The influence of news photography on society

News is everywhere, full of this society, and its influence on society is immeasurable. Let me talk about the influence of news photography on society.

Let's look at a historical true story.

1950 s news photography fraud history

In a paddy field with a yield of 30,000 Jin per mu, four children are standing on the ears of rice, jumping and laughing in the sun. The thick ears of rice at the foot seem to have sofa-like elasticity. This news picture taken by Xinhua News Agency reporter Yu Zai 1958 was first published in the first edition of People's Daily in August of that year. The figure mentioned in the photo description, which is dozens of times higher than the normal output, once made mainlanders have fanatical and blind confidence in the productivity of new China.

In the news history of China, this fake news photo is only a fragment of a huge news falsification system. But in the study of news history, this history is always hidden in the corner. And the recently published Red Flag Photo Studio &; mdash& ampmdash 1956。 Mdash 1959 China Photography Debate reveals the three-year debate on news authenticity in Chinese mainland 60 years ago, and tells the history of how news photos seek legitimacy for making fake news photos in the official context of serving politics.

Today, 60 years later, the first generation of photographers in China interviewed by Young-kwon Kim, the author of this book, not only lamented, but also lamented: "Historical relics are all over China."

Fiction and organizational processing

In the early 1950s, China's official news management agency &; The Press and Photography Bureau under the General Administration of Press and Publication is strict with the authenticity of news.

Xu, who joined the photography department of Xinhua News Agency from 65438 to 0952, still remembers two fake news cases mentioned by the teacher during the training. A reporter went to the suburbs of Beijing to photograph the Museum of Rural Culture. Perhaps the Cultural Museum has been dissolved, so he collected magazines and books and asked some farmers to pretend to look at it and take photos. High flyers, another Nanjing University, only had three boats when he filmed the harbor. He felt very withered, so he took two pictures and made one with six boats. Both journalists were punished, and the one who filmed the cultural center was fired for making nothing out of nothing.

At that time, the official stressed the need to "vigorously crack down on fiction." Young-kwon Kim said, however, due to the existence of fraud in reality, the industry has begun to discuss whether journalists can interfere with the people or things being filmed in the interview. After the establishment of the photography department of Xinhua News Agency, the official view gradually changed, and it was suggested that certain "organizational processing" could be carried out in the interview. The reason is to constantly improve the quality of news pictures, fully express the theme of pictures and the beauty of real life, and play a greater and better role in inspiring people.

1March, 956, Shi, director of the photography department of Xinhua News Agency, made a further interpretation. At that time, the top official of photography suggested that news photos must be completely true and opposed to fiction and manipulation. However, in some cases, it is necessary to make some technical adjustments to the shooting scene. For example, the thermos bottle and the teacups on the meeting table are too messy or too prominent in the picture, so a little arrangement is allowed without affecting the meeting.

But where is the boundary between fiction, manipulation, organizational processing and technical adjustment? These concepts have never been clearly described, which caused the confusion in the photojournalism field. In July this year, a photo of Du Xiuxian, a photojournalist of Xinhua News Agency, became the source of discussion on these issues.

This photo shows Du Xiuxian and his friend's children sitting in a rented children's car in Beijing Beihai Park. Du Xiuxian filmed this scene, and it was released as a news about renting a children's car in the park. However, the Beijing branch thought that this photo was purely "manipulated" and fake, so it was banned. When some colleagues criticized Du Xiuxian's behavior, Zhang Huixian of the photography team thought: Just because the reporter's child was in the car, we can't say that this photo is fictional or untrue. Du Xiuxian also explained that it is ideal to take photos with familiar children, but this will not affect the news and authenticity.

At the end of the year, in the official publication of Xinhua News Agency, the opinion of Xinhua News Agency Head Office was published, and it was put forward that "treat your family as&; Lsquo ideal &; rsquo； The subject is not suitable, and this ideal can only lead to arbitrary mercy. " However, a discussion about the authenticity of news did not stop after this opinion.

Serve politics

Three months before the Du Xiuxian incident, Mao Zedong proposed "a hundred schools of thought contend", encouraged intellectuals to express their opinions publicly, and even pointed out that "criticizing the government for not committing crimes", which provided a more relaxed public opinion atmosphere for this discussion.

In the next few months, editors, journalists, heads of industry publications and members of the photography association joined the discussion. The real cases provided by various personnel show that although fictional news is not recognized by the industry, it is not uncommon for reporters to interfere with the interviewees in the name of "organizational processing".

Hong Ke, a photojournalist of China Youth Daily, "arranged" a photo of Mao Zedong, which was well received by the government: in the lounge, a young female model worker, Xu Jianchun, lit Chairman Mao's cigarette, surrounded by seven young women, all smiling brightly.

