Does Photojournalism Matter? News Image Content and Presentation in the Middletown (NY) Times Herald-Record Before and After Layoffs of the Photojournalism Staff

Abstract

This study explored the photojournalism and news presentation of the Middletown (NY) Times Herald-Record before and after the newspaper laid off its entire photography staff. Differences between professional and non-professional photographs were compared. Following the layoff, the paper published fewer images, and presented less prominently. Professional images captured significantly more elements of photojournalism than non-professionals, including emotion, action, conflict, and graphic appeal. Professional images were presented larger and more prominently. Results of this case study provide evidence that—despite clear differences in image content—photojournalists are struggling to assert their professional legitimacy in the digital age.

Keywords

photojournalism news sociology professionalism citizen photojournalism

Two parallel yet opposing trends can be seen within the contemporary visual journalism environment. One trend is marked by a recognition of the power of visuals in attracting and maintaining audiences (Bucy & Grabe, 2007; Leckner, 2012; Lester, 2012; Newton, 2001; Rosen, 2005; Sullivan, 2013) and audiences that demand a stimulating, visual media landscape (Fahmy, Bock, & Wanta, 2014; O’Neill, 2013). The second trend, ironically, is widespread layoffs of staff photojournalists. The Pew Center reported that the number of U.S. newspaper photographers, artists, and videographers was reduced by 18% between 2010 and 2012, 3 times more than the rate that reporters lost their jobs (Anderson, 2013). Several newspapers—including the metro tabloid the Chicago Sun-Times—laid off their entire photography staff; other print-based products known for their photography, notably Sports Illustrated and National Geographic, have laid off most of their photojournalists in recent years (Anderson, 2013; Hadland, Lambert, & Campbell, 2016; Winslow, 2013).

It is no secret that digital technology has been a disruptive innovation to journalism broadly, and to photojournalism acutely (Christensen, 2013; Gade, 2011; T. Mortensen, 2014). The nearly infinite ecosystem of information and visual content available on the Internet, most for free, has created an abundance of media choices that has drastically reduced the reliance of audiences on news media (Picard, 2009). With print circulation dwindling and no clear digital business models, news organizations have downsized their operations, looking for ways to cut costs. A number of factors have contributed to professional photojournalism being targeted as a disposable asset (Brennen & Brennen, 2015; Klein-Avraham & Reich, 2016). In the digital age, photographic images are ubiquitous, a commodity widely available and shared through social media. Nearly everyone has a camera in their cell phone, allowing citizens to record and publish newsworthy events in real time (Andén-Papadopoulos & Pantti, 2011). In addition, the enhancements afforded by digital photography (e.g., continuous rapid-fire shooting, the ability to see images immediately, and reshoot or edit as needed) contribute to a sense, even among some news managers, that anyone can take news photographs (Johnson, 2015; Klein-Avraham & Reich, 2016; Lydersen, 2013).

In this context, news organizations have become willing to replace professional photojournalists with iPhone-armed reporters, wire service photos, and citizen-shot photography (Allan, 2013; Hartley, 2007; Örnebring, 2013; Romenesko, 2013; Stelter, 2013; White, 2012; Zhang, 2011). However, photojournalists assert that their professional expertise cannot be reproduced by non-professionals (Bissell, 2000; Klein-Avraham & Reich, 2016; Lowrey, 2002; T. B. Mortensen & Keshelashvili, 2013; Newton, 2009; Seelig, 2005, 2006; Yaschur, 2012; Zelizer, 1995). Sentiment similar to what award-winning photojournalist Antonio Olmos expresses reverberates widely: “. . . just because you’ve got an Instagram app on your phone you aren’t a great photographer” (Jeffries, 2013; also see, for example, Garcia, 2013).

The expectation that the work of professionals broadly, and media professionals specifically, differs from that of non-professionals is well-supported by sociology of professions and media sociology literatures. Photojournalism has many of the classic characteristics of a profession; it is studied in universities, for example, and has professional associations, shared values and norms, and a public-service motivation (Abbott, 1988; Freidson, 1984). Photojournalism draws from a knowledge base that is seldom accessible to non-professionals, one that integrates aesthetics, art, and visual imagery with broader professional journalism values (Lowrey, 2002). This cohort, like other newsroom subgroups, uses its knowledge to develop work processes—or routines—that most efficiently complete work according to professional standards. These routines, Shoemaker and Reese (2014) write, “form a cohesive set of rules that become integrated to define a media professional” (p. 166). The professional’s knowledge, shared values, and work routines should produce different work outcomes or products than non-professionals.

