Anderson, C.W. orcid.org/0000-0002-3893-8411, Kennedy, H., Aiello, G. et al. (1 more author) (2025) Generic visuals, news production and professional authority in the news industry. Journalism. ISSN 1464-8849
Abstract
This article examines the role that an emergent “object of journalism”, generic visuals, plays in professional journalistic practice. Generic visuals such as stock photos and simple data visualizations have standardized formats and appearances, perform particular design functions and circulate with increasing frequency in the news media. Because they are produced, distributed and consumed regularly and at speed in today’s news texts, it is important to investigate whether and how they are shaping and reshaping the profession of journalism. Drawing on semi-structured interviews conducted at three UK news organizations, we argue that journalists reinforce their own professional authority by imbuing generic visuals with particular news values, drawing on 21st century notions of the journalist-audience relationship to justify the use of generic visuals, and routinizing and standardizing their use. Through our analysis of this ubiquitous but overlooked visual form, we advance understanding of what constitutes professionalism within journalism.
Metadata
Item Type: | Article |
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Authors/Creators: |
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Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information: | © 2025 The Authors. Except as otherwise noted, this author-accepted version of a journal article published in Journalism is made available via the University of Sheffield Research Publications and Copyright Policy under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC-BY 4.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. To view a copy of this licence, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ |
Keywords: | Authority; journalism; metrics; professionalism; visuals |
Dates: |
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Institution: | The University of Sheffield |
Academic Units: | The University of Sheffield > Faculty of Social Sciences (Sheffield) > Department of Sociological Studies (Sheffield) |
Funding Information: | Funder Grant number ARTS AND HUMANITIES RESEARCH COUNCIL AH/T000015/1 |
Depositing User: | Symplectic Sheffield |
Date Deposited: | 29 May 2025 14:56 |
Last Modified: | 29 May 2025 14:56 |
Status: | Published online |
Publisher: | SAGE Publications |
Refereed: | Yes |
Identification Number: | 10.1177/14648849251342891 |
Related URLs: | |
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:227236 |
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Licence: CC-BY 4.0