Digital Photo Manipulation

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Normative Conflict in the Newsroom: The Case of Digital Photo

Manipulation
Wilson Lowrey a
a
Department of Communication, Mississippi State University.
Online publication date: 17 November 2009
To cite this Article Lowrey, Wilson(2003) 'Normative Conflict in the Newsroom: The Case of Digital Photo Manipulation',
Journal of Mass Media Ethics, 18: 2, 123 — 142
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Normative Conflict in the

Newsroom: The Case of Digital
Photo Manipulation
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Wilson Lowrey
Department of Communication
Mississippi State University
o Digital photo manipulation is often treated in the literature as a problem that oc-
curs when individuals stray from a single set of ethical standards. It is proposed in
this study that the newsroom comprises various subgroups, each with unique norms
and values, and each seeking to shape newsroom decision making. It is expected that
photo manipulation should result from subgroups’ perceptions of, and reactions to,
this plurality of newsroom norms. This expectation is assessed through both in-depth
interviews and a national phone survey of visual journalism managers. In-depth in-
terviews reveal the existence of various sets of norms; these include integrative
norms, which reflect the needs of the organization, art norms, and journalistic
norms. Journalistic norms are perceived as dominant, but where art norms are stron-
ger, photo manipulation is slightly more likely. Findings also suggest photos are more
likely to be manipulated when newsrooms are large and complex and when visual
journalists strain to fit visuals with story theme.
In this study I contend that the work of journalism is not singular or

monolithic but instead is subdivided into occupational subgroups, each of
which represent a different area of expertise. Subgroups reflect an organi-
zational division of labor, but they also represent an occupational dimen-
sion. Photographers, reporters, designers, and copyeditors each have sep-
arate professional organizations, conferences, publications, and distinct
curricula in many journalism schools. Members of different occupational
subgroups share differing sets of norms, practices, and values that give
meaning to their work. Various sets of norms conflict and coalesce as sub-
groups seek recognition and influence in the newsroom.1
This normative variety is most central to this article, particularly as it
applies to ethical breaches in journalism as perceived by news workers.
Digital photo manipulation, the example used in this study, is typically
treated by academic researchers and trade-press writers as a problem of in-
dividual-level decision making veering from a set of ethical standards. Ac-
124 Normative Conflict
cording to this literature, individuals make flawed decisions for a number

of reasons, including insufficient training and experience (Harris, 1991;
Reaves, 1992/1993), poor communication among staffers (Irby, 1998; King,
1997), pressure from organizational and economic constraints and inter-
ests (King, 1997; Reaves, 1995a; Tomlinson, 1987; Wheeler & Gleason,
1995), or the temptations of new technology (Harris, 1991; Ritchin, 1990;
Tomlinson, 1987).
Reaves (1995a) also hinted at another possibility: that news workers
have different perceptions about the nature of photography in news work.
For example, magazine editors tend to view photos as subjective illustra-
tions to a greater degree than do newspaper editors. These different per-
ceptions reflect different sets of newsroom norms, some of which may
challenge the traditional journalistic norm of objective representation. In
this study I examine the varied nature of the newsroom’s normative envi-
ronment through the perceptions of one newsroom subgroup: visual jour-
nalists. I explore the subgroup’s perceptions of differing norms; the ways
in which these perceptions affect decision making; and whether visual
journalists who adopt rival norms are more likely to make ethical breaches,
in this case, manipulate photos.2
Review of Literature
Sociology of Work, Occupations, and Organizations
Subgroups in newsrooms are usually thought of as a division of labor
that serves newsroom efficiency (Russial, 1998; Salcetti, 1995; Solomon,
1995). However, subgroups may also be perceived as occupational groups
that work within organizational walls and meet organizational challenges
to their ability to control work (Abbott, 1991; Sonnestuhl & Trice, 1991).
Employees may be more committed to their occupational group than to
their organization (Trice, 1993), and members of organizational subgroups
may “consider themselves to be engaged in the same sort of work [with
one another], identify with their work, [and] share a set of values, norms
and perspectives” (Van Maanen & Barley, 1984, p. 295).
Increasingly, organizations house multiple occupational subgroups
(Abbott, 1988), and “resources and the goals of the organization are up for
grabs and people grab for them continually” (Perrow, 1986, pp. 12–13).
Subcultures in organizations “seek to control their organizational desti-
nies” (Bloor & Dawson, 1994, p. 285), and the subgroup that most success-
fully defines the normative environment for a workplace gains greater le-
gitimacy and control over work processes and decision making about
ethics (Abbott, 1988; Bloor & Dawson, 1994; Trice, 1993). This introduction
of subgroups with new areas of expertise may pose a threat to established
Lowrey 125
organizational subgroups (Trice, 1993), and new occupational groups may

also form around new technologies (Abbott, 1988; Greer, 1984). In an orga-
nization dominated by one subgroup, less dominant subgroups may either
seek to identify themselves with the dominant subgroup’s norms and val-
ues or seek legitimacy through the demonstration of their own unique
norms, values, and knowledge (Bloor & Dawson, 1994).
Norms and Normative Clash in News Work