This study explores for differences between photographs taken by professional photojournalists and non-professional photographers published in the Middletown (NY) Times Herald-Record, a newspaper that laid off its entire photography staff in 2013. The content analysis compares stratified random samples of the visual images printed in the newspaper at two points in time: 6 months prior to the entire photography staff being laid off, and the 6 months immediately after the layoff. Because the Times Herald-Record announced that it would rely more on reporters and freelancers for news images after the layoffs (Winslow, 2013), it is an excellent case to study newspapers’ greater reliance on non-professional photographers. Furthermore, the layoff provides an opportunity to study the impact of the elimination of the photojournalism staff on a specific news product. Although the plight of photojournalism has drawn increasing scholarly attention in recent years (see, for example, Brennen & Brennen, 2015; Greenwood & Reinardy, 2011; Greenwood & Thomas, 2015; T. B. Mortensen & Keshelashvili, 2013; Reich & Klein-Avraham, 2014; Yaschur, 2012), little research has examined differences between professional and non-professional news photographs and no studies have attempted to measure the impact of the elimination of an entire photography staff on a specific news product.

Literature Review

The literature guiding this study begins with an overview of professions, their characteristics, how they are distinguished from other occupations, and the extent to which journalism is a profession. The focus then turns to photojournalism, the professional values associated with photojournalism work, and the impact of the digital age on photojournalism. Next, the concept of news presentation, or how the newspaper product is designed, is explained as part of visual journalism work. A brief summary of changes in photojournalism at the Times-Record Herald concludes the section.

Professions, Journalism Professionalism, and News Routines

Professions are “how modern societies institutionalize expertise” (Abbott, 1988, p. xii). They are distinguished from other occupations by the nature of their specialized knowledge and how that knowledge is applied in the professional’s work (Abbott, 1988). Professions serve vital functions that meet basic societal needs (e.g., public health, social justice; Wilensky, 1964). Professionals attain their specialized knowledge through completion of a formal education supplemented by socialization into the professional work (e.g., internships, residencies); accordingly, the knowledge that professionals bring to their work is generally not accessible to the general public (Abbott, 1988; Larson, 1977). Professionals have a public-service motivation, think scientifically about their work, and seek to be impartial in the application of their services (Wilensky, 1964).

The profession’s specialized knowledge is the basis for both professional autonomy and control (Abbott, 1988; Freidson, 1984; Hughes, 1965). To the extent the knowledge is exclusive to the profession, the profession has greater autonomy and control over the entry barriers into the profession. Professional expertise is valuable to society in that it most often results in work that meets high standards. But it is also essential to the profession as the basis for developing new knowledge, adapting to social change, and crafting solutions to challenges facing the profession (Abbott, 1988; Larson, 1977). Accordingly, the profession’s knowledge base and ability of professionals to use their knowledge to change as society changes are characteristics that define the strength of a profession.

Journalism as an occupation contains many elements of a profession, but lacks others. Journalism scholars Beam, Weaver, and Brownlee (2009) identify seven characteristics of a profession: a specialized body of knowledge, autonomy, public service, professional associations that promote profession’s values and norms, socialization through higher education and training, production of an unstandardized product, and a lifelong commitment to the occupation. These authors note journalism’s commitment to public service, a set of shared occupational values (e.g., codes of ethics), and the existence of professional associations reflect journalism’s status as a profession. Becker and Vlad (2011) stress the role of higher education in journalism as the venue where professionalism, and socialization into the profession, begins. However, journalism is hard-pressed to demonstrate a specialized knowledge base (Beam et al., 2009; Becker & Vlad, 2011; Merrill, 2006; Picard, 2009), and it has resisted the notion of formal entrance standards or licensing. Beam et al. (2009) refer to journalism as a “semi-profession” (p. 279). The digital age has cast further uncertainty to journalism’s professional claims. Beam and Meeks (2011) note the impact of digital technology and news staff reductions has eroded journalism’s public-service mission and professional autonomy.

The importance of professionalism in the production of news media content is a basic interest of media sociology (Shoemaker & Reese, 2014). The set of shared values that define journalism professionalism influence how journalists approach their work, and journalists act on their values to create efficient work practices—or routines (Shoemaker & Reese, 2014). Routines can be understood as “professional processes” (Lowrey, 2006, p. 482), which standardize journalism content at a professional level yet must also be adapted to changing environments. Those who have not been educated or socialized into the profession are not bound by professional values or routines. Shoemaker and Reese (2014) write that professionalism can influence journalism content at all five levels of their Hierarchy of Influences model.

