Pictures Boost Your Story's Visibility

In my recent posting "Embrace Your Learning Curve," I described several tips to help new citizen journalists provide good coverage while even they're starting to learn the ropes of reporting and the nuances of the topic they've chosen to cover.

The last tip on that list, "Think Pictures" actually is pretty important. This one can make a huge difference in the "play" your story gets...

I offered this advice in the context of a piece of citizen journalism I published this week in YourHub.com (a web site of the Rocky Mountain News). See: "Routes and Flexibility Collide in Transit Village."

Even though I was covering a public meeting and didn't bring my camera, I found a graphic opportunity for my story: a map. OK, it wasn't a great graphic. But it was relevant and colorful, and it related directly to the core theme of my story. And, since it was produced by a government (the City of Boulder), it was copyright-free.

So I attached that image to my article when I posted it. And guess what? As of today it's in the prominently positioned "Featured Stories" box on the main page of the YourHub Boulder site. I'm not sure how long it will remain there, of course, but I've saved a copy of the page for the record. (Click the image above to see what it looked like as of today.)

This is exactly what I'd hoped would happen.

I went to the trouble of finding a decent, relevent image because I noticed that only stories with images have a chance of getting played as "featured stories" on this site. YourHub's layout requires it. Like any journalist (citizen or otherwise), I want my work to get the best possible play, which will increase its potential audience and impact. So I knew going into this story that I'd want an image.

In general, pictures (especially good pictures) make your story more interesting, and they increase the likelihood that your story will get better visual play, attract links, or be syndicated elsewhere.

If my story had no picture, it wouldn't have gotten good play. The way YourHub community sites are set up, only the featured stories get mentioned individually on the community's home page. To see more articles (including any stories that lack pictures), you need to click the "stories" button in the left-hand navigation bar, and then scroll down a list.

So check out this screen grab (click the image at left), and see if you can spot my article listed there. If my story had no picture, this is the only way people would have found it.

...Personally, I don't think that approach is the most attractive for YourHub readers or contributors, but it is what it is, so I'm trying to work with it.

 

So again, for good measure, here's the advice I offered last time:

THINK PICTURES. If you're going out to cover any public meeting, think in terms of images. I'm not talking about boring talking-head photos. Instead, consider taking or acquiring photos or images related to the matter at hand.

For instance, if a public meeting concerns a flood plain check for archival photos of past flooding in that region. If it's about public recreation centers, go to a local rec center and get someone's permission to photograph them working out. Use your imagination, and make sure to ask subjects' permission -- preferably before you start shooting. Or acquire and prepare an appropriate graphic, such as a map.

Comments

[tribeless]

I think you're spot on Amy. The only thing I would add is there are plenty of free stock photo sites where you can easily grab generalized images; stock.xchng is a good example of one. http://www.sxc.hu/index.phtml. Granted, the stock photo sites may not be a great resource when covering local news.

[Lisa Williams]

Right on. Even if I don't have a picture I've taken, I often use little icons (there are tons of "free icons" pages on the web)just to draw the reader's eye to something and to make stories visually distinct. But my little pocket digital camera is my second most important tool after my laptop.

[Brad Sparks]

I also agree: an image draws a reader's attention to a news article. It also clarifies, expands, and quickens the reader’s understanding of the news item.

With the proliferation of inexpensive digital cameras and camera-phones, news events occurring in every corner of the world will soon become public knowledge before governments and organizations can spin the story to their advantage. The speed of reporting in the "public journalism" realm will continue to increase the amount of information (including the truth) available to anyone who has access to the web.

Public journalists are already out-competing professional journalists in the reporting of events. What more does the future hold?