This is the weekend edition of TheMarioBlog and will be updated as needed. The next blog post is Monday, February 3.
TAKEAWAY: In the era of the media quartet, photographs become even more essential.
This is the story of a fire that engulfed seven houses. This photo essay is published one week after the fire.
I am always fascinated by how European newspapers, and, particularly, those in Scandinavia, continue to play photos with gusto.
We used to see more photo stories and galleries on the pages of American newspapers, but, that, too, has become a victim of difficult economic times, less space and, in many instances, the reduced presence of photo editors—and photographers. It should not be. It does not have to be.
Photos have always been essential to good storytelling.
Research shows us that photos are the main door that readers kick open to get into the rest of what is in a newspaper or magazine.
Readers cannot get enough of good photos.
Photo galleries perform even better than videos on mobile platforms.
That is why I am thrilled when I visit places like Norway, where, this week in Aftenposten, the daily published in Oslo, a story about a devastating fire gets the space and the right treatment, as seen in the images here.
Make no mistake, photos have never been more important across all platforms. Photographers and photo editors should be an integral part of how effective storytelling is carried out regardless of platform.
With more ways to display photos, it is obvious that we need to focus on how we use photography, how we establish a photo philosophy across the media quartet and how we reassure ourselves that if there is one thing in our business that has not changed much through the decades, it is the impact that a good photograph displayed well can have.
A lecture about change
For those interested in listening to the lecture I gave last week to welcome journalism students back at Columbia University’s Graduate School of Journalism, here is a link:
Embracing and Promoting Change
http://new.livestream.com/cujs/designyourstory