With the rapidly progressing world of the 21st century, it is not difficult to spot news outlets and journalists utilizing photography to assist them in composing their pieces of news and information. A group of readers and viewers alike are against the over usage of images, claiming that they are an unreliable originator of information and narratives. On the other hand, many have made the claim that the photos shown in news articles are undisputed and undeniable evidence while giving readers a visualization of the related topic matter. The ever growing usage of photography in news being unreliable is due to the speedy development of A.I generated imagery as well as the possibility that they might have been altered and changed by using photo editing softwares. However, photos are often considered to be the most credible medium with which journalists and news writers alike can provide their readers. They act as an aid for writers to demonstrate, as well as helping their audience visualize the story better.
Photography has been generally used in every form and genre of news ever since the invention of the very first photograph some hundred years ago. Journalists usually utilize this medium to provide visual proof instead of using only text, which sometimes may be boring or lacking for some readers. This method has been tried and tested for a couple hundreds of years and is proven to be a credible source of news and information. However, with the rise of photo and video editing technology, doubt surrounding the legitimacy and truthfulness of news photos also increase. There have been cases where news outlets, especially tabloids, would abuse these softwares to create shocking, provocative and untruthful imagery just for the sake of a hit piece. Newer technology that uses A.I to generate photos have also contributed to the growing doubt about images being used in news articles. With it becoming more and more indistinguishable from a real photo, readers start to doubt the legitimacy of news outlets and journalists alike. Not only that, a bad news writer can manipulate the photos they take so that only a select aspect of the news is shown, keeping one side of the story from the public to push their side of the story.
However, photography is one of the most common and cheapest ways for news outlets to provide some form of visualization and extra evidence on top of traditional texts for readers. Traditionally, photos used in news articles give the audience of the medium an on site scope of an event. They act as visual aids for readers to better understand, as well as providing them with the chance to analyze the scene and acknowledge the situation and narrative better. Good news outlets would often provide their readers with the big picture and only go into more detail once they have established the subjective narrative, not favoring any side.
Frankly, the wariness of readers towards photo evidence is completely understandable. Therefore, they should actively seek out more news outlets and stories instead of just staying in the comfort of their idealistic views. Readers ought to be open minded and analytical when consuming media in general and news in particular. They should compare information from many news outlets and journalists to come up with a conclusion on their own.
All in all, photography is still undoubtedly the greatest aid for both writers and readers alike. However, with the rise of technology, especially A.I generated photos and contents, false information and misinformation on the internet being spread around is not uncommon. Readers also play a key factor in keeping themselves well-informed while not being poisoned with misinformation by bad news writers and outlets alike.