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Whose Pictures, Whose Reality? Lines of Tradition in the Development of Topics, Negativity, and Power in the Photojournalistic CompetitionWorld Press Photo

Initially founded in 1955 as a platform for Dutch photojournalists to increase international
exposure, the World Press Photo competition has grown into the most prestigious contest of photojournalism
worldwide, making it an important arena for journalism research. Using qualitative and
quantitative content analyses, this study examines all photos shown in the competitions from 1960 to
2020 (N = 11,789) considering the origin of jury members (N = 686), participants (N = 132,800), placements
(N = 2347) and the Human Development Index (HDI) of the countries. The topics displayed
on the photos, their degree of negativity, and potential power structures in the photos are analysed
over time both in terms of continental and HDI-related differences. Significant results show that
Africa, Asia, and South America are more frequently depicted by the topic conflict and characterised
by negative images than continents with industrialised nations (Australia/Oceania, Europe, North
America). Participating European countries have a significantly higher average number of jury members,
participants, and placements than participating countries from Africa, Asia, and South America,
which seems to account for a dominant Eurocentric view. Implications and critical discussions are
summarized in three interim conclusions at the end of this extended paper.

Identiferoai:union.ndltd.org:DRESDEN/oai:qucosa:de:qucosa:89101
Date17 January 2024
CreatorsGodulla, Alexander, Seibert, Daniel, Planer, Rosanna
PublisherMDPI
Source SetsHochschulschriftenserver (HSSS) der SLUB Dresden
LanguageEnglish
Detected LanguageEnglish
Typeinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion, doc-type:article, info:eu-repo/semantics/article, doc-type:Text
Rightsinfo:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess

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