The depiction of traditional journalistic norms varies across the litera-
ture, but a common norm ascribed to journalism is objectivity. Walter
Lippmann (1922) said the path to improving journalism, and therefore
public knowledge, lay through science and objectivity. Weaver and Wilhoit
(1996) found that the gathering, verification, and dissemination of facts are
at the heart of most journalists’ ethical belief systems. Journalists have the
power to choose news stories “in exchange for leaving out their personal
views” (Gans, 1979, p. 183) and for pursuing balanced reporting of the
facts (Soloski, 1997). Photojournalists strive for professional legitimacy by
“preserving the objective aura cast around the photographic image”
(Schwartz, 1992, p. 107).
The news constructionists, however, have defined journalistic profes-
sionalism as “knowing how to get a story that meets organizational needs
and standards” (Tuchman, 1978, p. 66). Organizational constraints and the
need to accomplish work may trump norms of objectivity, accuracy, and
completeness (Fishman, 1982; Roshco, 1975; Tuchman, 1978), and visual
journalists also adopt organizationally oriented norms (Barnhurst, 1994;
Lowrey, 1999).
One of the more frequently

discussed conflicts in the news
trade literature is the clash
between word journalists
and picture journalists.
Both academic and trade literature on newsrooms offer examples of

conflict between factions within newsrooms. Gans (1979) and Sigal (1973)
discussed the active negotiation among newsroom subgroups, and Bantz
(1997) discussed the tension between traditional journalistic norms and
entertainment norms in television news. One of the more frequently dis-
cussed conflicts in the news trade literature is the clash between word jour-
nalists and picture journalists (Lowrey, 2002). According to this literature,
visual journalists say they are viewed with suspicion by reporters and edi-
tors (Moses, 1999) and that they generally feel a lack of influence and re-
spect relative to word journalists (Bethune, 1984; Gentry & Zang, 1989;
Kohorst, 1999).
This conflict has long historical roots. Zelizer (1995) described how
reporters and editors in the 1930s did everything they could to under-
mine photography’s growing presence (p. 83). According to Nerone and

Barnhurst (1995), news art and design had its beginnings in the growth
of commercial art in America and first entered newspapers through ad-
vertising and fashion magazines, eventually bleeding over into newspa-
per work via entertainment and women’s sections. They said, “One
senses that ’serious’ journalists came to shun the sections more and more
over time” (p. 24). Eventually the design emphasis spread throughout
the paper, intensifying the cultural clash between visual and word jour-
nalists and presenting a potential challenge to traditional journalistic
norms.
Photo Manipulation
The literature on digital photo manipulation makes little mention of
multiplicity of norms. As discussed, most studies approach photo manipu-
lation as a breach of a singular code of ethics reflecting the traditional
norms of journalistic objectivity. For example, Reaves (1995b) has called for
greater protection of the essential shared values of journalists: accuracy,
balance, relevance, and completeness. Technology has been viewed as the
culprit (Harris, 1991; Ritchin, 1990), and ethics case-study treatments tend
to view the problem as a lack of effective communication among depart-
ments (Irby, 1998; King, 1997). Reaves (1995a, 1995c) and Wheeler and
Gleason (1995) suggested economic factors play an important role, and
smaller, less professionally developed newsrooms are more likely to be
permissive toward photo manipulation (Reaves, 1992/1993). Within
newsrooms the categorization of photos as news or features predicts per-
missiveness (Reaves, 1995c), and TV news directors and magazine editors
have been shown to be more permissive than newspaper editors (Gladney
& Erlich, 1996; Reaves, 1995c).
Concepts, Findings, and Methods

In this study I propose that the newsroom comprises a number
of subgroups, each embracing unique norms and values (although
there are commonalities among subgroups as well) and each seek-
ing to establish legitimacy and control over work. It is expected that
Lowrey 127
photo manipulation should result from a subgroup’s perception of,

and reaction to, the multiplicity of newsroom norms.
Photo manipulation should result

from a subgroup’s perception of,
and reaction to, the multiplicity of

newsroom norms.
This study was conducted in two complementary methodological parts.

