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You know what
newspapers do best? Two things: teaching and storytelling. In a way, that’s our sacred
mission -- giving people data they need to lead better lives,
and capturing the drama of life in the 21st century. Teaching and storytelling. Data and drama. Good teaching conveys data;
good storytelling conveys drama.
Keep those words
in mind as you thumb through a newspaper. A photo of some guy
holding a trophy teaches us nothing. It tells no story. A photo
of that same guy doing the thing that earned him the award --
helping the children, building the park -- would convey more
data and drama. It would be an immeasurably superior image.
Look at the photo
above. Why is it a classic? Consider all the data it contains: the who, the
what, the where, the how. Now consider the drama it contains: an actual
murder, occurring right before your eyes.
Apply this same
standard to every photo in your newspaper. You’ll realize
that’s why those grip-and-grin photos are so
journalistically weak: Those awkward-looking people could be
anybody anywhere. Only their families and friends will care
about those photos; the other 99% of us will turn the page,
looking for real news.
Always search for
the true photograph behind every story — the real
activity, not the phony ceremony. And if your editor
insists on running “cheese” photos anyway, consider
creating a cheese page to house all those trophy-clutching
grip-and-grins. That way, you can keep your news separate from your cheese.
At the Bainbridge
Island Review, this page gives local award-winners their moment
of glory -- and gives the paper a home for random grip-and-grin
photos.
