This paper was presented at the Association for Education in Journalism and
Mass Communication in San Antonio, Texas August 2005.
If you have questions about this paper, please contact the author
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A Matter of Culture: A Comparative Study of Photojournalism
Abstract: The content of 628 news and feature photographs in ten
elite American and Korean newspapers was analyzed for differences in
composition, subject number, and subject identification. The Korean
approach to photojournalism was purely descriptive while the American
approach was more interpretive. Koreans presented far more news,
emphasized the group, and maintained a consistent composition.
Americans ran more features, emphasized the individual and varied
composition. Differences were explained by culture, normative
protocols, and differing media philosophies.
A Matter of Culture: A Comparative Study of Photojournalism
When first invented, photography was hailed as a language that
crossed borders. All one had to do was look at the photographic image
and one could see the facts of the matter regardless of the language
one spoke or the customs one adhered to. Such a quaint idea was soon
set aside, along with the fear that painting would be replaced or the
belief that the likeness of a ghost could be captured on film.
Photography is now generally recognized as the product of cultural
forces and is therefore particular to the culture that creates the
imagery (Sontag, 1977).
Yet the notion that somehow photography is a universal language
remains strong, particularly among journalists (Kobre, 2000, Lewis,
1995). Photographs made by foreigners fill the international news
pages of our newspapers and little thought is given to the cultural
background of the person who made the image. Most often it's not even
known. Only AP or Reuters serves as a credit line. The photo's
content seemingly stands on its own.
Photographs were being used in newspapers all over the world by the
1920s and they remain a crucial part of reporting, even in many
Muslim countries were figurative imagery is discouraged. Every day,
the international news agencies distribute photos by photographers of
many countries to newspapers published in many languages, read by
people of dramatically different cultures.
So are photographs a universal language or are they reflective of the
culture that uses them to generate meaning? This paper investigates
the photographic reporting in the United States and Korea with an eye
toward identifying cultural differences. It examines the literature
on media use and culture, on reporting practices in each country, and
describes various profiles of working journalists. It then analyzes
news photographs in 10 newspapers and analyses the content for
indications of cultural influence in terms of composition, normative
protocols, and media systems.
Cultural foundations
Media use can be understood as a reflection of a particular
social-cultural context and as a process of giving meaning to
cultural products and experiences in everyday life (McQuail, 2000).
Previous studies on comparative media systems have long recognized
that the characteristics of a country's media depend on the culture
in which they operate (Winfield, Mizuno, & Beaudoin, 2000). It is
therefore important to understand specific social-cultural contexts
when exploring behavioral phenomenon like communication via news photographs.
Several studies have explored how Korean culture has been shaped by
philosophy and communication. Yum's (1987) work identifies three
religious-philosophical systems useful in understanding Korean
thought and communication patterns. According to Yum, Confucianism is
one of several cultural roots influencing the contemporary Koran
value system that include Buddhism and Shamanism. Confucianism is a
philosophy emphasizing five basic tenets of moral life: "loyalty
between king and subject, closeness between father and son,
distinction between husband and wife, order between elders and
youngers, and faith between friends." These basic moral rules
emphasize relationships within social groups such as family, peers,
community, and nation. Yum asserts that Confucianism has guided many
Korean communication patterns and provides the foundation for
collectivism in Korean culture (Yum, 1987).
If Confucianism broadly guides Korean society, Protestantism
similarly guides American. In The Protestant Ethic, Max Weber (1958)
emphasized the role of "individualism" in promoting democratic
culture and ensuring productivity and prosperity. Today,
individualism is widely recognized as one of the core values in
American society (Lodge, 1975, Hofstede, 1991, & Triandis, 1989).
Collectivism vs. Individualism
The dichotomy of collectivism and individualism has been
operationalized in many cross-cultural studies in various social
science fields (Hui & Yee, 1994). Collectivism has been described as
"situation in which people belong to in-groups or collectivities
which are supposed to look after them in exchange for loyalty."