The first part is a series of exploratory interviews conducted with visual
journalism managers at a professional conference. These interviews in-
form the second methodological component, a national phone survey of
visual journalists: specifically, newspaper design directors at large news-
papers. Interview results serve to unearth concepts and categories used in
the survey analysis, and survey results help generalize interview findings
and are interpreted in light of interview findings.
In-Depth Interviews
Research questions and method. Two research questions were asked:
1. Which norms do members of occupational subgroups involved with

photo and presentation work observe and to what degree?
2. How do the perception of conflict with other occupational subgroups
and the observance of different sets of norms affect decision making about
the manipulation of photos?
To shed light on the research questions, semistructured interviews were

conducted with 17 visual journalists: 6 newspaper photo directors, 3 newspa-
per art directors, and 8 newspaper design directors. All directors were from
dailies, with 13 of their newspapers having circulations of more than 200,000.
Four of the papers have circulations between 80,000 and 120,000. Six of the
represented papers were in the South, three in the Northeast, two in the Mid-
west, one in the Southwest, and five on the West Coast. Twelve of the inter-
views were conducted personally at a 4-day professional conference of visual
journalism managers. Five of the interviews were conducted over the tele-
phone following the conference. Interviews were taped and lasted between 45
min and 1 hr. Observations were made during conference sessions, and data
were also drawn from materials respondents brought to the conference.
As much as possible, interviews were grounded in the respondents’

daily work experiences. This was accomplished primarily by looking at ac-
tual newspaper pages during interviews. Afterward transcripts were ana-
lyzed and responses were categorized as themes emerged.
Interview Findings
Three major sets of norms guiding the work of newspaper presentation

emerged.
Journalistic norms. Journalistic norms represent the prioritization of

news content over design as well as the ability to “talk the talk” of journal-
ism. Visual journalists embrace the norms of news more for the stature
they provide in the newsroom than for any guiding ethical principles (ob-
jectivity, accuracy, etc.). However, visual journalists pursuing journalistic
norms also value knowledge of news judgment and the ability to portray
news accurately and objectively.
Art norms. Art norms in visual journalism dictate that staffers value
the visual aesthetics of a photo, graphic, or page. Self-expression and artis-
tic voice are considered important. Pages and elements should catch the
client’s eye, which is representative of the values found in commercial
graphic arts. As Becker (1982) suggested, for the commercial artist, ideas of
commercial success are intertwined with ideas of aesthetic success. Art
norms are sometimes embraced as a defense against the dominant journal-
istic culture in newsrooms.
In relation to the issue of photo

use, the cultural norms of
journalism are dominant in
newsrooms.
Integrative norms. The staffer following integrative norms is inte-

grated into the patterns of the organization and knows how to efficiently
shape work to meet organizational approval. This staffer values organiza-
tional efficiency, knowledge of work-accomplishing strategies, and inter-
departmental cohesiveness and consistency. According to these norms, the
fit between image and story are highly important.
How do the acceptance or rejection of these norms affect decision mak-
ing about photo manipulation? Interview findings suggested that in rela-
tion to the issue of photo use, the cultural norms of journalism are domi-
nant in newsrooms. Almost without exception, the values of accuracy and
Lowrey 129
objectivity were spoken of with reverence, and most managers said they
look to hire journalism school graduates. The idea of art for art’s sake, or of
photos as ornamentation, was rejected. Visual journalism managers ac-
knowledged the existence of art norms, but they either largely ignored
them or drove them underground.
Although journalistic values were seen as worthy of pursuit, they were
often spoken of as something just beyond the grasp of the visual journalist.
One design director said that editors and writers do not take visual jour-
nalists seriously: “At the news meetings, you’re in a room full of smart,
opinionated people, and it’s difficult to bring in an opinion that doesn’t
sound subjective.” One West Coast design director said some designers
lack confidence because they have no journalism background: “We work
on getting them to articulate reasons for designing.” Visual journalists feel
a need to learn the language of reporters and editors. Another director
said, “Before we can make recommendations and expect people to follow
them, we have to know how to talk a story.”
For photo directors, practicing journalism seems to mean accurately
representing the stories the photos accompany rather than directly rep-
resenting the world out there. It is assumed that the reporter has already
brought back the truth or a close approximation. Among the interviewed
photo managers, there was little tolerance for purely artistic representa-
tion and, therefore, little evidence that they would alter photos for aes-
thetic purposes. A vignette by a photo director from a Southwestern
daily demonstrates:
One of our photographers went out to shoot photos for a story we