Photojournalism, Professionalism, and the Digital Age

The widespread acceptance that photography documents “truthful depictions of an objective reality” (Brennen, 2010, p. 73) explains why photography has been an enduring form of journalism for about 150 years. As photojournalism developed into a distinct form of journalism work, press photographers adopted the values of journalism. By the 1930s, magazines known for their photography (e.g., Look, Life) blossomed, and photographic images were used to illustrate newsworthy social issues and problems, such as poverty, labor, and immigration.

Photojournalists developed their own professional culture related to, but different from, word-based journalists (Lowrey, 2002). This occupational group merged two areas of specialized knowledge and skills—those of artists and journalists—into a professional identity that included its own vocabulary and standards of excellence. “Picture people,” as Lowrey (2002, p. 411) calls them, exercise their professional values and skills to define how the work is done and judged. Because the knowledge draws from artistic values outside the norms of journalism, visual journalists often seek to integrate their values with the norms of journalism to have professional legitimacy in their news organizations.

Photojournalists’ synthesis of artistic and journalism norms is apparent in how they speak of their work. Sontag (1977) writes that the photographic image is not solely an objective document of reality but rather a product of what the photographer sees, an interpretation. Kobré (2011), author of the widely used text, Photojournalism: The Professional’s Approach, emphasizes the photojournalist should strive to capture moments of action, shoot candid (un-posed) images at “the precise moment” to reveal the drama of news stories. Other techniques, such as camera angle and lens distance, add perspective and intimacy to images. Kobré (1999) identifies an emotional hierarchy that creates a framework for evaluating photojournalism images; the tiers (from weakest to strongest) are informational images, including mug shots, images of buildings and places, and purely informational images that lack emotion and creativity; graphically appealing images, photographs with basic information taken at angles or perspectives that make them aesthetically interesting; emotionally appealing images, which convey the human element of subjects; and intimate images, which achieve a private human connection with the viewer.

These visual criteria generally fit well with journalism norms. Photojournalists are socialized within newsroom environments and adopt photographic versions of journalism news values, including conflict, proximity, human element, novelty, and timeliness (Brennen, 2010; Lowrey, 2002; Shoemaker & Reese, 2014). For example, some images capturing drama display conflict, emotion demonstrates the human element, moments of surprise illustrate novelty, and the precise (or decisive) moment reflects a sense of timeliness. Photojournalists are watchdogs, creating historic records. Tagg (1993) writes photography is “vested with a particular authority to arrest, picture and transform daily life; a power to see and record; a power of surveillance” (p. 4). Furthermore, visual images have long been associated with objectivity, as presenting a representation of reality perceived more truthful than other forms of communicative symbols (Adatto, 2008; Messaris & Abraham, 2001; Newton, 2001).

Despite the power of their images to tell stories, photojournalists have long struggled for equal recognition with their “word” colleagues in the newspaper newsroom (Brennen, 1998; Cookman & Stolley, 2009; Langton, 2009; Lowrey, 2002; Yaschur, 2012; Zelizer, 1995). Zelizer (1995) notes that conflict extends to at least the 1930s, when writers and editors resisted the growing influence of photojournalism at a time when new technology improved the quality and speed of producing photographs. Writers and editors have long constituted the newsroom’s dominant culture, viewing their norms of objectivity and accuracy as more important than visual values held by photojournalists (Lowrey, 2002). In addition, the fact that reporters are more likely to have a university degree contributes to the overall “words first” hierarchy in newsrooms (Fahmy et al., 2014; Kobré, 1999).

In the digital era, photojournalists’ newsroom status has further eroded (Newton, 2009). Citizens witness newsworthy events and record them on their cell phones, an activity coined as “random acts of journalism” (Lasica, 2003, p. 71; Bruns, 2010). Nearly every contemporary disaster has been shot by non-professionals who happen to be at the scene (Hadland et al., 2016). Photojournalists complain that editors perceive photojournalism equates to “simply pushing a button at the right time in the right place” (Lydersen, 2013, para. 7). A photojournalist who worked in both the chemical and digital eras asserts that digital age news managers think “the photographer is irrelevant” and “no one cares how the photo looks” (Klein-Avraham & Reich, 2016, p. 438). There is a perception among news managers that visuals can come from reporters with iPhones and members of the public (Johnson, 2015).

