Photojournalism is the use of pictures or photos and illustrations for publication.

It is a
specialized branch of publication, the art and science of photography combined with written
words.

The main purpose of pictures in newspaper and magazine are to:

● expand and clarify communication
● act as a bait to lure the reader into the body type.

I. PICTURE SELECTION
● Technical Value - a picture has technical value when it is clear, free from
smudges, clear and not blurred.
● Editorial Value - it has editorial value when it tells a story at a glance, when it
shows life happening, moment of truth and significance -- meaning it has news
value.

Five main functions of photos and images:

1. To attract attention
2. To tell a story itself through the aid of captions
3. To tell a story in a sequence with other illustrations
4. To illustrate a point in the story
5. To give visual relief to the layout

II. CHARACTERISTICS OF A GOOD PHOTOGRAPHER

A good cameraman:
● Should have a working knowledge of his outfit;
● Should know a little of art and be possessed with a notion of contrast, composition,
angle and shape.
● Must have a nose for drama, oddity, rarity, action and for human interest stories;
● Must be acquainted with the important as well as with the notorious people who break
into the news often;
● Must have diplomacy and tact when covering risky assignments like fires, riots, rallies,
and demonstrations; and
● Must be acquainted with the libel laws, since libel suits can also proceed from pictures.

Reminders as Regards the Proper Use of Photos and Grap

1. Action pictures are better than goed pictures

2. Don't put pictures back to back, meaning two pictures facing opposite directions.

3. Avoid firing line or firing squad or posed pictures. They are dead. Prefer candid shots. Life is
not posed. It is active
4. If you have to use group pictures, use it big to allow recognition of people in it, unless it is a
crowd scene where the crowd is more important than the expression of the faces.

5. Even a crash scene looks dead with only the plane shows or the train wreck pictured. People
running away for it, or people rushing to it for rescue would make it lively

6. Small pictures are ineffective. Details and impact are lost.

7. Cropping would improve the picture Cropping means cutting off all that are unnecessary,
those that have nothing to do wis the story. Focus the eyes on important details and eliminate
irrelevant ones. For instance, eliminating the body and the other arms of the speaker to show a
clench fist in gesture

8. But beware of too much cropping One needs an overhanging branch in the foreground for
better perspective. A man alone in the desert deserved a picture showing the vastness of the
desert.

9. You don't have to include the whole face in a portrait. You can take off the ear as long the
attention is focused on the eyes, the window of the soul.

10. Reverse the negative if you meet the problem of facing in. Facing in means that the person
is looking out of the page. Don't allow this to happen. However, beware of flop which means that
when you reverse the picture, errors will be created. There will be a change in the position of the
parting of the hair, position of moles, breast handkerchiefs and words in the picture in the
background.

III. CAPTION WRITING

A caption is the text of body type, accompanying photos or art work or any pictorial
illustration. It is sometimes called cutline or underline. The title or explanatory matter above the
illustration is called overline.

Captions should be closely related to the picture so that the reader may be able to take in
picture and caption at a glance. This explains why the caption should be underneath the picture
when there are other materials on the page.

The caption can be at the side when caption and picture are isolated.

Things to Remember

● All rules in newsprinting apply to caption writing.

 ● Captions should be written in short pithy sentences, say an average of 15 words for a
sentence.

● The basic question every caption must tell of its pictures Who, What, Where, When and
Why. Who are in the picture? What are they doing in it? When are they doing it? are:

● Give the full Christian name or first name to identify everyone in the picture and be
accurate. This is important, but which of course cannot be done for crowd scenes. When
you name people in the caption, make it clear who is who.

● A gay (happy) picture should have a gay caption. A somber (serious or sad) picture
should not make weak jokes. Match The caption with the mood of the picture. This is a
question of judgment.

● The caption is conversational. It should exploit the picture potential interest, e.g.,
President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo in Filipiniana dress while Vice President Noli De
Castro in military attire. These should be mentioned in the caption.

● Captions should supplement what is seen. They are not captions if they merely tell the
reader what he can see. A caption of a picture showing President Arroyo speaking
should not say, "President Arroyo Speaking." See to it that the caption supplements the
pictorial information briefly.

● The caption should not contradict the photo, e.g., Boy Scout planting tree seedlings but
the boys scouts are looking at the camera smiling and not planting.

● Don't begin a caption with "Photo shows" especially if it really doesn't or "In the Photo
are.." This is totally unnecessary.

● Don't rewrite the news story as a caption. This merely wastes space.

● The caption should be intended, say an em or en at each side. Choose a type or font
different from the normal body type, either bold or italics, but be consistent.

A. The Picture Story

A picture story is the use of a series of pictures with a minimum of words called caption
story. Picture stories are often used in the feature sections and in magazines.