were doing on a rundown old housing project just outside of town.
He came back, and the photographs he showed me had a graphic
quality that was stunning. The lighting was perfect. But it was clear
the photographer had gone out and shot a picture for himself. It was
just a graphic. It had nothing to do with the story. The photo should
have reflected the story.
A West Coast paper’s photo director explained his photo assigning phi-
losophy: “I’ve always wanted to know what the story was about first in or-
der to think about the best way to illustrate it … this is the approach we
take here, and in most cases it works.”
Art norms were discussed in conflicting ways. On one hand, some
photo directors discussed the importance of self-expression in their staff
photos and of the inner voice and stylistic personality of their photogra-
phers. On the other hand, none of the visual journalism managers overtly
embraced the concept of art for art’s sake. One design director described
his department as newsy and business like. He said: “We try to be very
content driven … we think news.” An assistant design director for a South-
ern daily said that when hiring, the paper looked for designers who value
the story-telling aspect as opposed to ornamentation.
There is limited evidence that art norms could encourage permissive at-
titudes toward the altering of photos but only when art norms are related
to commercial success. One art director described why removing back-
grounds from photos was sometimes necessary to attract readers:
If you don’t pull out all the stops and do all kinds of exciting, innova-
tive stuff, people won’t read the paper … people don’t want endless
rectangular photos and gray type. If you can integrate images and
text more fluidly and more dynamically, it will make a more exciting
page.
A few managers rejected photo altering for aesthetic reasons rather than
for reasons reflecting journalistic ethics. An art director described his prob-
lems with one of the photo illustrations in his paper: “It looked hokey. It
wasn’t worked enough,” whereas another photo illustration was accept-
able because the artist “had talent for this sort of illustration.” Several art
and photo directors said they disliked masked photos (with the back-
ground cut out), not because they are less newsworthy, but because the
technique is cliche or because that tool is overused.
Directors said they used the language of visual journalism to gain influ-
ence in the newsroom. Photo directors described how they and their photo
editors intentionally use cryptic artistic jargon when discussing photos
with news editors to influence photo selection. Other directors spoke of the
need to educate or manipulate word journalists.
The acceptance of integrative norms appears to be important to deci-
sion-making about photo manipulation. Design directors stressed the im-
portance of seamless integration of both page elements and staff. Readers
require conceptual and visual fit among story, photo, graphic, and head-
line, and the subgroups responsible for these elements must coalesce as
well. A design director at a Southern daily said photographers and design-
ers get along well but that sometimes photo editors don’t have time to read
stories, and they will offer photos that “hang a left while the story hangs a
right.” He said a good dialogue ensues, typically resulting in photo editors
choosing a photo that better illustrates the story. Another design director
said the photo staff at his paper had formerly been a maverick department
but had now been brought into the fold.
Under integrative norms, the page itself is the true representational con-
text for news elements. It becomes more important that a news photo fit
with a preconceived page theme and structure and less important that it fit
with the external reality represented by the photo’s content. When news
photos are illustrations—when their real news value is not intrinsic but is
Lowrey 131
instead determined by how accurately they fit word journalists’ stories

and designers’ page designs—the journalistic taboo on altering them may
erode. Photos may be viewed more as raw material for the news product
than as news itself.
Findings also suggest that photo alteration is more acceptable if there
has been collaboration between the relevant occupational subgroups. A
design director from the Northeast said, “I do not like going around a de-
partment and manipulating a photographer’s work without involving
him in the process … but I’d say more times than not my [photo alteration]
ideas get executed with the photographer’s involvement.”
The Survey
Hypotheses and method. Interview findings and the literature sug-
gest several possible predictors of photo manipulation. Hypotheses were
constructed to test these predictions, and concepts were measured
through data from a national survey of design directors at large U.S.
newspapers.
Within academic and trade literature, it is generally agreed that a photo
has been unethically manipulated if the alteration changes elements as
originally seen in the camera’s viewfinder and if this alteration violates
public trust (Davis, 1992; Gladney & Erlich, 1996; Martin, 1991; Wheeler &
Gleason, 1995). The public may expect airbrushing of glamour photos, but
seamless alteration that goes beyond the commonly understood is consid-
ered unethical (Wheeler & Gleason, 1995) and violates shared journalistic
norms of accuracy and completeness (Reaves, 1995b).
The survey measure of the criterion variable is worded thus: “Within
the last two years have any news photos been digitally altered in your
newsroom in a way that was viewed in your newsroom as unethical or un-
authorized?” Actual unethical manipulation by some objective standard is
less important here than the perception of a breach of dominant newsroom
norms.
A second criterion variable is the existence of rules governing the ma-
nipulation of photos. Existence of formal rules should be evidence of the
strength of journalistic norms in the newsroom’s culture. Rules against
manipulation are evidence that the organization formally embraces the
norms and values of the profession.
The survey sample included both design directors and news editors, but
design directors were the survey respondents for this study. Even though
most studies of photo treatment measure responses from photo staff, de-
sign directors have a strong influence because they oversee the final selec-
tion, sizing, and placement of photos. According to the survey, around half
of the design directors and editors surveyed said designers have a great
deal or complete control over image selection, and around three fourths
said designers have a great deal or complete control over layout. Also,
more than half of the design directors surveyed said that most of their
staffs were proficient in the use of photo imaging software.
Interview findings suggest different sets of norms exist in the work of
news presentation. It is proposed that stronger orientation toward journal-
istic norms within design subgroups would predict less likelihood of

