The Routledge Companion to Visual Journalism
Published on 2. September 2025
524 pages
978-1-040-40804-9 (ISBN)
Description
Representing the first collection of its kind, The Routledge Companion to Visual Journalism introduces fundamental topics and ideas, delineates the diversity and complexity of this growing field, and creates a foundation for future scholarship and study.
In the contemporary digital media landscape, still and moving images, interactive visualizations and virtual reality are increasingly important to attract attention, cultivate engagement, inform and influence opinions, and provide a more emotive and immediate viewing experience for news audiences. This Companion draws together leading voices from academia and industry to survey this dynamic and ubiquitous mode and inspire dialogue. Along with an introduction and conclusion, the volume is structured in five sections and covers people and identities; practices and processes; technologies, equipment, and forms; theories, concepts, and values; and audience interpretation and impact. Beginning by looking at the history of visual news, chapters go on to explore how visual news is created; how journalists visually represent gender, race, sexuality, (dis)ability, "elites," and ordinary citizens; key ethical ideas and theories behind the creation of visual news; and how visual news is processed, drawing in research from eye-tracking, media psychology, and media literacy. The book ends with a critical look at the future of the field.
The Routledge Companion to Visual Journalism is a recommended resource for all advanced students and researchers of visual journalism and communication and will also be of interest to practitioners in these fields.
In the contemporary digital media landscape, still and moving images, interactive visualizations and virtual reality are increasingly important to attract attention, cultivate engagement, inform and influence opinions, and provide a more emotive and immediate viewing experience for news audiences. This Companion draws together leading voices from academia and industry to survey this dynamic and ubiquitous mode and inspire dialogue. Along with an introduction and conclusion, the volume is structured in five sections and covers people and identities; practices and processes; technologies, equipment, and forms; theories, concepts, and values; and audience interpretation and impact. Beginning by looking at the history of visual news, chapters go on to explore how visual news is created; how journalists visually represent gender, race, sexuality, (dis)ability, "elites," and ordinary citizens; key ethical ideas and theories behind the creation of visual news; and how visual news is processed, drawing in research from eye-tracking, media psychology, and media literacy. The book ends with a critical look at the future of the field.
The Routledge Companion to Visual Journalism is a recommended resource for all advanced students and researchers of visual journalism and communication and will also be of interest to practitioners in these fields.
More details
Series
Language
English
Place of publication
London
United Kingdom
Publishing group
Taylor & Francis Ltd
Target group
College/higher education
Illustrations
8 Tables, black and white; 1 Line drawings, black and white; 77 Halftones, black and white; 78 Illustrations, black and white
File size
14,04 MB
ISBN-13
978-1-040-40804-9 (9781040408049)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions
Nicole Dahmen | T.J. Thomson
The Routledge Companion to Visual Journalism
Book
09/2025
1st Edition
Routledge
€335.00
Shipment within 10-20 days
Persons
Nicole Dahmen is Professor of Journalism in the School of Journalism and Communication, University of Oregon, USA. She has gained an international reputation for her scholarship, which falls into three key areas, sometimes standing alone but more frequently intersecting: visual journalism, ethics, and contextual reporting.
T.J. Thomson is Senior Lecturer (Associate Professor) at RMIT University, Australia. His research is united by its focus on visual communication. He is the author of To See and Be Seen: The Environments, Interactions, and Identities Behind News Images (2019), winner of the NCA's Diane S. Hope Book of the Year award.
T.J. Thomson is Senior Lecturer (Associate Professor) at RMIT University, Australia. His research is united by its focus on visual communication. He is the author of To See and Be Seen: The Environments, Interactions, and Identities Behind News Images (2019), winner of the NCA's Diane S. Hope Book of the Year award.