Individualism has been described as the "situation in which people
are supposed to look after themselves and their immediate family
only," (Hofstede, 1984 & Kim, 1996). According to Triandis (1989),
collectivism emphasizes relationships in that collectivists give
priority to the goals of the group over their personal goals or make
no distinction between goals of group and personal goals, while
individualists give priority to personal goals over goals of group.
Winfield and her colleagues (2000) examined how Asian notions of the
importance of the group and fixed truth differ from Western ideas
emphasizing individualism and the pursuit of truth. She further
investigated how these two extremes impacted Asian media systems by
looking mainly at China and Japan. Her work emphasized the importance
of social hierarchy in the creation of a body of authority.
In Asian cultures, an individual's social position necessitates
prescribed behavior. Asian cultures based on Confucianism sought to
ensure "social harmony by envisioning a strict hierarchical society
based upon key family relationships that defined everyone's role and
imposed enormous moral pressure on individuals to conform to their
roles." Asian cultures stress collectivism, hierarchy, and social
harmony. Winfield et al. urged Westerners to consider this as they
try to understand the Asian media environment (Winfield, Mizuno, &
Beaudoin, 2000).
Korean culture has been described as even more collectivistic than
Japanese culture (Kim, 1996, Gudykunst, 1984, & Hofstede, 1984). For
example, Klopf (1981) reported that the family unit was more
important than the individual in Korea, and, thus, decisions were
made in favor of the entire family, rather than for the sole benefit
of a single individual of the family.
A content analysis, which analyzed news photographs from The Chosun
Ilbo in Korea and The New York Times in America suggested several
ways cultural differences like collectivism and individualism were
reflected in news photographs (Kim, 2003).
Kim found that Korean news photographs focused more on describing
people as a group than American news photograph did, which more often
focused on showing individual personalities. The Korean photographs
were more likely wide-angle showing overall views with more subjects
than the American photos. The attendant captions provided less
specific identification of main subjects than did American captions
(Kim, 2003). No other studies have looked specifically at how the
"universal language" of photography differs between media
environments steeped in different cultural conditions.
Descriptive vs. Interpretative Approach in Journalism
There are two distinctive approaches used by journalists to document
social reality. Although American and Korean journalists cleave to an
ideal of "objective" observation, subjective factors pertaining to
"the individual, the organization, and the profession ... affect the
construction of reality" (Carey, 1989)
In early American journalism, newspapers generally presented partisan
views according to their political allegiance until the Associated
Press organized and began producing wire reporting that was
"objective enough to be acceptable to all of its members and clients"
(Schudson, 1978). Schudson explained that objective reporting, which
was mainly descriptive about what happened, not interpretative as to
why it was happening, became the norm by the start of the 20th century.
Schudson (1978) also noted that there could be "subjectivization" of
facts in a variety of ways and maintained that the development of
interpretative reporting was one example. Since the Great Depression
there have been various criticisms against American journalism's
objective reporting approach. People said mere reporting of what was
happening did not match the increasing complexity of the world.
Interpretative reporting, which went beyond mere description of the
facts became popular by the 1970s (Schudson, 1978).
All journalistic reporting—including photojournalism—can be done
using either a descriptive or interpretative approach. Parrish (2002)
indicated that the interpretative approach has been used in the
photojournalism field since the 1960s.
Konick (1996) has suggested that the traditional photojournalistic
practice of accurate description has also been challenged and
supplemented with more interpretive visual reporting. Konick's study
(1996) compared the coverage of conflict in Central America by two
photographers working there at the same time. He found that while the
AP photographer took the traditional descriptive approach, the Magnum
photographer produced more interpretative documentation showing a
greater degree of freedom & flexibility (Konick, 1996).
Most American instructional texts say photographic coverage of
general news and spot news should essentially describe what happened
at the scene. A feature story, however, should adopt a more
interpretative approach. The photojournalist is supposed to find
unique aspects of ordinary situations through a fresh perspective
(Kobre, 2000). Most other genre are interpretive as well. Parrish's
textbook (2002) says the difference between a portrait or an
environmental portrait and mug shot is that the portrait requires a
photographer to "offer glimpses into hearts and souls" of subjects so
readers can feel the subject's individual personality. In contrast,
mug shots reveal nothing more about a subject than his physical
appearance (Parrish, 2002). Mug shots are descriptive. Portraits or
environmental portraits are interpretative.