photo manipulation and greater likelihood of rules governing manipula-
tion because such norms reflect the importance of accuracy and complete-
ness of representation. Interviews suggest the embracing of journalistic
norms goes hand in hand with the desire to articulate such norms in nego-
tiation. Educational background and socialization in journalism make
such articulation more possible. Journalism orientation in the subgroup is
defined sociologically as the structures of professional journalism experi-
enced by the subgroup (attending journalism schools, being members of
journalism professional organizations, etc.).
H1a: The stronger the orientation of the design staff toward journal-
istic professional norms, the less likelihood of unethical photo
manipulation.
H1b: The stronger the orientation of the design staff toward journalistic
professional norms, the greater the likelihood of the existence of
rules governing photo manipulation.
It should also be the case that strong artistic norms predict greater likeli-
hood of photo manipulation and decreased likelihood of the existence of
rules. Strong art norms should suggest that photos are viewed more as
illustrations and less as news, and that, therefore, the professional taboo
against manipulation would be weaker. Self-expression and aesthetic
quality would be considered more important in the subgroup than objec-
tive representation. As with journalistic norms, orientation toward profes-
sional art norms was measured by questions about educational back-
ground, hiring criteria, and professional affiliation.
H2a: The stronger the orientation of the design staff toward art professional
norms, the greater the likelihood of unethical photo manipulation.
H2b: The stronger the orientation of the design staff toward art profes-
sional norms, the less likelihood of the existence of rules governing
photo manipulation.
The literature and interviews suggest news workers are strongly influ-
enced by organizational constraints. Interviews indicated that designers
value good fit between story and image and are judged by their ability to
Lowrey 133
produce fit, especially on soft-news pages. Photo manipulation is a quick

route to good conceptual fit because the symbolic nature of photos may be
reshaped to match symbolic messages in the text. Factors that increase time
pressures should predict a greater degree of unethical photo manipulation.
H3: The stronger the organizational time constraints on designers, the

greater the likelihood of unethical photo manipulation.
Larger organizations should have greater resources for professional ed-

ucation, as well as more staff resources. It should also be the case that orga-
nizations with a more extensive division of labor would have a more flexi-
ble structure within which to shift resources on deadline so as to ease time
constraints on designers.
H4a: The larger the news organization the less likelihood of unethical
photo manipulation.
Organizational size is related to the degree to which rules are formal-

ized. The increased complexity of large organizations requires the exis-
tence of more bureaucratic rules (Blau, 1970; Hall, 1999). Therefore larger
newsrooms should be more likely to have rules governing photo altering.
Larger organizations also have more resources for professional training,
which would lead to a greater awareness of the potential ethical problems
of photo manipulation.
H4b: The larger the news organization, the greater the likelihood of the
existence of rules governing photo manipulation.
Hypotheses were tested through

a survey of design managers
at all daily U.S. newspapers with
an average weekday circulation
of more than 50,000.
These hypotheses were tested through data derived from a 2000 na-
tional telephone survey of design managers at all daily U.S. newspapers
with an average weekday circulation of more than 50,000. The sample,
taken from a 1999 Editor & Publisher database, included 233 newspapers.
Ultimately, completed surveys were obtained from 230 of the 233 respon-
dents, for a rate of 98.7%. The sample is therefore treated as an enumera-
tion of the population of all U.S. newspapers with more than 50,000 circu-
lation, rendering significance testing inappropriate. An Editor & Publisher

database also provided data on circulation figures.
Survey measures for the predictors’ strength of journalism orientation
and strength of art orientation were standardized and scaled, with alphas
of 0.61 and 0.56, respectively. These low alphas are not surprising because
the measures sample a wide array of the conceptual dimension and are
high in content validity. These measures include whether organizations try

to hire designers with journalism or art backgrounds, design directors’
perceptions of hiring designers with journalism or art backgrounds, per-
centage of design staffs with journalism or art backgrounds, and whether
design directors are affiliated with professional organizations for journal-
ism or visual arts. Strength of time constraints was measured by dividing
the number of page designers on each staff by the number of pages to be
designed and by how frequently designers report receiving material in
time to perform their job effectively. Organizational size was measured by
average daily circulation. Strength of relationship between predictors and
criterion variables are reported as gammas in the text: Criterion variables
are dichotomous and predictor variables are ordinal. Pearson correlation
coefficients are reported in the tables as well.
Survey findings. Hypothesis 1a received practically no support (Table

