The purpose of the study is to understand how much and in what ways contemporary readers trust – if they trust – news photographs published both in the traditional and on-line newspapers. This issue is examined particularly with regard to digital photo editing, which has been accused of undermining the credibility of the photographic image and, hence, the trustworthiness of news photographs in their entirety.
The data is collected by using questionnaires and group discussions. The questionnaire includes, for example, questions concerning the informant’s perceptions of the limits of the digital alterations in news photographs. The answers from the questionnaires could be compared with Jenny Mäenpää’s book “Editing and manipulating”, which is a study on professional journalists’ attitudes towards digital editing of news photographs. The data produced by group discussions provides, for its part, the basis for the closer analysis and deeper understanding of the informants’ perceptions and expectations about the truth of news images.
The knowledge about readers’ interpretations could be used, for example, in planning new professional codes for photo editing, adapted to meet new digital editing techniques. The knowledge could also be very useful in advancing professionals’ awareness of audience responses to their work. Additionally, the training of photo journalists is obviously a suitable field for applying the knowledge produced by this study.
Readers’ ability to understand news pictures forms a part of their visual literacy, which is among the basic skills in present-day society. In this research, visual literacy refers to the informants’ ability to understand the meanings and production process of news images in our contemporary culture.
Contact Person: Pentti Raittila
Tel. +358 3 3551 8806, E
Email: pentti.raittila@uta.fi
University of Tampere, Journalism Research and Development Centre
Partner: Helsingin Sanomat Foundation