The routines of photojournalism work have also changed considerably. The digital camera allows for continuous shooting, much like “firing an automatic rifle,” which diminishes the photographer’s skill of capturing the decisive moment (Klein-Avraham & Reich, 2016, p. 434). Photographers also do a great deal more gatekeeping and quality control at the scene of news. They view the images immediately after taking them, deciding whether they have the images they need, which ultimately means spending less time at the scene of news (Klein-Avraham & Reich, 2016). With digital transmission of images, photojournalists spend less time in the newsroom, attend fewer editorial meetings, and report a loss of influence in photo selection (Klein-Avraham & Reich, 2016). Professional photojournalists say they are sometimes referred to as “technicians” rather than craftsman, discrediting their specialized skills, education, and training (Mäenpää, 2014, p. 1).

A meager amount of research explores similarities and differences between professional and citizen photojournalism. An assessment of citizen-generated news images found that citizens covered similar events as professional photojournalists—demonstrations, disasters, international news, and feature stories; however, these images were taken at a greater distance and were more often posed than images taken by professionals (Greenwood & Thomas, 2015). Brennen and Brennen (2015) assessed the user-generated content of 12 legacy print, television, and web media outlets and found three main categories of usage: traditional citizen photojournalism (citizens who witness news events and record them), personal media (images usually created before events that provided background or description), and social media content (images on social media that frequently had gone viral). They conclude that the ubiquity of news and information contributes to a broader sense that news is an “interchangeable product” (Brennen & Brennen, 2015, p. 531) that de-emphasizes the importance of expert or skilled journalistic labor.

News Presentation

Lowrey (2002) coined the term “newspaper presentation work” (p. 411) as “the tasks involved in constructing the visual context for news information, including the selection of images and the juxtaposition and sizing of news elements” (p. 412). Those responsible for news presentation work are visual editors and designers, who—like professional photographers—possess a knowledge base that includes art and design. Presentation workers apply visual and journalism norms, and integrate these norms in ways that enhance work efficiency and interdepartmental cohesiveness. Lowrey (2002) notes the selection of visual images and page design “serve a practical purpose for the news organization by making the page more eye-catching” (p. 415).

The elimination of professional news photographers—and the steady stream of visual content they produce—affects news presentation work. The photographic resources and options that visual editors have at their disposal are factors that shape their decision making and ultimately shape newspaper content. This impact is important because “decision making about the role of visual and textual symbols has bearing on the quality and nature of the news product and therefore on the public interest” (Lowrey, 2002, p. 412).

The Times Herald-Record

The Middletown (NY) Times Herald-Record is a tabloid paper located about 65 miles northwest of New York City with a daily readership of nearly 400,000 adults. The paper’s coverage area includes the Catskill Mountain counties of New York state as well as adjacent counties in Pennsylvania and New Jersey (Hudson Valley Media Group, 2017). The Times Herald-Record was sold by News Corp to GateHouse Media in September 2013 (“News Corp. Sells 33 Papers,” 2013).

On November 1, 2013, the newspaper announced that it was laying off its four staff photographers as well as three newsroom managers as part of a restructuring of news operations (Winslow, 2013). The paper’s visual editor was retained. The photographers were all longtime members of the National Press Photographer’s Association (NPPA), and two were in the top three of the NPPA’s 2013 news clip regional contest. Combined, the photojournalists had nearly 100 years experience, and one had been at the paper for 35 years. The photographers were told that the paper “is going in a different direction,” given a two-page human resources paper, and told to turn in their cameras and company car. “They’re giving reporters iPhones and plan on using a couple of area freelancers,” a laid-off photographer told the NPPA (Winslow, 2013).

Hypotheses and Research Questions

The study’s four hypotheses and four research questions are organized around three purposes: to explore for content differences between professional and non-professional images published in the newspaper, to explore for differences in news presentation of professional and non-professional news images, and to explore for pre- and post-layoff differences in both content and presentation of news images.

The literature reveals that photojournalism possesses many elements of a profession (Brennen, 2010; Lowrey, 2002; Zelizer, 1995). It is guided by a specialized knowledge base, shared set of values, and common approaches that routinize the work. Photojournalists synthesize their visual and artistic values with professional values of journalism in their images. Kobré’s (1999) emotional hierarchy is a widely accessed and taught taxonomy for evaluating the quality of photojournalism. These ideas suggest that news images taken by professional photojournalists will depict photojournalism values to a greater extent than those taken by non-professionals. Four hypotheses and two research questions about the differences between professional and non-professional news images are posed:

H1: Professional photographs will be significantly higher on the emotional hierarchy than non-professional photographs.

H2: Professional photographs will have significantly more depictions of conflict than non-professional photographs.

H3: Professional photographs will have significantly more action than non-professional photographs.