1). The degree of orientation of the design subgroup toward journalistic pro-
fessional norms was not a predictor of the degree of photo manipulation that
was considered unethical. The variable journalism orientation improved
prediction of photo manipulation by only 2%. Hypothesis 1b also received
no support, but here journalism orientation predicted in a direction opposite
to expectations (Table 1). Journalism orientation by the design subgroup
worked against the establishment of formal rules against manipulation. It
may be that the staff has little involvement in the establishment of depart-
ment rules. Abetter test may be the journalism orientation of management.
Table 1. Percentage of Design Staffs Reporting Cases of Photo Manipulation

and Existence of Rules by Degree of Journalistic Professionalism
Degree of Professional Orientation

Toward Journalism by Design Staff (%)
Survey Questions Low Medium High
Yes, a news photo has been digitally altered in an 25.3 34.9 28.6
unethical way
Gamma = .020, Pearson’s r = .036
Yes, there are formal rules in the newsroom about 49.3 45.3 32.9
digitally altering photos
Gamma = –.225, Pearson’s r = –.204
Note. N = 210.
Lowrey 135

and Existence of Rules by Degree of Art Professionalism
Degree of Professional Orientation

Toward Art by Design Staff (%)

Yes, a news photo has been digitally altered in an 29.2 15.9 37.0
unethical way
Yes, there are formal rules in the newsroom about 46.5 49.3 38.4
digitally altering photos
Gamma = –.111, Pearson’s r = –.085
Note. N = 214.
Hypothesis 2a received limited support (Table 2). Art orientation of the

design subgroup has a positive relation with existence of photo manipula-
tion. Art orientation improved prediction of photo manipulation by 13%.
Hypothesis 2b also received slight support (Table 2). Art orientation im-
proved prediction of the existence of rules by 11.1%. The stronger the ori-
entation toward art, the more likely photos will be manipulated and the
less likely formal rules against manipulation will be produced.
There is practically no relation between the intensity of daily organizational
constraints on designers and level of photo manipulation, and, therefore, Hy-
pothesis 3 receives no support. Neither page load of designers (number of pages
to design per designer) nor frequency of receiving materials in time to perform
work effectively predicted incidences of unethical photo altering (Table 3).
Table 3. Organizational Constraints: Percentage of Design Staffs Reporting Cases

of Photo Manipulation by Degree of Page Load and by Frequency of Receiving
Materials on Time
Degree of Page Load: Number of Pages

to Design per Designer (%)
Yes, a news photo has been digitally 29.4 27.4 29.2

altered in an unethical way
Gamma = –.004, Pearson’s r = .015
Frequency With Which Design Staffs Receive
Material in Time to Perform Job Effectively (%)
Always or Usually Rarely or Never
Yes, a news photo has been digitally 27.7 27.8

Note. N = 219.

and Existence of Rules by Newspaper Size
Organizational Size: Circulation (%)
Low (50,000 Medium (75,001 High (150,001

Survey Questions to 75,000) to 150,000) and up)
Yes, a news photo has been digitally 23.8 17.9 40.5

Yes, there are formal rules in the newsroom 40.5 54.5 73.0
about digitally altering photos
Note. N = 225.
Results from tests of Hypothesis 4a show there is a moderately strong

relationship between organizational size and the existence of photo ma-
nipulation, but the relation is opposite to the hypothesized direction (Table
4). As organizations grow in size, the likelihood of a photo being manipu-
lated in an unethical way increases. As will be discussed later, this finding
may be attributed to sheer volume of photos in larger newsrooms, greater
complexity in communication channels, or differing professional stan-
dards among smaller and larger newsrooms.
Hypothesis 4b received substantial support. Variability in organi-
zational size improved prediction of rules by 43%, showing that size in-
crease leads to greater likelihood of formal rules (Table 4). This finding is
not surprising because formalization of rules is more likely in complex
organizations.
Discussion
Findings show that visual journalists perceive a plurality of norms in
the newsroom. It does not appear that ethical behavior is shaped in an en-
vironment in which a single set of journalistic norms is either switched on
or off. However, there is only a slight indication that conflicting norms un-
dermine traditional journalistic behavior—at least in the case of photo ma-
nipulation. Manipulation was no more likely in newsrooms in which re-
spondents had weaker journalistic norms, but art norms did have a limited
impact. The stronger the art norms, the more likely the manipulation and
the less likely the existence of rules controlling manipulation. There was
support for this finding in the in-depth interviews. Some visual journalism
managers justified their opposition to manipulation with aesthetic argu-
ments rather than journalistic arguments, which begs the question: Would
Lowrey 137
they have approved the manipulation if they had found the manipulation
to be aesthetically pleasing?
In-depth interview and survey results suggested several other areas of
concern. One, it appears that organizational size and complexity may lead to
a greater likelihood of photo manipulation, despite the increased presence
of rules guiding photo use in these same newsrooms. Two, in matters of
news judgment, visual journalists often defer to editors and reporters (the
dominant subculture), whom they regard as more in touch with traditional
journalistic norms. This implies visual journalists may not be taking their
own role as journalists seriously enough, despite rhetoric to the contrary.
Three, visual journalists, particularly page designers, may be more likely to
manipulate photos for the sake of good fit between visuals and text when in-
tegrative norms are strong in newsrooms. These points are discussed next.
The Impact of Organizational Size

