In search of visual expertise: examining skilled vision in the work of news photo professionals

Abstract

Photojournalism professionals play a key role in producing and choosing the visual coverage that we see in the daily news media. This article focuses on photo editors and other photojournalism professionals behind the news images, and explores how they see and look at pictures professionally in order to decide what is newsworthy. The actual work practices of photojournalism professionals were scrutinized by using methods of newsroom observation and interviews at three media organizations. The theoretical framework applies ethnographic studies of vision in professional practices that consider vision as a socially situated activity and education of attention. The findings suggest that the education of the professional eye of photojournalism practitioners involves informal and everyday work practices that include characteristics of an apprenticeship. Finally, four areas where the professional knowledge accumulates were found: (1) constant following of news; (2) the use of reference images; (3) the use of specific software; and (4) social interaction among the professionals. In conclusion, it is argued that photojournalism professionals’ visual expertise is poorly understood. The shared vision is constitutive for the social organization of the profession while it concurrently narrows the visual coverage published in the media.

Photojournalism. Between Industry and Culture

“…Photojournalists and editors impact the visual coverage of news and the associated messages. Therefore, what is considered newsworthy is published and influences public opinion (Mäenpää, 2022). The segment of activist photojournalists is interested in the book market to increase their impact on the broader public, or they might only be interested in diversifying their sources of income.…”

Ympäristömuutos ja estetiikka

“…Sitä, mikä oikeastaan on "hyvä" valokuva, ei kuitenkaan välttämättä tarkemmin määritellä (Bednarek & Caple 2017, 108). Kuvajournalisteilla on tapana valita samat kuvat "huippukuviksi" toisistaan riippumatta, eli kuvajournalisteilla on jaettu professionaalinen ymmärrys hyvistä kuvista (Mäenpää 2020). Kuvajournalismin tutkijan Jenni Mäenpään (2020, 5) mukaan hyvän uutiskuvan määrittämisessä kuvajournalistit yhdistävät tietämystään uutisarvoista, estetiikasta, yritys-VISUAALINEN JOURNALISMI 245 logiikasta ja ammattietiikasta.…”

Distributing ethics: Filtering images of death at three news photo desks

“…The interviews and observations revealed that the professionals’ alleged knowledge about their clients or audiences does not primarily come from reception research but from their experiences with and perceptions about the behaviour of those groups. It is actually a part of the photojournalism professionals’ expertise to monitor the behaviour of the clients or audiences and learn from it (Mäenpää, 2020: 9).…”