

395
Friday, November 11
1 8 : 0 0 – 1 9 : 3 0
including perspectives and shot angles, as well as of their syntactical relationships with each other, reveals a number of ways in which the game frame may
be expressed visually. The paper discusses how these insights may contribute towards broadening the set of indicators used to identify this frame in tele‑
vision news and current affairs. This is particularly significant considering that television remains the main source of news for the great majority of people
internationally. The role of television journalism is therefore particularly important in explaining complex political processes and in providing a narrative for
what is going on. The 2014 Scottish independence referendum offers a fruitful case to study news framing, as it was a crucial moment in history that could
have (and arguably has) changed the future of Scotland and the relationship among the nations of the UK.
PP 444
State of Photojournalism in Central Europe
S. Štefaniková
1
, F. Láb
1
1
Charles University in Prague, Institute of Communication Studies and Journalism, Prague, Czech Republic
This paper examines a current state of traditional journalistic discipline – photojournalism. Taking the example of three countries of Central Europe –
the Czech Republic, Poland and Slovakia we describe the photojournalist’s working conditions, job identity, job satisfaction, and the challenges in the digital
age. In our paper we ask and suggest possible answers to several questions. Who are today’s photojournalists?What are their working patterns and practic‑
es? What is a position of visual journalism in the contemporary newsrooms? What challenges do photojournalists face? An adoption of digital technology
brought new conditions for news photography and transformed photojournalistic practice and routines. With the Internet (the web and digital space)
becoming an integral part of news industry several factors are contesting the traditional concept of photojournalism. In consequence, news photographers
face multiple challenges.The digitalization concerns technical aspects of photographic production (easy and fast production of vast amount of material, de‑
mocratization of the medium, simple manipulation of digital image etc.) and personal issues at the same time. Although, visual news material is becoming
ever more important, news organization cut back on employees leaving those few who remain with extra workload and responsibilities. Photojournalists
are driven to expert new technology, master multimedia journalism content with little support from news organization, and to keep up with the dynamics
of social media. Consequently, additional workload might results in job dissatisfaction. The aim of this paper is to map professional photojournalists’ and
photo editors’perception of current state of photojournalism and news photography. Our results are based on the research of Central European photojour‑
nalism practice "Changing Structures and Content: Photojournalism Practice in the Age of Network Media" that took place in 2014–2015. During the field‑
work we conducted 60 in-depth interviews with fulltime and freelance photojournalists and photo-editors working for printed and online newspapers and
opinion magazines in the Czech Republic (45), Poland (15), and Slovakia (15). Interviews dealt with practices at the newspapers raging in circulation from
33 000 to 300 000, a half of them with circulation of at least 100 000.
PP 445
Here’s Looking at You: Tracing the Changing Function of Photographs in Swedish Newspapers, 1995–2015
M. Nilsson
1
1
Mid Sweden University, Media and Communication Science, Sundsvall, Sweden
Newspapers have become increasingly visual, especially in the past few decades, and the term“visualization of the news”frequently appears in the litera‑
ture on the tabloidization of journalism. However, what does this actually mean when it comes to the photograph?Which function does the image have on
the newspaper page? Is it an illustration to the text, or does it contribute information or interpretation of an event or issue? How has the function and look
of the news photograph changed over time? Connecting to the conference theme “Mediating (Dis)Continuities,” this study traces photographs in Swedish
newspaper through two decades. The purpose is to chart, through the lens of photojournalism, a period of paradigmatic change for news organizations,
including the advent of the Internet, competition and falling advertising revenue, reductions of newsroom staff, and a growing visual culture. While re‑
search has examined the effects of this new media landscape on written journalistic content, relatively little attention has been paid to photojournalism.
Thus, the study examines photographs in elite and tabloid-content print-edition newspapers selected at intervals between 1995 and 2015. The time frame
is based on shifts such as the adoption of the Internet by Swedish newspapers (1995), and the move to tabloid format (2007). Two sites of analysis were
chosen: the front page and the photo reportage, based on the significance photographs have in both. Specifically, throughout the past century, photographs
have become increasingly important on the newspaper cover, as protagonist or illustration of stories inviting readers to the publication. Indeed, decades
ago, the best photograph would lead the cover and the availability of photos increased the chance of page one placement of a story.The photo reportage, in
turn, first developed inmagazines before newspapers picked up on the appeal of visual storytelling. Indeed, especially in newspaper weekend supplements,
the visual reportage affords the opportunity for images to carry the story. Today, however, following a near-universal shift to tabloid format, the pre-
planned page places different demands on images, and an increased workload and a shift to freelancers as suppliers of content, may have altered the status
of the photo reportage in newspapers. Informed by theories of news value and visual framing, this study employs qualitative methods of analysis based on
social semiotics, rhetoric and compositional analysis to examine the characteristics and function of front-page images and the photo reportage at different
points in time, focusing on placement and relationship to headlines, text and other elements and, when it comes to the reportage, sequencing and narra‑
tive. Findings indicate that page-one photographs have changed, from complex composition and independent status on the page with decisive-moment
shots made at a so called social distance, to a more intimate visual style in close-up portraits with camera-eye contact, signaling a shift in the photograph’s
function and aesthetics. The analysis of photo reportages, currently underway, will be completed in spring of 2016. # # #