H4: Professional photographs will contain significantly more depictions of human element than non-professional photographs.

RQ1: Are there additional differences in the news image content of professional and non-professional photographs?

RQ2: Are there differences in the news image presentation between professional and non-professional photographs?

In addition, two research questions were asked about pre- and post-layoff differences in image content and news presentation.

RQ3: In what ways and to what degree did news image content change after the layoff of photojournalists?

RQ4: In what ways and to what degree did news image presentation change after the layoff of photojournalists?

Method

The study focused on images in the printed version of the newspaper because copies of the paper before the layoff were attainable (unlike online editions), and the printed paper provides an excellent sample to study changes in news presentation decisions (e.g., image use and design) because of the finite space and uniform dimensions of the printed product. Constructed 2-week samples were randomly selected from both 6 months prior and 6 months following the layoffs. Constructed week samples have been demonstrated as more representative of yearly content populations than simple random and consecutive day samples; 2-week constructed samples produce lower sampling error than 1-week constructed samples (Riffe, Aust, & Lacy, 1993). All news-editorial images in the papers selected were analyzed.

Variables

The researchers examined the photographer (professional or non-professional) in relation to two categories of variables: image content and news presentation. Nine image content variables measure presence of journalism values and photography techniques and skills:

Emotional hierarchy: Coded as informational, graphically appealing, emotionally appealing, or intimate (Kobré, 1999).

Proximity: Local, regional, national, or international.

Sphere: Public sphere or private sphere. Public sphere depicts images involving issues of governance (e.g., public officials, public meetings, court hearings, public demonstrations, and protests); private sphere images are of personal interest (e.g., sports, religion, entertainment, consumerism).

Action: Action or no action.

Human element: Human element or not. Images revealing emotion or depicting people in uniquely human endeavors.

Conflict: Images of war, crime, legal, and some political, spot news, and sports-related situations.

Timeliness: Images taken in past 24 hr; images taken more than 24 hr prior; images for upcoming event (precise time taken is not discernable), or unable to tell.

Lens distance: Long, medium, or close shots or no people.

Photographic angle: Up angle, down angle, or eye level.

Seven news presentation variables measure image usage and design decisions:

Size: Square inches of image.

Number of images on a page.

Total number of images.

Position in relation to fold: Above, below, or above and below the fold (Rodriguez & Dimitrova, 2011).

Side of the page: Left, right, or left and right side of page (Rodriguez & Dimitrova, 2011).

Role of the photograph in content unit: Single or multiple images accompanying a text story, a teaser, a stand-alone image, a photo essay, or other.

Photo category:¹ Spot news, general news, feature, sports, columns/commentary, obituaries, or other.

Professional photographs were those that were credited as staff, wire, or stock photographs. Non-professional images were those that were credited as citizen-shot, non-staff, “for the Times Herald-Record,” “courtesy of,” “photo provided,” or with a non-staff name. Images for which the source was not clearly identified (i.e., file images, mug shots, and images without a credit) were not included in professional/non-professional analyses. In addition, each photograph was coded as taken before or after the layoff.

Intercoder reliability

Two coders analyzed the images. A 10% subsample was randomly selected to test for reliability (Wimmer & Dominick, 2011). Cohen’s kappa was calculated to measure the level of agreement between the coders on each variable. The range of kappa coefficients was .84 to .98, reaching good to high levels of reliability on all variables (Popping, 1988). Kappa coefficients are noted parenthetically: source (.98), emotional hierarchy (.85), proximity (.91), sphere (.88), action (.90), human element (.88), conflict (.86), timeliness (.85), lens distance (.84), photo angle (.84), size (.90), images per page (.90), fold (.90), side (.89), role in content unit (.90), and category (.89).

Differences of proportion tests determined the significance of differences of the nominal variables by photographer (professional/non-professional) and pre–post layoff. Independent-samples t tests were used to test the significance of the parametric variables (image size, image number, and number of images per page).

Results

A total of 1,503 photographs—789 prior to the layoff and 714 after—was analyzed. Of the sample, 897 photos could be identified as taken by professionals (n = 488) or non-professionals (n = 409).

H1 predicted that professional photographs would be higher on the emotional hierarchy than non-professional photographs. This hypothesis was confirmed. Table 1 shows that while only a small number of professional images achieved intimacy (1.8%), the top rung in the hierarchy, zero non-professional images were intimate. Professional images were significantly more emotionally appealing (25.4%) than non-professional photographs (10.3%), a 15% point difference. Furthermore, professionals shot significantly more graphically appealing images (23.6%) than non-professionals (7.6%). Nearly, five of six non-professional images (82.2%) were purely informational, the lowest measure in the hierarchy, whereas about half of professional images (49.2%) were.

