Video media persuasion

            The classic saying, “a picture says a thousand words” explains why video media is typically more persuasive than written news stories. Most people accept a picture as true since they can see the event with their eyes instead of reading an article and picturing the event in their head. For example, the pictures James Nachtwey displayed in his Ted Talks showed horrific events around the world many didn’t know existed. Pictures arouse more emotion and leave little room for questioning. What many people forget or don’t realize is the possibility of staging, alterations in light, and different angles of the picture. Such minor things can radically change the message of a picture. Darker lighting can make a picture more somber while a bright gleaming sun has a more joyful tone. The angle can show a different side of the story as well. When the statue of Suddam Hussein fell, one angle showed the ecstasy of those pulling the statue down hiding the protestors who did not support the end of his regime. Pictures can also be staged to portray a stronger message; therefore, what many accept as true, may not actually be so simple. These pictures still have a more profound effect on feelings, memories, and persuasion though. 

War Photography

“To take a picture of the war is to be against the war.”

Personally, I do not think that I could agree wholeheartedly either for or against this statement. However, for the purposes of this post, I would lean more towards agreement. I would more likely agree with the above statement because, most often, pictures of war depict death, destruction, torture, etc., and these images tend to sway the public opinion against the war. Even if a war photographer holds neutral viewpoints, the images of combat and war that he/she captures might still inspire negative feelings toward war in its entirety.

            During class discussion, my group talked about how perspective is everything, and about how photographers should be objective in the images that they capture, but will also inevitably display some form of subjectivity within their subject matter of choice. Thus, along these lines, war photographers will most likely be unable to avoid at least some degree of bias within their work. Moreover, as most war photographs (at least in recent times) feature the dark side of war, and highlight such images within the public eye, most war photographs (whether intentionally or unintentionally) will probably inspire more negative than positive feelings toward the war.

            However, there are always exceptions to the rule. There are some images, captured by war photographers that depict bravery and courage, and inspire patriotism within the eyes of the public. A good example of this is the “Flag Raising at Iwo Jima,” (1945) by Joe Rosenthal. This image has come to be widely recognized throughout this country, and serves as a symbol of American pride still today. Nevertheless, although there are certainly some exceptions, for the most part, “to take a picture of the war is to be against the war” carries true with regard to the feelings about the war that these images inspire within the eyes of the viewing public.

Subjective Journalism

When it comes to journalism, every viewer, listener, or reader has the belief that each reporter should be completely objective. While this should be what all journalists strive for, most of the time it is not the case. It’s not because the journalist is particularly bad. I think it is because it is fairly difficult if not impossible. Every writer, reporter or photographer has his or her own beliefs and values. Whether intentional or not, these reports are often leaning one way of another. Most of the time the leaning is so slight that many don’t notice. It is important to consider a few different ways that reporters can combat this. One way is rather simple, the writer could have a profile accessible by viewers that would share some of his or her beliefs and experiences. This would allow the follower to understand more about the scope that this journalist is looking through. This could also be done at the beginning of a speech or article. It could be considered a sort of disclaimer. It is a way to let the audience know where the journalist is coming from James Nachtwey’s speech on Ted talks can be taken for example. In the intro of his speech he describes that he was a child of the sixties. This lets the audience know that he is opposed to war. This gives the audience a frame to look through. They can see as he sees when they understand his perspective. For the most part nowadays, viewers, readers and followers know the tendencies of the publications they are looking at. Many viewers know which way certain publications lean in their reporting, especially when it comes to politics. When a viewer turns on MSNBC he or she knows that they will have a more liberal perspective. When a viewer turns of FOX he or she knows that they will be getting a more conservative perspective. 

James Nachtwey

The “question of the day” was whether or not photojournalist should be objective or subjective. My opinion might have differed on this question if I had watched another photojournalist’s story, but after watching James Nachtwey, I was certain that photojournalism should be subjective, as in my opinion, it would almost be impossible to be in his position and be objective. To photograph scenes of horror put in place by war would draw towards anyone’s emotions. To take these pictures and not be influenced by personal feelings is an unattainable task. Because these pictures are subjective they play a large role in persuasion. Although stated in his speech that persuasion was not his goal in photographing these scenes, being able to view these scenes first draws to emotion and then gives that person an opinion on the situation. But, whether democrat, republican, or indifferent the picture that James Nachtwey photographs effects you. As he photographed things such as the civil war in Guatamala, phamon in Semalia, or starvation in Sudan, by giving people with no voice a voice, and making the public aware, he persuaded people to be generous and give to those in need. He stated in his speech that journalism provided a channel for people’s generosity. He went to the extreme because getting that image out in the public mattered. A picture that one will refuse to accept persuades one to have influence in changing the situation. Although perspective is important in taking such a picture, in my opinion, perspective isn’t a crucial idea. For example photographing the African man’s face that turned into the light for Nachtwey to take a better picture, the audience would have been just as alarmed if there had been little light to see the man’s scarred face. One would have taken in the same idea as Nachtwey who felt as if he were looking at a cave painting, and the human race was still primitive. All of the details such as position, light, and viewpoint matter in these photographs. But my question is do that matter that much? The pictures seen in Nachtwey’s presentation are appalling no matter how you look at them. 

