Is Text vs Graphics an irrelevant debate?
Posted by Katie Ratcliffe on September 4, 2006 at 3:57 PM
Which is more important in a newspaper: text or graphics? Is visual media real journalism, or simply window dressing? In a commentary entitled “Oversized Graphics: Invasion of the Space Snatchers”, Gilbert Cranberg at Nieman Watchdog resurrects a classic debate, and sparks heated and in-depth responses from professional visual journalists. Yet, in today’s media environment, the issues he raises seem out-of-date and irrelevant.
Cranberg argues that newspapers are surrendering too much space to art and photography at the expense of the traditional word-based story.
Taking the side of the text-oriented editor, he writes: “Readers subscribe to newspapers for text, not artwork. To the extent that newspapers substitute overly-generous graphics for news and opinion they shortchange readers and alienate them.”
Subsequently, several news graphics professionals rebut Cranberg’s claims and assumptions. Their comments are an excellent defense of the news story conveyed in visual media. Yet, I find it sad that we are debating this at all nowadays.
Technology has revolutionized the news business, both in terms of content presentation and delivery, and while the transformation is exciting to witness, it is also tricky to implement. To me, the important issue is not which media form deserves prominence, but rather, how can we best apply the principles of journalism to new technology.
The infographic is a good example. In a rebuttal to Cranberg, Charles Apple, graphics director for The Virginian-Pilot, writes: “Dress up is a term that many, many old-school journalists have used to describe graphics of any type. In fact, note how Mr. Cranberg says he used that dressing: ‘I believe in making newspaper pages more attractive.’
“And therein lies the problem. Visual journalism isn’t about making newspaper pages attractive. It’s about telling stories. It’s about telling stories in a way that narrative can’t always do.”
Apple’s comments and Cranberg’s fears can easily be transferred to other fields of journalism. There is also text, photography, audio slideshows, video podcasts, Flash animations, interactivity, and more. Each form has a unique relationship with its content. Each requires the journalist, photographer or artist to obtain specialized training on how to adapt it to a news story. And, increasingly, each requires some level of teamwork.
Thus, the issue is not which media form deserves the most space, but rather how does each complement the others, and how can we integrate multiple media most efficiently into the overall news product.
Taking the side of the text-oriented editor, he writes: “Readers subscribe to newspapers for text, not artwork. To the extent that newspapers substitute overly-generous graphics for news and opinion they shortchange readers and alienate them.”
Subsequently, several news graphics professionals rebut Cranberg’s claims and assumptions. Their comments are an excellent defense of the news story conveyed in visual media. Yet, I find it sad that we are debating this at all nowadays.
Technology has revolutionized the news business, both in terms of content presentation and delivery, and while the transformation is exciting to witness, it is also tricky to implement. To me, the important issue is not which media form deserves prominence, but rather, how can we best apply the principles of journalism to new technology.
The infographic is a good example. In a rebuttal to Cranberg, Charles Apple, graphics director for The Virginian-Pilot, writes: “Dress up is a term that many, many old-school journalists have used to describe graphics of any type. In fact, note how Mr. Cranberg says he used that dressing: ‘I believe in making newspaper pages more attractive.’
“And therein lies the problem. Visual journalism isn’t about making newspaper pages attractive. It’s about telling stories. It’s about telling stories in a way that narrative can’t always do.”
Apple’s comments and Cranberg’s fears can easily be transferred to other fields of journalism. There is also text, photography, audio slideshows, video podcasts, Flash animations, interactivity, and more. Each form has a unique relationship with its content. Each requires the journalist, photographer or artist to obtain specialized training on how to adapt it to a news story. And, increasingly, each requires some level of teamwork.
Thus, the issue is not which media form deserves the most space, but rather how does each complement the others, and how can we integrate multiple media most efficiently into the overall news product.
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Newspapers need to embrace the digital revolution and they haven't even yet embraced the visual journalist one. How many newspapers in the world have a visual journalist on board ? In France, for example, none of the daily local newspapers have one. Thanks to the thousands of "Mr Cranbergs" that keep this industry from changing.
I mean nobody needs visual journalists...