Table 1.

Emotional Hierarchy by Professional and Non-Professional Photographers.

	Photo source
Emotional hierarchy	Professional(n = 488; %)	Non-professional(n = 409; %)
Intimate	1.8	0**
Emotional	25.4	10.3***
Graphically appealing	23.6	7.6***
Informational	49.2	82.2***

Difference of proportions between professionals and non-professionals significant at p < .01. ***Difference of proportions between professionals and non-professionals significant at p < .001.

Table 2 shows results for H2, H3, and H4. H2 predicted that professional photographs would have significantly more depictions of conflict than non-professional photographs. Conflict is depicted in 22.1% of professional images, significantly more than in non-professional images (13.2%). This hypothesis is supported. H3 predicted action would be significantly more prevalent in professional than non-professional photographs. This hypothesis was confirmed; action is depicted in 62.9% of professional photographs, nearly twice as often as in non-professional photographs (32.5%). Finally, H4 predicted that human element would appear significantly more in professional photographs than non-professional photographs. This hypothesis was also confirmed; nearly half (45.1%) of professional photographs contained the human element, compared with 23% of non-professional images.

Table 2.

Conflict, Action, and Human Element by Professional and Non-Professional Photographers.

	Photo source
News image content variable	Professional(n = 488; %)	Non-professional(n = 409; %)
Conflict	22.1	13.2***
Action	62.9	32.5***
Human element	45.1	23.0***

***

Difference of proportions between professionals and non-professionals significant at p < .001.

RQ1 asked about additional ways the news image content differs between professional and non-professional photographs. Significant differences appear in sphere, timeliness, proximity, and lens distance.

Sphere

Professionals shot significantly more public sphere images (32.4%) than non-professionals (21.8%). Conversely, professionals shot a lower percentage of private sphere images (67.6 %) than non-professionals (78.2%). Both differences were significant, p < .001.

Timeliness

Professional photos depicted significantly more timely images—photos taken within the last 24 hr—(50.5%) than non-professional photographs (23.2%), p < .001. Furthermore, professionals shot significantly fewer images that preview upcoming events (23%) than non-professionals (30.3%), p < .01.

Proximity

Non-professionals took significantly more local photographs (77.0%) than professionals (29.3%), p < .001. However, professionals took more international (10.0%), national (31.6%), and regional (27.0%) images than non-professionals (1.0%, 6.8%, 13.7%, respectively), p < .001 for each.

Lens Distance

Professional photojournalists shot significantly fewer close-up shots (13.9%) than non-professionals (37.7%), p < .001. Instead, professionals took significantly more medium (51.8%) shots than non-professionals (36.2%), p < .001. Finally, professional photojournalists shot more long shots (22.1%) than non-professionals (16.1%), p < .01.

RQ2 asked about the differences in news image presentation between professional and non-professional images. Significant differences were found in size, fold, side, and news category.

Size

Professional photographs ran significantly larger than non-professional photographs, t(893) = 6.73, p < .001. The mean size of professional images was 9.22 square inches compared with 6.19 square inches for non-professional images.

Fold and Side

Professional photos were placed more prominently than non-professional photos. Professional photographs were above the fold (67.2%)—a more dominant position—significantly more often than non-professional photos (58.2%), whereas non-professional photographs were more often placed below the fold (25.9%) than professional photographs (14.1%). Conversely, non-professional photographs were significantly more frequently placed on the left side of the page (29.3%)—a more dominant position—than professional photos (11.3%). But, professional images ran across the center of the page (62.9%)—both on the right and left side; also very dominant yet—significantly more frequently than non-professional images (46.2%; see Table 3).

Table 3.

Fold and Side News Presentation of Professional and Non-Professional Photographs.

	Photo source
	Professional(n = 488; %)	Non-professional(n = 409; %)
Fold
Above	67.2	58.2***
Above and below	18.6	15.9
Below	14.1	25.9***
Side
Left	11.3	29.3***
Left and right	62.9	46.2***
Right	25.8	24.4

***

Difference of proportions between professionals and non-professionals significant at p < .001.

News Category

Professional photographs depicted spot news significantly more frequently (8.2%) than non-professional photographs (2.9%) and sports (47.7%) significantly more frequently than non-professional photographs (19.6%), p < .001 for each. However, non-professional photographs depicted general news (32.5%) and feature stories (17.6%) significantly more frequently than professional photographs (27.6%, p < .05%, and 11.9%, p < .01, respectively).