According to Hong Ke's colleague Tie Hat, Hong Ke said that he had communicated with young women before shooting, hoping that they would cooperate to take good photos. When Mao Zedong walked into the lounge and habitually pulled out a cigarette, Hong Ke immediately winked at Xu Jianchun, who got the message and picked up the match on the table. Xinhua's evaluation of this photo is that it reflects the harmonious and intimate relationship between Chairman Mao and the youth, and also reflects the youth's respect and love for Chairman Mao.

Because "organized" photos usually have distinct themes, perfect composition and lighting, and are easier to publish than captured news photos. Young-kwon Kim said that by 1957, even the fiercest opponents generally agreed that "correct organization and handling" should be allowed.

While these arguments were still going on in the commercial field, in June of 1957, Mao Zedong suddenly changed his attitude of supporting the arguments.

Shi's secretary and photo editor of Xinhua News Agency, Dai Gezhi, was sent to the farm. He once criticized that news photography was formulaic and conceptual because it emphasized "politics first" unilaterally. Wei Nanchang, the author of Darkroom Technology, an old photographer of Xinhua News Agency, the deputy editor-in-chief of People's Pictorial, Cang Shi, the head of photography group of People's Daily, Huang, the editorial director of National Pictorial, etc., and a group of people who have the right to speak in news photography have been branded as Rightists, all of whom are pursuing the art of photography.

In the suddenly tense political atmosphere, in May 438+0958+10, news photography suddenly put forward that "news photography is the propaganda tool of the party". According to Tong Bing, a journalism professor at Fudan University, after the anti-rightist movement, the function of the media was defined as "the tool of class struggle". Until the Great Leap Forward, the government further proposed that journalists must become the "tame tools" of the party.

From the business discussion of "manipulation and organizational handling", the topic at this time gradually turned to the relationship between news and politics. At first, the spontaneous discussion of editors and reporters began in August 1958, and it also became an official organization activity: a series of symposiums were held all over the country, with participants from Xinhua News Agency and 2/kloc-0 branches, 27 newspapers and 12 companies nationwide.

1959 12, the Xinhua News Agency ended the three-year discussion with a Concluding Opinion. The Opinions did not explain the problems of posing, organizing and handling, but established the "correct interview route" of news photography: under the leadership of the party, politically encourage the masses to fight against the enemy.

The influence of Soviet Union

Political tool theory provides legitimacy for making fake news photos. Many old photographers reminded that this is because of the influence of the Soviet Union.

1954 Xinhua News Agency sent a huge delegation to study in the Tass news agency of the Soviet Union. Yuan Ling, a photojournalist of Xinhua News Agency, compiled a booklet entitled "Experiences of Photography Practice in the Soviet Union" and published it in 1957. In the same year, he wrote "Learning from Soviet Photographers" and other articles, suggesting that news reports must obey the requirements of political struggle, which is enlightening to the people. In order to pursue the essential truth of news, photographers are allowed to intervene reasonably and complete the shooting of photos.

The most important thing for Tass news agency is "the photos should be perfect". Xu said: "I can say that 90% of the photos of the Tass news agency during this period are posed."

Yang Enpu, a professor at Beijing Film Academy, felt the same way when he was studying photography in the late 1960s. At that time, their research mode was two documentaries co-produced by the Soviet Union and China &; Mdash& ampmdash; The victory of China people, liberated China. These two documentaries are still broadcast today, and many of them were taken afterwards. The battle of crossing the river during the day in Victory of the People in China actually happened at night, and all the Kuomintang troops in the documentary were played by the People's Liberation Army. Yang Enpu said: "At that time, learning from the Soviet Union confused us all."

However, Young-kwon Kim believed that all the bad results could not be blamed on the Soviet Union, which was suspected of expanding the influence of the Soviet Union. 1968+0950 Sino-Soviet relations broke down in the late 1950s, and the comprehensive study of the Soviet Union was interrupted. 1968+0957, the mainland also translated and introduced a large number of reflective articles about the falsification of news photos by Soviet news photography.

Journalists at that time did not understand the news, which may be a personal factor in the emergence of fake news. Xu said that when he started as a photojournalist, for a long time, he didn't know that photography was divided into artistic photography and news photography. He even thinks that photos do not belong to news articles, and articles can only be composed of words.

In the early days of the founding of the People's Republic of China, news photographers were basically composed of three types: war photographers from liberated areas, elderly photographers mainly gathered in Shanghai and newly graduated college students. These people have different opinions on what news photography is. However, photographers from the liberated areas have a heartfelt joy for the new China, and the descendants of an old photographer believe that this emotion makes them tend to show the bright and beautiful side of society.

