, drama and intensity of the moment and it is confronting enough to generate interest from the audience and the position of both McKinnon's body and the medic's body are in line with the rule of thirds. Newspapers such as the Sydney Morning Herald used this photograph after the initial report of the player fracturing his neck. With many people standing around and the medic cradling McKinnon's neck whilst the player lies flat on the turf, there is quite obviously an injury concern, which is corroborated directly in the article content.

http://www.smh.com.au/rugby-league/league-news/quadriplegic-alex-mckinnon-faces-the-fight-of-his-life-20140331-35u3y.html

 

-La Nina: Floods in Australia-

 

 

This is a "bad" example of photography in journalism.

This photograph does not follow the rule of thirds, nor does it convey an emotional appeal. Although the water is high around the man and car, the water behind him is shallow. The article, from news.com.au, is about the devastating La Nina weather Australia had faced. The man, the focal point of the photo, is portrayed through his appearance like he is having fun - only wearing board shorts, a big smile and a double thumbs up- not someone who is in a particularly dire and dangerous situation.

http://www.news.com.au/national/la-nina-weather-runs-out-of-steam/story-e6frfkp9-1226055570085