Size of the organization is the only predictor that has a strong impact on
the likelihood of manipulating photos, yet size seems to work in two ways.
Larger organizations are both more likely to manipulate photos and more
likely to have rules prohibiting manipulation.
Larger organizations are both

more likely to manipulate photos
and more likely to have rules
prohibiting manipulation.
There are several possible explanations for this seeming contradiction.

It may be that the boundaries of what constitutes unethical photo manipu-
lation to a design director of a larger paper are broader than the boundaries
of what constitutes manipulation to a design director at a smaller paper.
Design directors at larger papers may be trained to be more sensitive to in-
stances of photo manipulation than design directors at smaller papers are.
However, none of the papers examined was very small. Papers in the sur-
vey ranged from 50,000 circulation and up, and so it should be that percep-
tions of what constitutes unethical manipulation would be fairly consis-
tent across papers.
Another possible explanation is the sheer volume of images in very
large newspapers, which increases likelihood of manipulation. Also, as or-
ganizations grow in size, they become more complex, and labor becomes
more greatly differentiated (Blau, 1970; Hall, 1999). Greater complexity
should lead to a greater variety of subgroups and a greater variety of nor-
mative influences. This is speculation, but the plurality of normative in-

fluences may increase the likelihood of unethical manipulation as it is de-
fined by the dominant journalistic culture. The increased complexity of
larger newsrooms may also lead to more complicated communication
channels, making it more likely that rules guiding photo imaging get
poorly transmitted.
Deference to the Dominant Subgroup

Visual journalists view journalistic norms as the strongest of the three
sets of norms. Strong journalistic norms lead to the perception that photos
should represent the reporter’s interpretation of the world out there rather
than the photographer’s direct experience. Visual journalists discuss their
belief that word journalists are uniquely able to represent objectively, but
they also say that photographers, artists, and designers inject subjectivity
into both their work and into planning meetings. Word journalists appear
to have cultural control. The norms of word journalists have, as Bloor and
Dawson (1994) said, “become part of the taken-for-granted social reality
that structures organizational life” (p. 279).
Visual journalists place more importance on pleasing the dominant
subgroup than on pursuing accurate representation, which suggests
a sort of “service-department” mentality common to advertising and
graphics firms. The work of visual journalists seems to reflect less an eth-
ical pursuit of the content of traditional journalistic norms (objectivity,
accuracy, etc.), and more a pursuit of the approval of this dominant sub-
culture. Interview respondents typically indicated that decision making
by visual journalists should be consistent with, or follow, decision mak-
ing by word journalists. As one design director said, it is important that
the content of photos and graphics not “hang a right” while the content
of written stories “hang a left.” These findings imply that visual journal-
ists may not be taking enough responsibility for their own professional
behavior.
Pursuit of Good Fit

