A Semiotic Analysis of Newspaper Front Page Photographs
A Semiotic Analysis of Newspaper Front-Page Photographs
Paul Carter
The newspaper is a form of news communication that presents a display of codes that should provide the reader with information of the world. The medium itself produces signs that the reader can interpret at their leisure without a time constraint, unlike television or radio. This means that the reader can take time to interpret the codes and therefore give the information more scrutiny. News is expressed in a newspaper through linguistic, typographic and graphic codes which are defined by the medium itself. This can be seen in the physical confines of a newspaper affecting the contents and therefore the codes and signifiers used to communicate the stories. As P.Rock explains in 'News as Eternal Recurrence ', ‘Policies affecting the layout of a newspaper predetermine what can be reported about the world.’(cited in Cohen and Young, 1981:p.75) Therefore, the confines of the text as a whole influence the news being reported and the codes used in this communication. The selection of what news is relevant is central to the ‘news industry.’ This gathering and reporting produce codes of behaviour that are translated through the presentation of the news in the newspaper. Through a comparison of different papers these codes, related to the photographs and the paper as a whole, will become evident along with the ideology behind the news itself.
To explore the use of front-page photographs in newspapers, and the subsequent interpretation of these images by readers, a semiotic analysis of examples would provide a useful insight. However, it is necessary to set the scene of the subject matter under scrutiny.
First of all ‘what is a photograph?’ A simple explanation of a photograph is a picture produced through the chemical action of light on light sensitive film. It is a medium of recording reality that is iconic as well as indexical. Although a photograph resembles or imitates something, making it iconic,
Paul Carter
The newspaper is a form of news communication that presents a display of codes that should provide the reader with information of the world. The medium itself produces signs that the reader can interpret at their leisure without a time constraint, unlike television or radio. This means that the reader can take time to interpret the codes and therefore give the information more scrutiny. News is expressed in a newspaper through linguistic, typographic and graphic codes which are defined by the medium itself. This can be seen in the physical confines of a newspaper affecting the contents and therefore the codes and signifiers used to communicate the stories. As P.Rock explains in 'News as Eternal Recurrence ', ‘Policies affecting the layout of a newspaper predetermine what can be reported about the world.’(cited in Cohen and Young, 1981:p.75) Therefore, the confines of the text as a whole influence the news being reported and the codes used in this communication. The selection of what news is relevant is central to the ‘news industry.’ This gathering and reporting produce codes of behaviour that are translated through the presentation of the news in the newspaper. Through a comparison of different papers these codes, related to the photographs and the paper as a whole, will become evident along with the ideology behind the news itself.
To explore the use of front-page photographs in newspapers, and the subsequent interpretation of these images by readers, a semiotic analysis of examples would provide a useful insight. However, it is necessary to set the scene of the subject matter under scrutiny.
First of all ‘what is a photograph?’ A simple explanation of a photograph is a picture produced through the chemical action of light on light sensitive film. It is a medium of recording reality that is iconic as well as indexical. Although a photograph resembles or imitates something, making it iconic,
References: • Bignell, J (1997): Media Semiotics: An Introduction. Manchester: Manchester Press • Chandler, Daniel (1994): Semiotics for Beginners. [WWW document] URL http://www.aber.ac.uk/media/Documents/S4B/ • Gambles, Helen (1998): A semiotic Analysis of a Newspaper Story. [WWW document] URL http://www.aber.ac.uk/media/Students/hlg9501.html • Rock, P (1981): ‘News as Eternal Recurrence’ in S. Cohen & J.Young (eds) (1981): The Manufacture of News: Social Problems, Deviance and the Mass Media. London: Constable. • Selby, Keith & Ron Cowdery (1995): How to Study Television. Macmillan Press April 2000