Content
Introduction: visual journalism from above and below: exploring forms, definitions, structures, evolutions, challenges, considerations, and caveats
T.J. Thomson and Nicole Dahmen
SECTION 1 Practices and processes
1 From then to now: a history of visual news
Keith Greenwood
2 The photojournalistic paradox: trust in visual journalism
Asko Lehmuskallio and Paula Haara
3 Iconic images: Production, performance, power
Marco Solaroli
4 Visual news values
Helen Caple
5 Visual news editing and crisis coverage
Maria Nilsson
6 The importance of understanding audience behavior, editorial values, and business acumen in digital news design
Al Lucca
7 Mobile storytelling and design: how to plan, design, and optimize for digital platforms
Mario R. Garcia
8 Generic visuals in the news
Giorgia Aiello, Helen Kennedy, and C.W. Anderson
9 Embodied gatekeeping within visual news
Kyser Lough
10 Terror/izing images: citizens' visual reportage
Stuart Allan
SECTION 2 Theory, concepts, and values
11 Theorizing the visual: key debates, controversies, and questions for visual journalism
Ilija Tomanic Trivundza
12 Seeing news: AI and human-centered media literacies
Paul Mihailidis and Jamie Cohen
13 The process of visual ethics
Don Heider
14 Evolving technologies and practices of witnessing global wars and conflicts
Sandra Ristovska and Anat Leshnick
15 User-generated video and news: evidence, storytelling, and ethics
Mary Angela Bock
16 Visual journalism, witnessing, and the contested terrain of victimhood
Johanna Sumiala and Anu A. Harju
17 Seeking awe, finding shock: terrorism and extremism in visual journalism
Basma M. Taha and Shahira S. Fahmy
18 Beyond the "iconic" climate visual: investigating absent representations of climate change
Oliver Blewett, Sylvia Hayes, Ned Westwood, Veronica White, and Saffron O'Neill
19 Critical issues in visual solutions journalism
Jennifer Midberry and Patrick Walters
SECTION 3 People and identities
20 Beyond the hegemonic gaze: toward an ethics of care in photojournalism
Tara Pixley
21 Rethinking gender ideologies through photojournalism: Life's "modern living" and editor Maria Sermolino
Dolores Flamiano
22 Visual semiotics of press photographs of persons with disabilities
Pei Soo Ang
23 Desiring the disabled body: how disabled women are represented in visual journalism
Joy Jenkins and Ayleen Cabas-Mijares
24 The visualization of ordinary people in televised news
Goeran Eriksson and Johan Nilsson
25 Photojournalism across cultures
Yung Soo Kim
26 Visual journalism and the representation of politicians
Umberto Famulari and Lesa Hatley Major
27 Just like us: celebrity journalism and the promise of visual access
Ryan Linkof
SECTION 4 Audience interpretation and impact
28 Improving our conclusions about visual media effects
Renita Coleman
29 Effects of visual framing in multimodal news media environments
Stephanie Geise and Yi Xu
30 Measuring attention patterns: principles of eye-tracking as a research methodology
Esther Greussing
SECTION 5 Technologies, equipment, and forms
31 The visual frontier: the evolution of TV and video journalism
Debora Wenger and Robert Papper
32 Visuals and news aggregators: macro and micro views
Susan Keith
33 Immersive journalism with augmented and virtual reality
Maxwell Foxman
34 Data, data visualization, and interactives within news
Paul Bradshaw
35 Animation and journalism
Christoph Steger
36 Visual journalism on Instagram and TikTok
Jorge Vazquez-Herrero, Maria-Cruz Negreira-Rey, and Jonathan Hendrickx
37 Social media live streaming (SMLS) in the digital news media: the case of Twitch
Alexis Apablaza-Campos
38 The evolution of global drone journalism
Astrid Gynnild and Turo Uskali
39 Unmasking deception: how computer vision could empower journalists in unveiling visual misinformation
Sang Jung Kim, Yingdan Lu, and Yilang Peng
SECTION 6 Conclusion
