It seems that online news readers share some traits with children-they want to see the pictures.
The web provides a great outlet for photojournalism, because there is endless space. Unlike a newspaper, you don't have to choose just one photo for a story. I can't tell you how many times I've started to read a story and stopped once I noticed there was a slideshow to go along with it. If I can get the point of the story through pictures and short, concise captions, why would I spend my time reading?
I had never looked at either Reuters or the World Press Photo websites. Both offer pictures, but in very different ways.
Reuters: Photos all day, every day
What I first noticed about Reuters was the sheer volume of photos. It can almost be overwhelming. But the website does a good job of organizing the photos so users can easily navigate through the site. Their photos are arranged in slideshow formats, and examples of slideshows include:
- Editor's choice-the best pictures from the past 24 hours
- Pictures related to recent news-when I visited, the Emmys were featured
- Pictures of the month
- Pictures of the year
- You Witness News-the best pictures sent in from citizen photojournalists
Another benefit is that Reuters allows you to take pictures from the site. You simply drag them to your desktop. Reuters also gives you the option of sharing them, through platforms such as e-mail or even facebook.
Some of the pictures I chose to share (from Reuters):
World Press Photo: Pictures with an impact
The World Press Photo site is not the best website I've visited. The link to the photo gallery was initially difficult to find, and users are unable to take or share the photos because of copyright laws. While I understand the need for copyright protection, it seems that the inability to easily share the photos prevents them from being seen and making an impact -- the purpose of photojournalism.
The thumbnails for the photos were also very small, so you couldn't tell what the picture or even the story was until you clicked on them. Captions accompanying the photos were also short, and often repetitive. Most photos had 2 or 3 general sentences, and only 1 sentence about the specific photo.
The World Press Photo site, however, did have some advantages over other sites:
- Powerful, emotional photos
- Some photos were arranged by story, so you could see all the related photos
- Smaller volume of photos makes it easier to browse without frustration or wasted time
Moral of the story
In the end, I found that browsing through pictures online is more of a leisure activity. It's easy to get lost in the slideshows, clicking on links to more and more pictures. More than once I've found myself starting on a slideshow and realizing, an hour later, that I've got homework to do. Small thumbnails and overwhelming amounts of photos may deter some users, but in the end, they are a small price to pay for the images you get in return.
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