As for angle of view, an above eye-level view is considered a good
way to describe the whole scene, (Parrish, 2002) whereas a low-angle
is more interpretative because low-angles usually convey
extraordinary perspective (Kobre, 2000).
Joe Elbert, the Assistant Managing Editor for Photography at The
Washington Post and an influential leader in contemporary practice
has classified editorial photographs into four hierarchical
categories: 1) informational, 2) graphically appealing, 3)
emotionally appealing, and 4) intimate (Kobre, 1999). According to
this hierarchy, informational photographs usually focus on reporting
"facts with out flavor." As photos rise in the hierarchy, they
exhibit a more interpretative approach (Kobre, 1999).
Profiles of Photojournalists
Several similar studies have surveyed photojournalists' attitudes
toward their jobs and provide some understanding of their work. In
America, the classic study by Bethune (1984) presented demographic
descriptions of American photojournalists. In her study, Bethune
found the majority (50.9%) of respondents were young, between 25 and
35 years old, and 92.7% of them were white. The study reported that
two-thirds of photojournalists had a bachelor's degree or some
college education. She noted that the educational level of relatively
young photographers was much higher than older photographers.
According to Bethune (1984), American photojournalists thought
opportunities to improve their photographic abilities, to stimulate
interaction with other photographers and journalists, and to help
readers were important for their job. More than two-thirds of
respondents were satisfied with their job as photojournalists working
for the daily newspapers. Most interestingly, the majority (72.3%) of
American photojournalists considered their profession as a means of
self-expression.
Research conducted by Bissland (1984) and Kielmeyer (1993) generated
nearly identical demographic characteristics for photojournalists.
According to Kielmeyer (1993), American photographers agreed that
their job required creativity and that they generally had enough time
to get their creative work done. Newton (1998) found that American
photojournalists practiced a balance between objectivity and
subjectivity as they reported that reality could be objectified while
they might recognize that reality was subjective.
In Korea, Park Sang Moon (1997) conducted a survey examining Korean
photojournalists' attitudes toward digital imaging technology. He
found the three-quarters of photojournalists in Seoul were relatively
young—between 25 and 40 and that nearly all (99.6%) had at least a
bachelors' degree, although few had studied journalism. Furthermore,
photojournalism in Korea was pretty much male-dominant. Only five
respondents (2.0%) were women (Park, S.M., 1997). A survey conducted
countrywide in 1995 had produced similar demographic descriptions
(Park, S.S., 1997).
Park produced a rather remarkable study in1997 (Park, S. S., 1997).
He analyzed the attitudes of Korean photojournalists to find values
they used to construct news photographs. The photographers said
objectivity was the most important value and that subjective values
should be avoided. Objectivity was described as the reporting of fact
as given. They thought that artistic expression could possibly
enhance the quality of news photographs, but that it was very hard to
do so because of job constraints such as pressure to keep deadline
and heavy workloads. More interestingly, they thought that artistic
values might ultimately denigrate the objectivity of news
photographs. Consequently, they admitted that they usually produce
conventional photographs (Park, S. S., 1997).
Taken together, the studies revealed some similarity—relatively high
educational background, youth, and male-dominated. Some differences
are also evident. For American photojournalists, self-expression was
a very important (Bethune, 1984) and creativity was a basic
requirement (Kielmeyer, 1993). Subjectivity and objectivity were
mutually supportive values (Newton, 1998). Koreans, however, pursued
objectivity of as the most important value and thought that
subjective values should be avoided. Objectivity was described as the
reporting of fact and artistic creativity was seen as a potential
threat (Park, S. S., 1997). Americans seemed far more comfortable
with a mix of descriptive and interpretive approaches than did Koreans.
The literature suggests two dichotomies that may influence the
photojournalism produced in America and Korea differently. One
contrasts a descriptive reporting approach with an interpretative
approach. The other contrasts a collectivist mentality with an
individualist one. The present study accordingly posits several hypotheses.