"Shadow enemy"

While the Soviet Union exerted its influence, the news photography concepts in Europe and America, accompanied by a few foreign photographers and photographers educated in Europe and America, constantly impacted the minds of mainland journalists.

From 65438 to 0956, Xie returned from the United States and entered the Xinhua News Agency to engage in photographic research. He insisted that journalists should not be manipulated or organized in interviews because it is good for politics; From August 1958 to August 1959, in the official discussion on the authenticity of news photography, he also stressed that journalists are not the makers of events and must report according to what happened.

From June 65438 to June 0958, during the Great Leap Forward, Bresson's visit to China, which put forward the "decisive moment", gave a stronger impact to the mainland news photography community. On June 20th, Chen Bo of China Photography Society accompanied Bresson to the Ming Tombs Reservoir. He found that Bresson photographed almost everything he saw. When he saw a soldier reaching for a cucumber from under the tent, he ran away like a cat scratching at a mouse. But when the soldier found him taking pictures and smiling at the camera, he immediately put away the camera, shook his head and left. Photographers in the same photography club rarely capture the movements of the characters, and the photos are not vivid enough. In contrast, Chen Bo felt that we did not pay enough attention to Bresson in some aspects, which is worth improving.

A month later, Bresson was invited to have a discussion with people in Beijing photography field and answered questions about the authenticity of photos, how to show this authenticity, camera selection and so on. He criticized a photo showing a bumper harvest. A woman is holding a bundle of wheat and laughing happily. Of course, a bumper harvest means laughing, but don't laugh too much. In the field, of course, she is a dust servant, but this woman is very clean.

The photography world sent him away as a "friendly person". 1In May, 1959, the leaders of the China Photography Society and the staff of various photographic theory research journals saw his photos published in American magazines Life and The Queen, and thought that he denied the achievements of China's "Great Leap Forward" in 1958 and served the anti-China propaganda of American imperialism.

Dialectical thinking on five popular concepts in news photography

First, "going to the world" does not mean "going to the west"

10 For many years, the press and photography circles in China have been hearing the call of "going out". However, it is worth studying how China's news photography "goes to the world" with its mental outlook and values.

In recent years, with the acceleration of China's economic development, it is more urgent for the world to know more about China, and there are more channels for China's news photography to contact with the world. China's news photography works are spreading more and more vigorously, and a group of modern news photographers who are employed by domestic mainstream media and have certain dialogue ability with the world also show themselves in the dialogue with the world. They not only have a deep understanding of their motherland, but also have the ability to participate in international exchanges, so they have made achievements in exchanges. But at the same time, we should also see that at present, more than 90% of the communication channels in the world are controlled by western developed countries, and the world's attention to China still depends to a great extent on western media, which mostly use their own manuscripts. Due to ideological differences and the long distance and high cost of coming to China to collect and write articles, some western journalists can't conduct comprehensive and in-depth interviews in China, which leads to the lack of fairness and accuracy in the content they spread. However, due to the poor communication channels of photography, the lack of internationalization of photography language and the fact that the views on news events are often different from those of the "West", it is difficult for photographers in China to make their news photography "go global". Even a few photographers who have made achievements in participating in international exchanges mostly rely on western media and their evaluation methods to improve themselves. Therefore, at present, how China's news photography communicates with the world, how to express China, and what kind of news photography works can "represent China" have objectively become the research topics for China's news photography to participate in the international news photography competition.

From the national level, it is the general trend to integrate resources to participate in world exchanges. First of all, there must be relevant organizational forms to make overall plans and formulate relevant systems and regulations. For example, the scope of network communication, the provisions of market transactions, and the handling of illegal works are all subject to certain institutional constraints. The second is to establish a market framework and build an exchange platform for dialogue with the world. In this regard, we can give full play to the mass color of China Photojournalism Society, establish an online communication platform for photojournalism with relevant economic entities at home and abroad, and further open up channels for timely communication of photojournalism at home and abroad. For example, hold academic forums related to the observation of world news photography works and the evaluation of international news photography. This year, with the approval of the Ministry of Culture, the "Yipin Photography Festival" was held in Dongying City, Shandong Province in August, the "Pingyao International Photography Festival" was held in Pingyao County, Shanxi Province in September, and the "China Photography Festival" was held in Putian City, Fujian Province in June 5438+ 10, and a considerable part of it was the transaction and exchange of news photography works. This kind of communication must use communication rules, common language and standard means to participate in the world communication, that is, to participate in the communication in a way that is in line with the world and introduce China in an internationally common way.

