Symbology

To All Presenters:

"If it bleeds it reads," has been a common cliché in the media for generations. Another is, "a picture is worth a thousand words". Taken together, it would seem the ideal story is one with a picture of major damage or death to go along with it.

After you see enough of these images, read enough of these stories - they begin to break down. They are no longer tales of human tragedy but are instead symbols of themselves. Playing the role of the crushed car today will be a 2002 Honda Civic.

In recent days we've seen a number of media outlets get their wires crossed. As result images from one event are stated as being from another. A crowd from a protest years ago is presented as a crowd from a protest yesterday. Oddly enough, while the images were wrong the intent was correct. The media wasn't making an under attended event look like more than it was - they were simply careless when selecting their footage.

In the end it didn't really matter to the audiences - outside of a few competing pundits, no one seemed to care. All the audience expected to see was footage of a crowd, and that's what they saw. The symbol of a well attended event was all that was required, accuracy was not.

THE POINT: If it bleeds it reads, and a picture is worth a thousand words. If accuracy has become less important than symbology - I have to wonder if a body bag full of rocks because a photojournalist was too late to get the "real" shot is very far behind.