First, regarding the difference between descriptive and
interpretative approaches, the following hypotheses are advanced:
H1: Korean newspapers will differ from American newspapers in the
proportion of photographic genre that they publish.
H1a: Korean newspapers will publish more "general news" photographs
than American newspapers.
H1b: Korean newspapers will publish more "mug shot" photographs than
American newspapers.
H1c: Korean newspapers will publish fewer "feature" photographs than
American newspapers.
H1d: Korean newspapers will publish fewer "environment portrait "
photographs than American newspapers.
H1e: Korean newspapers will publish fewer "portrait" photographs than
American newspapers.
H2: Korean newspapers will publish more informational photographs
than American newspapers.
H3: Korean newspapers will publish more photographs that show a wide,
overall and medium view than American newspapers.
Second, regarding the difference between collectivism vs.
individualism, the following hypotheses are advanced.
H4: Korean newspapers will publish more photographs taken from above
eye-level than American newspapers.
H5: Korean newspapers will publish more photographs containing large
numbers of subjects than American newspapers.
H6: Captions in Korean newspapers will less often provide specific
identification about the main subjects than American newspapers.
Method
A content analysis was used to test hypotheses. Five newspapers from
America and five from Korea were purposively chosen. They were 1) The
New York Times, 2) the Washington Post, 3) The Los Angeles Times, 4)
the Chicago Tribune, and 5) the Dallas Morning News and 1) the Chosun
Ilbo, 2) the Joongang Ilbo, 3) the Donga Ilbo, 4) the Hankuyre, and
5) the Busan Ilbo from Korea. All papers were published on Tuesday,
October 12, 2004.
The papers represent typical photojournalism practice as seen by
ordinary readers in these countries. For America, large circulations,
perceived influence, and geographical distribution were considered in
choosing appropriate newspapers. For Korea, large circulation was the
main concern since Korea is geographically small and newspapers
published in Seoul are distributed nationally. Consequently, four of
five were from Seoul and the other was from Korea's second largest city Busan.
Tuesday was used because it is usually considered a typical "news
day." No unusually big news events took place that day. All ten
papers were either purchased locally[1] or mailed from friends in the
cities of publication.
The newspapers ranged from 48 to 82 pages in America and from 36 to
48 pages in Korea. The American papers consisted of several sections
such as main section, metro section, business section, sports
section, etc. The Korean papers consisted of just two sections, a
main and a business section except The Busan Ilbo, which published
just one section.
Only the news and business sections/pages were analyzed. Sports
sections/pages and others were excluded. The sample yielded 184 pages
of 352 pages from American papers and 198 pages of 208 pages from
Korean papers. Those pages contained 628 photographs, 274 in American
and 354 in Korean papers. An individual photograph and its caption
was the unit of analysis.
The present study relied on the Kobre (2000) and Parrish (2002)
textbooks to operationalize the definitions for picture genre. In the
case of Joe Elbert's four hierarchical categories, a pilot test was
done to refine the definitions originally offered by Elbert (Kobre, 2000).[2]
News photographs were coded into a seven genre: 1) General
news—photographs that depict planned news events such as political,
social or cultural events that have immediate newsworthy for ordinary
readers. 2) Spot news—photographs that depict unpredictable news
events such as sudden car accidents, murder, or natural disasters. 3)
Feature—photographs that contains less immediate and indirect
newsworthy scene from ordinary daily life of people or routine social
situation. 4) Portrait—photographs that depict a person as a news
subject. 5) Environmental portrait—portrait photographs that also
show more environmental contexts of subjects with person. 6) Mug
shot—photographs that depict physical appearances of news subjects.
And 7) Non-photojournalistic images—images such as small photographs
in a news index, copy images of books, posters, etc.