From the photojournalist's point of view, it is necessary to change the concept quickly, from the mindset of "I contribute, you use" to "production and sales transactions" to complete the market model. For example, in the past, after a photojournalist or correspondent took news photos, they often sent them to the photo department or page editor of a newspaper, and they decided whether to use them or not. The fate of news photos is in the hands of one party. With the trading platform, authors can choose their favorite websites or set up their own public mailboxes to display their photos for newspapers and even domestic and foreign media to choose at will, which greatly increases the probability of their works landing.

From a cultural point of view, China's traditional culture emphasizes collectivity in values and totality in ways of thinking, which is obviously different from western culture characterized by individuality. Differences in cultural backgrounds between the East and the West, differences in political and economic interests of countries and differences in living habits will inevitably lead to different values and different evaluation methods for the same news event, which will inevitably lead to different evaluation results for the same news picture.

The practical significance of discussing this proposition lies in: China photojournalists should be sober-minded, and news photography with distinctive political ideas, distinctive ideological characteristics and distinctive cultural colors will be the spokesman and guardian of "national will" and "national culture" on the whole, whether in the current new situation of economic globalization or after the world economy is highly developed in the future; At the same time, it is even more cosmopolitan only if it is national. Therefore, the "going out" of China news photography should not be "going out" or "connecting with western values", but "going out" based on China's national conditions and China's taste, using internationally accepted visual language and expression.

Second, "new technology" is not equal to "good photos"

At present, the new technology usually mentioned in China news photography circle generally refers to: the interview recording function with digital camera as shooting tool; Picture information transmission function with super terminal and Internet as transmission means; Editing function of computer digital image processing &; Hellip& amphellip has solved the problem of photo dissemination and photo production since the birth of news photography. Nowadays, photographers don't have to take pictures at the scene anymore. They are distressed by the lack of development conditions and the slow transmission speed.

On July 3, 2006, 5438+0, 1, after Beijing won the right to host the 2008 Olympic Games, photographers interviewed at the China Millennium Monument in Beijing and Chang 'an Street in Tiananmen Square used digital technology to shoot on the spot and sent the articles to the editorial department. Statistics show that at present, more than 60% newspapers at or above the prefecture level in China have been equipped with one or more digital cameras. The daily newspaper published yesterday's photos and the evening newspaper published today's photos, which has always been regarded as an ideal goal by the press and has become a reality. The faster spread speed of news pictures and the changes of newspapers because of "quickness" not only satisfy readers' sense of freshness and quickness, but also cultivate readers' reading habit of watching the latest and fastest news pictures, which becomes an important criterion for them to evaluate the news photography level of a newspaper. As a result, the standard of being evaluated as a good photo because it was quick to see the newspaper has changed accordingly. In other words, today's audience not only needs to be quick, but also needs to see news photos with great information, vivid images, profound ideological connotation, novel service content and true feelings taken at the same news scene. Therefore, as a beneficiary of new technology, China photojournalist can only be regarded as one of the basic conditions for becoming a modern photojournalist after mastering the new technology, and "weapon" is an important factor rather than a decisive factor. It is the photographer's goal to take excellent news photos with new technology. Because the ultimate demand of readers is good photos, nothing else.

Third, "highly educated" does not mean "highly educated"

Although there is a word difference between "education" and "education", the connotation and extension are far from each other. Education, refers to a person's experience of studying in school and the graduation certificate obtained. Learning and accomplishment refer to the knowledge and accomplishment a person has. Obviously, the two words are not difficult to distinguish. But in daily life, it is often ignored or confused by people.

During the "two sessions" this year, in the discussion of the Hebei delegation of the National People's Congress, Wang Xudong, secretary of the Hebei Provincial Party Committee, answered a representative's question about the phenomenon of "only academic qualifications" in some units, which was quite enlightening. He said: "In the turbulent years, we suffered a lot, such as not paying attention to academic qualifications, and the less knowledge, the more revolutionary. Now, we can't help but see that some units do exist on the issue of employing people & lsquo only has academic qualifications &; rsquo。 In history and reality, there are countless examples of high education but poor ability, low education but high knowledge. " At present, we are in a period of rapid updating of knowledge, and the knowledge we learned during school will soon need to be supplemented. Therefore, a person's diploma can't fully represent his actual knowledge, working ability and comprehensive quality. More knowledge must be learned and accumulated in working practice. To keep up with the development of the times and not be eliminated, we must keep learning and learn for life.

