Photojournalism dominates news as images capture attention
It comes as no surprise in today’s 140-character online and brevity-driven news environments that photos get attention faster than written words. In some cases, it’s a matter of looking at a photo, determining interest, and moving on, not bothering with the written story.
That’s why we are seeing a sharp increase in more attention-grabbing images – large, front and center.
BusinessInsider.com – a new-comer to the world of journalism – reports, “Photographers will soon be the most valuable people in the newsroom.” Soon?! That’s been the case for decades. Photos have always driven the news business. Where has BusinessInsider been??!!
TechCrunch’s MG Siegler writes, “If pen beats the sword, camera beats pen.” Duh … yeah. Come on, where have you been?
No scandal is complete without photos!
Do you think the Patraeus-Broadwell-Kelly-Allen-CIA-FBI-stupid-shirtless-federal-agent scandal would be such a scandal without photos of Broadwell and Kelly? Heck with the old generals.
Patraeus with Broadwell when they had matters in hand.
How do you think Rupert Murdoch made billions in the news business? Sexy photos in his publications every day for the last quarter of a century.
Today, smart phones and tablets are mainstream, driving visual online content through countless news sites and social media. Mobile devices are the new glossy magazines; text-ridden sites are boring, black and white newspapers.
But, there’s a dark site to photos … severe budget cutbacks in the news business now hamper coverage … all kinds of coverage. The wrath of Hurricane Sandy has been shown so long as it’s an easy drive from media centers, like New York. Devastation more than 20 or so miles away continues to be ignored, by the pen and the camera lens.
Category: The Media
At some point the news media has got to come to its senses if there is any professionalism left. Then again, as long as the news is part of the entertainment division, nothing will really change.
The media coming to its senses? I’m afraid it’s a bit late for that … ever since 1985 when ABC put the news division under entertainment, and turned news into a money machine. Others quickly followed suit.
Indeed, the news business and entertainment are two very separate things. Like a meal, there’s the main course (professionally reported news) and then the dessert (entertainment). You keep them on separate plates or you really spoil the meal. Money is the dirty kitchen where the meal is prepared in our times.