I realized I was capturing one story… Throughout Natchwey’s compelling speech, we learned of his many adventures throughout the world photography the atrocities the world faces by the evil that can consume the nations. James Natchwey traveled to many different areas of the world documenting the country’s conflicts. Israel vs. Palestine, Africa, Middle Eastern nations, North Korea and more. There were so many different evils that we was experiencing throughout these times, or so he thought. Until the 9/11 Attack in New York, “history crystalized” and he realized he’d been documenting one story. This quote hit me to the core and made me truly think about what we face in the nation. The truth is there is evil everywhere. People are not fighting separate wars, but there seems to be a world wide struggle of good versus evil; people who are willing to show compassion versus those who will slaughter to get ahead. There are those of us who want good for others and those are those of us who want good for only ourselves and that is why there is conflict in the world. It all comes down to the simple struggle between good and evil, the theme of countless novels we’ve ready throughout our lifetimes. Little did we know, this simple struggle is one that has plagued nearly every nation in existence.

One Story

Through his different experiences as a photojournalist, James Nachtwey “thought he was covering different things, [but] ultimately decided he was covering one thing”. These experiences helped Nachtwey to realize that his photos served a much bigger purpose than he originally imagined. Instead of covering war, critical social issues, global health issues, or crime and punishment in America, he discovered that was really covering reality and the experiences that people share. Nachtwey was using his skills and abilities as a photojournalist to share the stories of other individuals who might have never received this opportunity. Nachtwey consistently put himself in dangerous situations and pushed himself to the edge of human experience in search of these individuals and the stories that they carry. As he stated himself, these “photos give a voice to those who would not have one”.

Nachtwey’s experiences were shaped into one complete, circular story with the realization that we all share similar emotions through our different experiences. Tragedy, pain, heartbreak, hope, and courage are just a few of the emotions that Nachtwey was able to capture within his pictures from all over the world. His photographs shaped a story about people. People from different cultures, background, religions, ideologies, lifestyles, families, and beliefs live in the same world and experience the same emotions. These individuals may find themselves in different situations, but these situations ultimately shape the same sense of feeling within everyone. As a photojournalist, Nachtwey conveys these emotions in a manner that makes them relatable for all viewers. The realization that this was possible and necessary truly resonated with Nachtwey, and it provided him with an opportunity to help others experience what he describes as a “vital story” that needs to be told.

It’s amazing that the media and journalism can have such a profound impact on people, even the ones that produce it. Nachtwey’s experience with his own photographs and images had a powerful effect on his own mindset. He found himself looking beyond the image to try and understand the person in the story. I believe that his eventual goal is for others to witness the same phenomenon that he came across when taking pictures of the terrorist attacks on September 11. It’s more than just the issue being photographed that Nachtwey wants to develop, but it’s an understanding that we are all people living in this world together. Although he may have wanted to appear objective in doing this, it’s difficult to overlook a small amount of bias from Nachtwey through his dark, painful images. In a sense, all journalism operates in this manner, giving individuals a specific story about a specific topic, but hoping that they will use it as a catalyst towards understanding the deeper issues hidden behind the words and photographs.

Kody Frey

Vital Message

The intent and purpose of any content is to transmit [a] vital message[s] to its audience. Under the content encoder-decoder model, whereby the content creator encodes a message and in the process of consuming content the audience decodes it, it is up to the consumer of that content to deduce what the vital message is. A vital message is/are the key point[s] that the content creator is trying to get across to the consumer.

How then is the content consumer (decoder) able to figure out what the content creator’s (encoder) vital message is? As the encoder has little ability to judge the decoder’s state of mind, context, or system of logic, the vital message intended by the encoder may be lost to the interpretation of the decoder. Therefore, the encoder must take all possible measures to influence the decoder to share the same characteristics needed to extract the vital message as the encoder intended. This can be done through imagery that puts the decoder in a certain state of mind, concise and precise language that allows little chance for misinterpretation, etc. On the whole, the encoder needs to do as much as he or she can to create content that facilitates the decoding of the vital message in the way the encoder intended.

The decoder should also take steps in order to increase the likelihood that he or she is interpreting the vital message in the way the encoder intended. These steps could be to approach the content with an open mind, engaging in reflexive thought, or to subject oneself wholly to the experience offered by the content. That is, the decoder ought to do as much as possible to put themselves in the mindset that the encoder intended them to be in. With these steps, along with the proper encoding of the content, the decoder is much more likely to be able to grasp the intended vital message of the content.

- Avery Campbell

First Posts

For your first post, please respond to the questions/prompts you received in class on Tuesday. The prompts were fairly "big picture" but try to respond with depth rather than breadth. Each post should be the equivalent of (roughly) one page, but feel free to adjust the length to your topic. If you have difficulties, don't worry. We'll work them out tomorrow (Thursday.) ~T. F.