Generally speaking, compared with the brother industry, the photojournalism team in China has a lower overall education and a gap in cultural literacy. This requires vigorously advocating the wind of reading and learning, advocating the wind of following suit and lifelong learning, making great learning and accumulating great feelings. In the past 10 years, although a number of journalism students and graduate students have joined the photography team, the overall low academic support still exists. Moreover, even these new forces with higher academic qualifications need to continue to study, update their knowledge and enrich their academic qualifications in order to truly adapt to the needs of the times. Fan Jingyi, former editor-in-chief of People's Daily and president of China Press Photography Society, has repeatedly advocated that photographers should "improve their academic qualifications".

Fourth, the "scale" of photos in the layout is not equal to the "effect" in society. Since last year, the press in China has frequently used two words, one is called "Picture Reading Times" and the other is called "Thick Newspaper Times". "Reading pictures" refers to reading pictures of information, and "thick newspaper" refers to a newspaper whose layout has increased to a certain number after expansion. Readers favor "looking at pictures" because looking at pictures can "tell a thousand words" and "looking at pictures is worth seeing". "Reading pictures" can break through the restrictions of different cultures and save time and credibility. Newspapers compete to expand the layout and enter the ranks of "thick newspapers", the main purpose of which is that "thick newspapers" can accommodate more text information and image information. "Thick newspaper" is thick to a certain extent because of "reading pictures", which makes it possible to optimize and maximize the effect of news photos on the layout, and also makes the goal of "making news photos bigger and more comprehensive on the layout" that China photographers have been calling for for many years come true step by step. Therefore, the development of "picture reading era" and "thick newspaper era" can not be separated from news photography, which also provides opportunities for its development.

However, bigger and bigger, more and more, does not mean better and better. Readers' great demand for news photography does not mean that the quality of news photography is ignored. In the process of reading newspapers, we often see news that a photo is enough to express the theme of the event, but some newspapers use a group of photos or a whole page or even more. In the process of editing pictures, some picture editors will "tear up" the group photos, then put them together into a "big platter" and publish them in the newspaper &; Hellip& amphellip not only loses the seriousness of news photos, but also affects the social effect of news communication, which greatly weakens the enthusiasm of photographers to dig good photos at the news scene. This is also the case. From the recent understanding in the industry, many colleagues feel the same way when communicating. They think it's easy to see photos in the newspaper now, but there is less joy after publishing their works. There are more photos published, and the space is bigger, but after a group or a photo was published before, the social response was less; There is a great demand for pictures, but it feels "cold" in the news photography industry &; These comparisons between hellip& amphellip show that the quality and quantity of photo reports have not improved simultaneously in the process of shooting and publishing, and editors have failed to deal with photos more accurately from the perspective of mining their news value and facilitating readers' reading. Therefore, when we enter the "era of reading pictures" and "era of thick newspapers" with full enthusiasm, photographers should be sober. No matter how the times change, no matter how many pages the editorial department provides for reporters, no matter how much convenience the computer provides for photo editing and processing, readers' demand for "good photos" loaded with "accurate news" will not change. Good social effect also requires the editorial department to arrange pictures reasonably.

5. "News photo planning" is not equal to "news photo hype". Just like anything, you must have a plan in advance. The planning of news photo reports is not available now. As long as we look through past newspapers, especially news and business magazines, it is not difficult to find that various newspapers have had many successful planning cases. Today, when the newspaper industry is facing market competition, planning is playing its power like a duck to water. Objectively speaking, people's conscious use of planning is the progress of history and the necessity of the development of the times. However, planning also has its own laws and principles. As far as the planning of photographic reports is concerned, planning based on respecting news facts and the law of news photography will generally produce good social effects. On the other hand, regardless of news facts, the so-called "planning" that makes a mountain out of a molehill about a subject with little or no news value has a poor social effect.

In the flood relief report of 1998, the workers' daily dispatched editors before and after the flood relief in time to make a full-page news photography plan for five consecutive days, with the theme of "flood raging", "mainstay standing", "iron frame building a long embankment", "party flag fluttering" and "affection in the disaster area", giving full play to the advantages of news photography.

There are two reasons for the success of this planning: first, the overall scale design of the report in the planning must be moderate; Second, the combination of layout (form) and selected photos (content) should be moderate. At the same time, in the process of editing and editing, the selection and cutting of news photos should be based on respecting the rules of news photography reporting and publishing excellent works. On the contrary, if the layout planning is too extravagant or make a mountain out of a molehill, then the selection of photos violates the rules of news photography reporting. Although the photo report is huge in scale and the topic is very eye-catching, it will inevitably give people the suspicion of speculation. Therefore, when we apply planning to the competition of news photography, we should not regard hype as planning. Otherwise, the effect will be counterproductive.