Elbert's four hierarchical categories were: 1) Informational
photographs—these consist of a simple statement about an issue or
simply record an event. They include the photo ops, building shots,
mug shots, speeches, etc. They rarely provide information other than
proof that the subject exists or that an event really happened. 2)
Graphically appealing photographs—these are more captivating look,
but subject matter and content remain ordinary. Sometimes
photographers rely on technical devices such as special lens and
filters for these kinds of images. They also frequently use dramatic
compositions techniques like extreme perspectives or graphic
components. They are stunning images, but they seldom evoke strong
emotion or describe dramatic news events. 3) Emotionally appealing
photographs—these capture subjects' emotions and cause the readers to
feel empathy or sympathy toward the subjects. These photographs
frequently required photographers to wait quietly unnoticed, to
capture decisive moments of honest emotion of the subjects or
emotional atmosphere. And 4) Photographs of intimacy—these images
make the reader feel close to the situation or in-tune with the
subject. Readers feel privileged to see something they usually cannot
see. The photographers had complete access to the subjects or events.
Frequently, these images came from relatively long-term projects.
Third, photographs were coded according to compositional angle: 1)
overall—photographs that show whole situation including people and
their environment with wide angle. 2) Medium—photographs that show
main subjects with some limited environment. 3) Close up—photographs
that provide a closer look at people or events. And 4)
Detail—photographs that showed radical close-ups of people or events.
Fourth, photographs were categorized as 1) high-level, 2) eye-level,
or 3) low-level according to the photographers' elevation relative to
the subject.
Fifth, photographs were coded according to the number of people
included as: 1) large (more than 15 people), 2) medium (between
14-5), and 3) small (fewer than 5).
Finally, captions were coded as to whether they 1) provided specific
individual identity of main subjects or 2) provided only group
identity of people such as "demonstrators," "congressmen," or
"firefighters" without individuals' names.
If the genre of a photograph was initially coded as "mug shot" or
"non photojournalistic image," no further coding was done. The first
author did all coding. To validate the coding, a second coder (a
doctoral candidate who could read both English and Korean)
independently coded approximately 10 percent of the photos, randomly
selected. The inter-coder reliability was +90.54 % agreement for
American photographs and +90.17 % agreement for Korean photographs
between coders using Holsti's method (Holsti, 1969, p. 116).
Hypotheses were tested using Chi-Square with an alpha of p = .05.
Findings
H1: Korean newspapers will differ from American newspapers in the
proportion of genre they publish.
Korean newspapers published more "General news" than American
newspapers. As H1a suggested, 94 of 354 photographs (26.6 %) from
Korean papers were in the General news category. American newspapers
published just 49 of 354 general news photographs (17.9%).
Koreans published fewer "Features" and "Portraits" than Americans.
Features in Korean Features were 5.6 % of the total while American
Features were 19.3% and Portraits were 3.4% and15.0% respectively.
Note that the General news category (26.6%) in Korean newspapers was
five times larger than either Feature (5.6 %) or Portrait (3.4%)
categories. In contrast, the portion of General news (17.9%) in
American newspapers was quite similar to both the Feature (19.3%) and
Portrait (15.0%) categories.
Mug shots accounted for the greatest percentage of photos in both
countries. It must be noted that The Dallas Morning News published 51
mug shots—more than the other American combined (59.3% of the 78 Mug
shots in American newspapers). Whether it was just an unusual day or
standard practice cannot be determined from this data. Note also,
however, that The Dallas Morning News published a total of 86
photographs—far more than other American newspaper (The New York
Times, 54 photos, The Washington Post, 46 photos, The Los Angeles
Times, 51 photos). Thus, the number of photographs other than mug
shots in The Dallas Morning News was not much different than the
other American newspapers. Even so, Koreans ran more Mug shots
(38.4%) than the Americans (28.5%). See Table 1.
Table 1. Genre
N America
N Korea
General news
49
17.9%
94
26.6%
Spot news
22
8.0%
17
4.8%
Feature
53
19.3%
20
5.6%
Portrait
41
15.0%
12
3.4%
Environmental portrait
2
0.7%
3
0.8%
Mug shot
78
28.5%
136
38.4%
Non Photojournalistic Image
29
10.6%
72
20.3%
Total
274
100.0%
354
100.0%
The sub hypotheses predicted that Korean newspapers would publish
more General news (H1a) and Mug Shots (H1b) than American newspapers
and fewer Feature (H1c), Environmental portrait (H1d), and Portrait
(H1e) than their American counterparts.