RQ3 asked about differences in news image content before and after the layoff. The only significant changes were image source and proximity of images.

Image Source

Table 4 shows the differences in sources of images prior to and following the layoff of photojournalists. Non-professional photographs significantly increased from 18.9% to 32.7%, and professional photographs decreased significantly, from 53.4% to 40.6%. Prior to the layoff, 18.1% of images were staff-shot. After the layoffs, these shots dropped to 4.2%.

Table 4.

Photo Source Pre- and Post-Layoff.

	Pre/post
Source	Pre-layoffs(n = 789; %)	Post-layoffs(n = 714; %)
Professional	53.4	40.6**
Wire	29.2	31.1
Staff	18.1	4.2***
File	4.9	4.5
Stock	1.2	0.8
Non-professional	18.9	32.7***
No credit	27.7	26.7

Difference of proportions between pre and post-layoff sources significant at p < .01. ***Difference of proportions between pre and post-layoff sources significant at p < .001.

Proximity

There was a significant decrease in national images following the layoff (from 21.7% to 13.3%, p < .001.).

RQ4 explored for differences in news image presentation before and after the layoff. There were significant pre–post layoff differences for two of the seven news presentation variables: placement in relation to fold and news category.

Fold

Images were placed less prominently following the layoffs in terms of fold. Specifically, photographs placed below the fold increased significantly from 19.8% to 25.8%, p < .001, and images placed above and below the fold—more prominently—decreased from 17.0% to 11.1%, p < .001.

News Category

Only one significant change occurred after the layoffs in terms of news category. Specifically, there were significantly more feature photographs prior to the layoffs (18.9%) than following the layoffs (11.6%), p < .01.

Discussion

This study examined photographs in the Middletown (NY) Times Herald-Record prior to and following the November 2013 layoff of the newspaper’s entire photojournalism staff. The layoffs of photojournalists at well-respected newspapers and magazines in recent years has drawn a defensive response from photojournalists (e.g., Garcia, 2013; Jeffries, 2013; T. B. Mortensen & Keshelashvili, 2013) and increasing attention from scholars (Brennen & Brennen, 2015; Greenwood & Reinardy, 2011; Klein-Avraham & Reich, 2016; Yaschur, 2012). Yet, little research has explored differences between professional and non-professional news images and their presentation in news products (Greenwood & Thomas, 2015; T. Mortensen, 2014). Furthermore, the impact of the elimination of photography staff on a news product has not been studied.

This study found there are significant differences in the content of news photographs taken by professionals and non-professionals. Professional photojournalists shot images significantly higher on the emotional hierarchy (Kobré, 1999), reflecting photojournalists’ long-held dedication to illuminating the human side of social issues and problems (Brennen, 2010). Professionals are better at capturing intimate, emotional, and graphically appealing images than non-professional photographers. These results indicate that this emotional hierarchy is a well-understood and practiced axiom among professional photojournalists. Conversely, 82%—nearly five of six—of the non-professional photos were purely informational images of people and places, the lowest rung on the hierarchy. Furthermore, professionals demonstrate photojournalism values more in their photography; professionals’ images more often include conflict, action, human element, timeliness, and the public sphere than non-professional photographs. Professionals are also preferred for certain assignments, especially spot news and sports photography, which require a combination of news judgment and capturing the decisive moment. These findings refute suggestions that enhanced digital technology and rapid-firing cameras allow non-professionals to routinely produce photojournalism on par with professionals (Klein-Avraham & Reich, 2016).

The differences between professional and non-professional images are also reflected in page design (news presentation). Professional images ran almost 50% larger than non-professional images (9.22 to 6.19 square inches), and were generally placed more prominently on the page. The data support that the visual editor and page designers at the Times Herald-Record recognized differences between professional and non-professional images, and gave preference to professional images, as these images better reflected photojournalism norms and made the page more visually appealing (Lowrey, 2002). More broadly, these results also demonstrate the existence of a professional culture among photojournalists and visual editors—“picture people”—that is defined by shared values (including ethics), practices, and routines that impact the news product (Horton, 1989; Kobré, 2011; Lowrey, 2002; Shoemaker & Reese, 2014).

Following the layoff, there were clear differences of photography in the newspaper, primarily in news presentation. The photographs were generally displayed less prominently. Predictably, more news photos came from non-professionals after the layoff, who contributed about a third of the images published. The newspaper’s staff took just 4% of the published photographs after the layoff, suggesting that reporters were seldom expected or capable of shooting photography while on reporting assignments. The use of wire images increased slightly—but not significantly—after the layoff.

