Content provided in partnership with

A return to 'Mr. Gates': Photography and objectivity

Newspaper Research Journal, Summer 2000 by Bissell, Kimberly L

<< Page 1 Continued from page 1. Previous | Next

Gans wrote "journalists try hard to be objective, but neither they nor anyone can in the end proceed without values. Furthermore, reality judgments are never altogether divorced from values."26 Each journalist who plays a role in decision-making brings to the table his or her perspectives, biases, beliefs, and ideology. Wilbur Schramm27 suggests that the longer the gatekeeping chain, the more likely the message transmitted does not resemble the message that started. In all kinds of news nowadays, the gatekeeping chain can be quite long. As news items pass from gate to gate, the various influences construct the news audiences see.

Research questions RQ1

Most Popular Articles in Reference: The importance of understanding organizational culture; Credit card attitudes and behaviors of college students; What factors attract foreign direct investment?; Libraries Need Relationship Marketing - mutual interest marketing concept, ...; How to set performance goals: employee reviews are more than annual critiques; More »

At what levels are influences on content evident in photographic decision-making?

RQ2

Is photographic content indicative of a single decision-maker's biases?

Shoemaker and Reese" suggest that the newsmaking routines and organizational structure that are inherent in a newsroom will influence content to a degree. As each news item is interpreted, transmitted, and disseminated, individual gatekeepers contribute to changes in the news item's content.

Method

This paper presents a case study of one newspaper's photographic content and presents findings from observations and interviews with photographic decision-makers. The mid-size newspaper in the Northeast at the time had 34 reporters, five full-time photographers, and about 15 people who served in some editorial capacity. News personnel were all white, about 65 percent male, and generally between 30 and 60 years old. The morning newspaper was published seven days a week, with Sunday circulation (101,000) almost double the weekday circulation.

A content analysis of the photographic content was conducted prior to conducting observations and interviews with newsroom personnel. The purpose of the content analysis was to get a general sense of the newspaper's use of wire and local photographs, to get a sense of the types of photographs frequently run, and to get a sense of the demographic makeup of subjects in photographs.

A 30-day random sample 29 was obtained, and all photographic content in each newspaper issue was coded for the following information:

1. Percentage of wire and local photographs used in the newspaper

2. Percentage of photographs in content categories, i.e. sports, features, business, etc. 30

3. Gender, race and approximate age of subjects in all published photographs

4. Demographic makeup of subjects in each content area. i.e. the number of sports photographs with male subjects.

A second coder was used to establish intercoder reliability, and this coder examined 20 percent of the content. Intercoder reliability was .92 using Holsti's formula. 31

In addition to examining the newspaper's photographic content, observations and interviews were conducted with the photographic news staff during the last two weeks in May 1997. As wire editors made decisions about wire photographs, information about each photograph was recorded, and each editor was questioned about his/her reasons for rejecting or accepting each photograph. During the two weeks of observations and interviews, a real-time analysis of photo content was conducted. All photographs crossing the photo editor's desk or the wire desk were examined. Coders kept a record of local and wire photographs accepted and rejected for publication.

A return to 'Mr. Gates': Photography and objectivity

Newspaper Research Journal, Summer 2000 by Bissell, Kimberly L

Find Research Guides for:

Find Featured Titles for: Business

Most Popular Articles in Reference

Most Popular Publications in Reference