According to in-depth interviews, good fit and smooth work processes
are especially important normative goals of visual journalists. These find-
ings suggest visual journalists may manipulate photos for the sake of con-
sistency among page elements. If a designer has a story and no art, reshap-
ing a photo for illustrative purposes at the last minute is an easy way to
match the visual to the theme of the story. It was assumed that this would
happen most often in departments where designers had more severe time
constraints. However, according to the survey, this was not the case. Sever-
Lowrey 139
ity of time constraints was not predictive of photo manipulation. This con-
flict between in-depth interview findings and survey findings suggests
further study of integrative norms is warranted.
Conclusions
The culture of subgroup conflict has not been fully explored in the mass
communication literature, but it appears to be an increasingly relevant
framework. The advent of online journalism, for example, has introduced
a perceived invasion of “techies” into newsrooms. What values and norms
have these online workers brought with them, and how might this intro-
duction of new norms and values affect newsroom culture and, therefore,
ethical decision making on a daily basis? Future studies should incorpo-
rate newsroom observation into the methodology for a more complete pic-
ture of the newsroom’s normative environment. Future studies should
also explore subgroup conflict more directly by examining more than one
subgroup.
This study suggests that the decision to manipulate a photo—or to violate
norms in general—is not merely a case of an individual or group of individu-
als making an error in judgment. Individuals work within the structures and
normative patterns of complex organizations and occupations, and the or-
ganization’s size and constraints have an important impact on the effect of
occupational norms and values. Ethical decision making in the newsroom
seems to lie near the intersection of occupation and organization.
Notes
1. Norms in this study are seen as “specifying what the members [of a group] or
other [people] should do, ought to do, are expected to, under given circum-
stances.” This definition comes from Homans (1950, p. 123), who places
norms “in the minds of individuals.” This study takes a more sociological
view of norms, adopting Durkheim’s (1893/1984) notion that norms are not
housed in individual minds. They are rather informal social rules, or social
facts, that become evident when violated. Homans’s definition, however, is
helpful for its allusion to given circumstances, which emphasizes the impor-
tance of variability in environment to the relative strength of norms.
2. It is fair to say that the initial wave of concern over the manipulation of news
photos has receded over the past three or four years since the last high-profile
cases of manipulation in mainstream journalism were reported (most notably
Time’s 1994 OJ cover, Newsweek’s 1997 cover photo of septuplet mother Bobbi
McCaughey with altered teeth, and the Atlanta Constitution’s 1996 altering of a
“Travel” cover shot). However, incidents of photo manipulation in major
news publications have occurred since. In February 2001 background was
added and a football player’s uniform was altered in a Sports Illustrated cover
photo (Irby, 2001). Also the new pervasiveness of photo imaging technol-
ogy—for example, photo-imaging software is now being marketed to chil-
dren—means that questions of photo imaging ethics may even gain added
importance.
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Normative Conflict in the

In this study I contend that the work of journalism is not singular or

cording to this literature, individuals make flawed decisions for a number

organizational subgroups (Trice, 1993), and new occupational groups may

Norms and Normative Clash in News Work

One of the more frequently

Both academic and trade literature on newsrooms offer examples of

mine photography’s growing presence (p. 83). According to Nerone and

Concepts, Findings, and Methods

photo manipulation should result from a subgroup’s perception of,

Photo manipulation should result

and reaction to, the multiplicity of

This study was conducted in two complementary methodological parts.

1. Which norms do members of occupational subgroups involved with

To shed light on the research questions, semistructured interviews were

As much as possible, interviews were grounded in the respondents’

Three major sets of norms guiding the work of newspaper presentation

Journalistic norms. Journalistic norms represent the prioritization of

In relation to the issue of photo

Integrative norms. The staffer following integrative norms is inte-

One of our photographers went out to shoot photos for a story we

instead determined by how accurately they fit word journalists’ stories

istic norms within design subgroups would predict less likelihood of

produce fit, especially on soft-news pages. Photo manipulation is a quick

H3: The stronger the organizational time constraints on designers, the

greater the likelihood of unethical photo manipulation.

Larger organizations should have greater resources for professional ed-

Organizational size is related to the degree to which rules are formal-

Hypotheses were tested through

lation, rendering significance testing inappropriate. An Editor & Publisher

high in content validity. These measures include whether organizations try

Survey findings. Hypothesis 1a received practically no support (Table

Table 1. Percentage of Design Staffs Reporting Cases of Photo Manipulation

Degree of Professional Orientation

Survey Questions Low Medium High

Table 2. Percentage of Design Staffs Reporting Cases of Photo Manipulation

Degree of Professional Orientation

Survey Questions Low Medium High

Hypothesis 2a received limited support (Table 2). Art orientation of the

Table 3. Organizational Constraints: Percentage of Design Staffs Reporting Cases

Degree of Page Load: Number of Pages

Survey Questions Low Medium High

Yes, a news photo has been digitally 29.4 27.4 29.2

Always or Usually Rarely or Never

Yes, a news photo has been digitally 27.7 27.8

Table 4. Percentage of Design Staffs Reporting Cases of Photo Manipulation

Organizational Size: Circulation (%)

Low (50,000 Medium (75,001 High (150,001

Yes, a news photo has been digitally 23.8 17.9 40.5

Results from tests of Hypothesis 4a show there is a moderately strong

The Impact of Organizational Size

Larger organizations are both

There are several possible explanations for this seeming contradiction.

mative influences. This is speculation, but the plurality of normative in-

Deference to the Dominant Subgroup

Pursuit of Good Fit