To confirm hypotheses, the researcher created 2 by 2 tables according
to each sub-hypothesis and applied Fisher's exact test of the
Chi-Square. Results supported each sub-hypotheses except H1d. There
was no significant difference for Environmental portraits (less than
1.0% of all news photographs). See Table 2.
Table 2. Statistical tests for each sub-hypothesis in H1.
N America
N Korea
Fisher's
Exact Test *
H1a
General news
49
17.9%
94
26.6%
p=.006
Non-General news
225
82.1%
260
73.4%
H1b
Mug Shot
78
28.5%
136
38.4%
p=.006
Non-Mug Shot
196
71.5%
218
61.6%
H1c
Feature
53
19.3%
20
5.6%
p=.000
Non-Feature
221
80.7%
334
94.4%
H1d
Environment portrait
2
0.7%
3
0.8%
p=.619
Non-Environment portrait
272
99.3%
351
99.2%
H1e
Portrait
41
15.0%
12
3.4%
p=.000
Non-Portrait
233
85.0%
342
96.6%
Total
274
354
* (Exact alpha, 1-sided)
H2: Korean newspapers will publish more informational photographs
than American newspapers.
"Informational photographs" were the dominant type of the four
hierarchical categories in both countries. In American newspapers,
88% were informational, 6.0 % were "Graphically appealing," 4.2 %
were "Emotionally appealing," and 1.8% were "Intimate."
Interestingly, all 146 photographs (100%) in Korean newspapers were
informational. See Table 3.
Table 3. Hierarchy of news photographs
N America
N Korea
Informational photograph
147
88.0%
146
100%
Graphically appealing photograph
10
6.0%
0
0.0%
Emotionally appealing photograph
7
4.2%
0
0.0%
Intimate photograph
3
1.8%
0
0.0%
Total
167
100.0%
146
100.0%
Again, a 2 by 2 table was created and Fisher's exact test of the
Chi-Square was calculated. Unsurprisingly, Fisher's exact test of
Chi-Square was significant and the hypothesis was supported. See Table 4.
Table 4. Statistical test for H2.
N America
N Korea
Fisher's
Exact Test *
H2
Informational photograph
147
88.0%
146
100%
p=.000
Graphically, Emotionally appealing, or Intimate
20
12.0%
0
0.0%
Total
167
100%
146
100%
* (Exact alpha, 1-sided)
H3: Korean newspapers will publish more photographs that show a wide,
overall and medium view than American newspapers.
Korean newspapers published more "Overall" and "Medium" photographs
than American newspapers. Overall (43.8%) and Medium (37.0%) images
were dominant in Korea and "Close up" constituted only 18.5% of the
146 photographs. In the contrast, close up images (32.2%) in American
newspapers constituted approximately same portion as Overall (34.7%)
and Medium (31.7%). "Detail" images in both American (1.2%) and
Korean papers (.7%) made up relatively small portions. See Table 5.
Table 5. Composition
N America
N Korea
Overall
58
34.7%
64
43.8%
Medium
53
31.7%
54
37.0%
Close up
54
32.3%
27
18.5%
Detail
2
1.2%
1
0.7%
Total
167
100.0%
146
100.0%
The categories were again collapsed into a 2 by 2 table. Fisher's
exact test of the Chi-Square produced significant differences. The
hypothesis was supported. See Table 6.
Table 6. Statistical Test for H3.
N America
N Korea
Fisher's
Exact Test *
H3
Overall and Medium
111
66.5%
118
80.8%
p=.003
Close up and Detail
56
33.5%
28
19.2%
Total
167
100%
146
100%
* (Exact alpha, 1-sided)
H4: Korean newspapers will publish more photographs taken from above
eye-level than American newspapers.