40 Possibilities, principles, and provocations for studying visual journalism into the future
T.J. Thomson and Nicole Dahmen
T.J. Thomson and Nicole Dahmen
SECTION 1 Practices and processes
1 From then to now: a history of visual news
Keith Greenwood
2 The photojournalistic paradox: trust in visual journalism
Asko Lehmuskallio and Paula Haara
3 Iconic images: Production, performance, power
Marco Solaroli
4 Visual news values
Helen Caple
5 Visual news editing and crisis coverage
Maria Nilsson
6 The importance of understanding audience behavior, editorial values, and business acumen in digital news design
Al Lucca
7 Mobile storytelling and design: how to plan, design, and optimize for digital platforms
Mario R. Garcia
8 Generic visuals in the news
Giorgia Aiello, Helen Kennedy, and C.W. Anderson
9 Embodied gatekeeping within visual news
Kyser Lough
10 Terror/izing images: citizens' visual reportage
Stuart Allan
SECTION 2 Theory, concepts, and values
11 Theorizing the visual: key debates, controversies, and questions for visual journalism
Ilija Tomanic Trivundza
12 Seeing news: AI and human-centered media literacies
Paul Mihailidis and Jamie Cohen
13 The process of visual ethics
Don Heider
14 Evolving technologies and practices of witnessing global wars and conflicts
Sandra Ristovska and Anat Leshnick
15 User-generated video and news: evidence, storytelling, and ethics
Mary Angela Bock
16 Visual journalism, witnessing, and the contested terrain of victimhood
Johanna Sumiala and Anu A. Harju
17 Seeking awe, finding shock: terrorism and extremism in visual journalism
Basma M. Taha and Shahira S. Fahmy
18 Beyond the "iconic" climate visual: investigating absent representations of climate change
Oliver Blewett, Sylvia Hayes, Ned Westwood, Veronica White, and Saffron O'Neill
19 Critical issues in visual solutions journalism
Jennifer Midberry and Patrick Walters
SECTION 3 People and identities
20 Beyond the hegemonic gaze: toward an ethics of care in photojournalism
Tara Pixley
21 Rethinking gender ideologies through photojournalism: Life's "modern living" and editor Maria Sermolino
Dolores Flamiano
22 Visual semiotics of press photographs of persons with disabilities
Pei Soo Ang
23 Desiring the disabled body: how disabled women are represented in visual journalism
Joy Jenkins and Ayleen Cabas-Mijares
24 The visualization of ordinary people in televised news
Goeran Eriksson and Johan Nilsson
25 Photojournalism across cultures
Yung Soo Kim
26 Visual journalism and the representation of politicians
Umberto Famulari and Lesa Hatley Major
27 Just like us: celebrity journalism and the promise of visual access
Ryan Linkof
SECTION 4 Audience interpretation and impact
28 Improving our conclusions about visual media effects
Renita Coleman
29 Effects of visual framing in multimodal news media environments
Stephanie Geise and Yi Xu
30 Measuring attention patterns: principles of eye-tracking as a research methodology
Esther Greussing
SECTION 5 Technologies, equipment, and forms
31 The visual frontier: the evolution of TV and video journalism
Debora Wenger and Robert Papper
32 Visuals and news aggregators: macro and micro views
Susan Keith
33 Immersive journalism with augmented and virtual reality
Maxwell Foxman
34 Data, data visualization, and interactives within news
Paul Bradshaw
35 Animation and journalism
Christoph Steger
36 Visual journalism on Instagram and TikTok
Jorge Vazquez-Herrero, Maria-Cruz Negreira-Rey, and Jonathan Hendrickx
37 Social media live streaming (SMLS) in the digital news media: the case of Twitch
Alexis Apablaza-Campos
38 The evolution of global drone journalism
Astrid Gynnild and Turo Uskali
39 Unmasking deception: how computer vision could empower journalists in unveiling visual misinformation
Sang Jung Kim, Yingdan Lu, and Yilang Peng
SECTION 6 Conclusion
40 Possibilities, principles, and provocations for studying visual journalism into the future
T.J. Thomson and Nicole Dahmen
