Picturing Tragedy: A Content Analysis of the Publication of Graphic Images in Newspapers

For decades, the inclusion of graphic photographs in the news has been a matter of controversy. One important criticism made by news audiences is that the publication of graphic imagery could be guided by racial and cultural biases. However, there is little empirical research to either support or disprove this notion. Therefore, this study investigated several factors that could be related to the publication of graphic imagery. Images included in news about tragic events published by Mexican, U.S. and German print newspapers (N = 1,746) were analyzed in a quantitative content analysis. We particularly studied whether the inclusion of graphic images is more likely for certain events or for certain victims. Results showed that news about geographically and culturally distant events is more likely to include graphic imagery than news about proximate events. In addition, we discovered that non-White victims and non-citizen are more likely to be shown in graphic imagery. Finally, we found that Mexican and U.S. newspapers are more likely to publish graphic images than German newspapers.