In both countries, the portion of photographs taken from "Eye-level"
made up more than 70% of the total. But, the portion of "High-level"
photos (15.2%) in Korean newspapers was much larger than American
papers (9.0 %). See Table 7. Interestingly, Americans published more
"Low level" photos (13.2%) than High level photos (9.0%) while Korean
newspapers ran more High level photos (15.2%) than Low level photos (10.9%).
Table 7. Point of view.
N America
N Korea
High level
15
9.0%
33
15.2%
Eye level
130
77.8%
101
73.8%
Low level
22
13.2%
12
10.9%
Total
167
100.0%
146
100.0%
The Fisher's exact test of the Chi-Square for the collapsed table was
significant. The hypothesis was supported. See Table 8.
Table 8. Statistical Test for H4.
N America
N Korea
Fisher's
Exact Test *
H4
High level
15
9.0%
33
22.6%
Eye and low level
152
91.0%
113
77.4%
Total
167
100%
146
100%
* (Exact alpha, 1-sided)
H5: Korean newspapers will publish more photographs containing large
numbers of subjects than American newspapers.
Korean newspapers published more photographs (21.2%) containing large
numbers of subjects than American newspapers (12.0%). Americans
published far more photographs (64.7%) containing small numbers of
subjects than Koreans (35.6%) did. See Table 9.
Table 9. Numbers of subjects
N America
N Korea
Large
20
12.0%
31
21.2%
Medium
21
12.6%
47
32.2%
Small
108
64.7%
52
35.6%
None
18
10.8%
16
11.0%
Total
167
100.0%
146
100.0%
The Fisher's exact test of the Chi-Square showed significant
differences. The hypothesis was supported. See Table 10.
Table 10. Statistical Test for H5.
N America
N Korea
Fisher's
Exact Test *
H5
Large
20
12.0%
31
21.2%
p=.020
Other than large
147
88.0%
115
78.8%
Total
167
100%
146
100%
* (Exact alpha, 1-sided)
H6: Captions in Korean newspapers will less often provide specific
identification about the main subjects than American newspapers.
Nearly two-thirds of news photographs (64.6%) in Korean papers did
not provide specific identification of main subjects. In American
newspapers, the majority of photographs (72.1%) did.
The Fisher's exact test of the Chi-Square showed significant
difference. The hypothesis was supported. See Table 11.
Table 11. Statistical Test for H6.
N America
N Korea
Fisher's
Exact Test *
Identified
101
72.1%
40
35.4%
p=.000
Not identified
39
27.9%
73
64.6%
Total
167
100%
146
100%
* (Exact alpha, 1-sided)
In summary, Fisher's exact test of Chi-Square showed significant
differences in the portions of General news (H1a), Mug Shot (H1b),
Feature (H1c), Portrait (H1e), Informational photographs (H2),
Overall and Medium view (H3), High-level photos (H4), Photographs
containing large numbers of subjects (H5), and captions providing
specific identification about the main subjects (H6) between American
and Korean newspapers. These hypotheses were supported. Only the
sub-hypothesis about the portion of Environmental portraits (H1d) was
not supported.
Discussion
The goal of this study was to explore differences between American
and Korean newspaper photojournalism, and more specifically, how
differing cultural backgrounds, normative protocols, and media
systems may have influenced the way photographs were made and used.
The content analysis showed a number of significant differences.
Korean newspapers published photographs using a more descriptive
visual reporting approach while American photographs relied on a more
interpretative approach. Specifically, Korean newspapers published
more of the descriptive "General news" and "Mug shot" photos and far
fewer "Feature" and "Portraits." Korean photos were also more likely
to have presented events from a wide, overall view with lots of
unidentified people from an above eye-level viewpoint.[3]
These differences must not be attributed to some simple notion that
one culture is collectivist and the other individualistic. The
dichotomy must instead be understood as a continuum. American culture
embraces certain collectivistic notions just as Korean culture
expresses many individualistic tendencies. And in an area of
globalization, every culture is influenced by foreign cultures. In
this case, Korea and the U.S. have had close political, economic, and
military relations since the 1950s, and discussions among
contemporary Korean photojournalist often center on influences from
Western photojournalism and ways they might adjust to new ways of
visually reporting the news.