The picture story is also used to illustrate a "how to" article. How to play basketball, for
example, can be best illustrated with the use of visuals. When the primary goal of the story is to
"show" the reader something and not just "tell" him, then the role of pictures become dominant
and words only secondary. In all cases, however, a skillful merging of the two is necessary.
 B. The Caption Story

Most pictures in the feature section and in magazines are explained with a caption story
in essay form. Unlike in news photos wherein the caption is written in short pithy merely
answering the 5W's captions, aside from answering the important W's, are descriptive, narrative
or expository. However, there are pictures that tell a story by themselves. Only a minimum of
caption is needed or even a caption may by superfluous Editorial cartoons usually don't have
captions, but they tell stories or make a point.

Lesson 2

Newspaper is a printed publication (usually issued daily or weekly) consisting of folded

unstapled sheets and containing news, feature articles, advertisements, and correspondence.

I. Newspaper Layout

1. Broadsheet - is used both to refer to a generic paper size, and to specific types of
publications which have historically been produced on broadsheets. general rule, the
sheets are vertically long and short horizontally, with a length of at least 22 inches(56
centimeters) and a width which can vary.
2. Tabloid - is both a paper size and a term for the style of the newspapers that tend to
use that format. Tabloid is the smaller of the two standard newspaper sizes; the larger
newspapers are called broadsheets.
3. Newspaper Section
● SECTION I: Local/domestic/national news; International ; Politics; Weather;
Letters from the Readers; Opinions/Editorials
● SECTION II: Sports; Comics, Crosswords, Horoscopes; Events/movies;
Cable/Broadcast Television Guides; Computers; Automobiles; Magazine
Supplements
● SECTION III: Interviews; Society/People; Tourism/Travel; Style/Fashion;
Cooking; Health; Home & Decoration; Family; Kids/Youth.
4. Newspaper Grid - Newspaper pages are laid out on a grid which consists of a margin
on 4 sides, a number of vertical columns, and space in between columns. Newspapers
grids are based on a different number of columns, depending on paper size and design
preference.

II. Newspaper Elements

1. Byline - tells who wrote the story; may include the writer’s title.
2. Classified Ads - an ad that appears in the classified or “want ad” section of the
newspaper.
3. Column - a vertical division of the layout that helps give structure to the pages.
Newspaper stories and images are measured in column inches: the number of columns
wide by the number of inches long.
4. Cutline/Caption - explains what is happening in a photograph or illustration. cutline or
caption sometimes may include a photo credit, the name of the person who took the
picture.
5. Dateline - the location (and sometimes the date) from which a story was sent, usually
given at the beginning of a story. The term was first used at a time when news often took
days to reach a reader, so the date and location of the event were included in the story.
6. Display Ad - an ad for a business or organization that appears on a newspaper page.
7. Editorial - a type of story on the editorial page that expresses an opinion of the
newspaper and encourages the reader to take some action.
8. Flag - a display used by a newspaper to indicate section pages or special pages
9. Logo/Plate Name - combination of typography and artwork – identity of newspaper.
10. Folio Line - the date and page number that appears at the top of each newspaper page.
11. Headline - large type written and designed to summarize a story and get the reader’s
attention.
12. Index - tells the reader where regularly featured pages, such as sports, weather and
local news, can be found
13. Jumpline - the line that tells the reader on which page the story is continued.
14. Lead - the beginning of the story, which summarizes it and/or grabs the reader’s
attention
15. Masthead - The formal statement of the newspaper’s name, officers, management and
place of publication. It usually appears on the editorial page.
16. Wire Story - a story written by a reporter for a news service
17. Kicker - The shoulder or kicker has been defined as the headline that is placed on top of
the main headline. This headline is set in small points, and its purpose is to supplement
the main headline.
18. Deck - is old newspaper lingo for the short article summary that accompanies a
headline. It could be a phrase, a sentence or even two if they’re very short.
19. Footer - information (as a page number) printed at the bottom of each page of a
document
20. Ears - Boxed ears are at the side of the headline in a newspaper. There is no specific
meaning for the boxed ears; this is just what papers call it.
21. News Article - is a report on an event that has taken place. Articles may include a
byline, body text, photo, and caption. Typically, newspaper articles that appear closest to
the front page or within the first section are those that editors consider to be the most
important and relevant to their readers
22. Feature Article - report about an issue, person, event with added depth and more
background details.
23. Editorial - An editorial is an article written by the editorial staff from a specific
perspective. The editorial will offer the newspaper's view of an issue. Editorials should
not be used as a main source of a research paper, because they are not objective
reports.
24. Editorial Cartoon - have a long and fascinating history. They offer an opinion and
convey a message about an important issue in an amusing, entertaining, or poignant
visual depiction.
25. Letters to the Editor - Letters sent from readers to a newspaper, usually in response to
an article. They often include strong opinions about something the newspaper has
published. It should not be used as objective sources for a research paper, but they
could prove valuable as quotes to demonstrate a point of view.