Most interesting is the relatively low use of staff photographs before the layoff (there was a higher percentage of non-professional than professional photographs in the paper before the layoff). The fact that the paper had existing relationships with non-staff photographers who supplied nearly 20% of the published photographs before the layoff may have contributed to the decision by the new owner, GateHouse, to eliminate the photography staff. And, after the layoff there were not significant differences in many of the content variables, including emotional hierarchy, action, human element, conflict, and inclusion of public sphere images. The most discernable content difference after the layoff was fewer images of national news. However, the few content differences reinforce the finding that the visual editor or page designers were able to minimize the impact of the layoff by choosing and editing images by professional standards and running the poorer quality images supplied by non-professionals smaller and less prominently.

Taken together, the results support photojournalists’ assertions that they take different news images than non-professionals, and these images capture what is newsworthy and distinctly human about the news significantly more than non-professionals. However, this may not be enough to maintain their professional legitimacy and control over their work (Abbott, 1988; Brennen & Brennen, 2015; Freidson, 1984; Klein-Avraham & Reich, 2016; Lowrey, 2002). Shoemaker and Reese’s (2014) media sociology work identifies five levels of influences on news content. Their Hierarchy of Influences Model suggests the strongest influences are at macro-levels: as news reflects the social systems and inter-relations of the social institutions that produce it. Professional values are primarily meso- and micro-level influences, varying by organization, professional norms, routines, and individual differences. The digital age has reshaped the media ecosystem at the societal level; people have expanded media choices, more control over the media they consume and the ability to create, publish, and disseminate media content on their own. This egalitarian, participatory media ecosystem assesses quality by different standards than professionals. Mendelson (2013) suggests amateur photographs may offer more authentic perspectives than those produced by photojournalists. The “subjective witnessing” and “crude camera work” of citizens and non-professionals can give images a greater authority (Bock, 2012, pp. 648, 650). These macro-level changes appear to overwhelm photojournalists’ attempts to assert their professional legitimacy and control, whereas supporting their assertions that photojournalism quality is not as important in the digital age (Johnson, 2015; Lydersen, 2013).

This study focused on one newspaper that laid off its entire photojournalism staff. The findings here provide tentative, and not generalizable, results of the impact of such layoffs. The study also limited its analysis to images published in the printed paper. Future research can extend these findings in several ways: include a broader sample of news products and including newspapers that experienced staff reductions (a more common phenomenon than elimination). It seems important to account for the extent to which news outlets rely on their photojournalism staff, as this may affect the likelihood of staff reductions. As news outlets seek to open the processes of journalism to the public, it is likely that the incorporation of non-professional images will become a more routine part of news presentation work. Studies of image quality and presentation across media platforms, including mobile media, may yield different results.

This study contributes to the research on visual journalism by identifying precise differences in news photographs taken by professional photojournalists and non-professional photographers. It also measures the impacts of a decision to eliminate a photojournalism staff, and how this reduction of resources affects the quality of images and their presentation. The study supports that—by professional standards—the photojournalism quality clearly suffers when the images are taken by non-professionals. However, this study also produces a somewhat nuanced picture: despite the clear differences in image content between professionals and non-professionals, the Times Herald-Record was able to minimize the impact of the layoff on image content. This finding could be interpreted to vindicate GateHouse’s decision to eliminate the photojournalism staff. Or, it may reflect another in a series of short-sighted and largely ineffective strategies by newspaper management over the past two decades (Lacy, Stamm, & Martin, 2014). In an era where the importance and power of visual images is widely accepted, the wisdom of reducing or eliminating photography staff—for whatever reasons (e.g., cut costs, the ubiquity of digital images, audience engagement)—remains an open question.

Footnotes

Declaration of Conflicting Interests

The author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

Funding

The author(s) received no financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

Notes

Author Biographies

Tara M. Mortensen is an assistant professor of visual communications at the University of South Carolina. She received her PhD in 2013 from the University of Oklahoma. Her research agenda includes the de-professionalization of photojournalists, citizen photojournalism, and visual stereotyping.

Peter J. Gade is the Gaylord Family Endowed Chair. He is co-editor of Changing the News: The Forces Shaping Journalism in Uncertain Times (2011) and co-author of Twilight of Press Freedom: The Rise of People’s Journalism (2001). His research explores the nexus of media management and economics, news sociology, and normative values of journalism. He studies change, the forces that create it, its affect on news organizational thinking and strategy, and how it affects work routines and professional values.

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