Nevertheless, contemporary practice clearly shows a marked difference
between the photojournalism Americans see and that which Koreans see
on a daily basis.
As noted earlier, collectivists emphasize the importance of
relationships with other members and respect for the good of their
group. The whole entity as group is superior to individuals. In
contrast, individualists see the person as a distinct entity separate
from the group with interests that supercede those of others.
The Korean approach to journalism is more purely descriptive. It
shows what a pedestrian might see had he been there himself. This
contrasts with the American approach, which is far more
interpretative. It shows a particular interpretation of an event—one
that a pedestrian observer would probably no discover for himself.
The difference between the descriptive and the interpretative visual
reporting style requires a multi dimensional explanation. Certainly
in part derived from the cultural differences on the
collectivism/individualism dichotomy. As individualists, American
photojournalists rely on their own interpretations as individuals,
observe and document their subjects as individuals, and focus on
distinctive individual personalities.
This interpretative approach to visual reporting depends on
individual creativity. In contrast, Korean photojournalists adhere
more strictly to their societal responsibilities. They are part of a
larger group, either the journalistic community as whole or their
particular news organization. They act according to the group's
interest rather than according to their own interpretations. In terms
of subject matter, Korean photojournalists focus on more generic
situations and tend to document people as part of lager groups.
While the results suggest that photojournalistic practices in
American and Korean newspapers reflect fundamental cultural
differences, the sources of those differences reside in five factors
associated with the collectivism/individualism split, but also with
more profession related differences: 1) work environment, 2) news
priority, 3) professional attitudes, 4) educational background, and
5) workplace structure.
Interpretation requires time, more so than description. The survey
results referenced earlier (Bethune, 1984, Park, 1997) showed that
American photographers were given ample time for this kind of work.
Korean photographers were not. Should a Korean photographer want to
take a more interpretive approach, he would simply not have the time
to do so. Their work environments differ.
The results showed that Korean papers simply published more news
photos than American papers, which published a much higher proportion
of features and portraits. The priority in Korea is news,
particularly general news that focuses on the society as a whole.
American priorities are on news, but journalists try to tell the news
through the viewpoint of individuals through features. Their approach
to news differs.
Embedded in this observed difference in the proportion of news to
feature photos is a basic attitude toward what a journalist is.
Americans are trained to be storytellers where Koreans are expected
to be guardians. The textbooks referenced earlier teach students how
to tell stories (Kobre, 2000, Lewis, 1995, Parrish, 2002). Recent
Korean history includes a press that fought against Japanese
occupation in the 1940s and against military authoritarianism in the
decades following the Second World War. Their role has not been to
tell stories, but to report the unvarnished facts to a threatened
people (Choi, 1983).
Perhaps this difference in roles is reflected in the differing
practices in education. American photojournalists were far more
likely to have majored in journalism (Bethune, 1984) than Koreans
(Chang, 2000). And what Americans learn in college journalism classes
is storytelling (Kobre, 2000, Lewis, 1995, Parrish, 2002).
A final consideration as to the differences resides in the workplace
structure. American's tend to work with editors, writers, and others
in the newsroom—collaborating to tell a story. In contrast, newsroom
roles in Korea are strictly defined and adhered to. Editors demand
particular types of photos according to the assignment. If another
paper has a "required" shot that his photographer didn't get, the
photographer failed, even if he produced a far more creative,
innovative shot instead.
Each of these factors helps explain the observed differences. Each
represents a component of the basic philosophical difference between
the two cultures, and each indicates why these normative values are
reflected in the news photography of each country. Culture does
influence photographs, even in a news setting.
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[1] The national edition of The New York Times and the Midwest
edition of the Chicago Tribune were used. All others were metro editions.
[2] Mr. Elbert reviewed the definitions and noted that he intended
for the Emotional and Intimate categories to be highly subjective.
(Via a personal e-mail on 21 Oct. 2004 )
[3] A stepladder is standard equipment for a Korean photojournalist.
At major events, a dozen or more photographers may be standing on
ladders, all at essentially the same position.
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