[{"_id":"project:7230","_type":"project","abstract":{"en":"The aim of this project is to understand how visual professionals at news organisations classify, make, and present photographs as part of the broader context of visual journalism in order to make truth claims about the world. We look at the current changes in the field of visual journalism in Finland, Russia and Sweden. Today, photo departments at news organizations are shrinking and photojournalism is de-professionalized. At the same time, contemporary societies are facing knowledge struggles, where the traditional knowledge institutions, such as journalism, have been challenged by authoritarian and populist politics and discussions about “alternative facts”. Photographs are important in these knowledge struggles because of the strong correspondence between a photograph and how we visually experience reality. In an era of abundance of circulating images, the role of visual professionals is more important than ever. By participant observations and qualitative interviews at different news sites, this project will shed light on how visual professionals understand photography in different journalistic contexts and what kinds of visual competences and skills they value. We contribute by proposing ways of working with images to support critical thinking around photography’s trustworthiness and thereby strengthening the role of visuals in building sustainable democratic societies in the Baltic Sea region, which has become an epicentre of the knowledge struggles."},"keywords":{"sv":"Östersjö- och Östeuropaforskning","en":"Baltic and East European studies"},"project_id":"22-PR2-0005_OS","identifier_short":"22-PR2-0005","local_ids":{"sh":["3506-3.1.1-2023"]},"dates":{"start_date":"2023-01-01","end_date":"2025-12-31"},"organizations":[{"funding":[{"_id":7,"id":"802400-4155","sv":"Östersjöstiftelsen","en":"The Foundation for Baltic and East European Studies"}]},{"coordinating":[{"_id":481,"id":"202100-4896","sv":"Södertörns högskola","en":"Södertörn University"}]}],"people":[{"project_leaders":[{"_id":"authority-person:759","orcid":"0000-0001-7943-3076","name":"Voronova, Liudmila","role":"principal_investigator","affiliation":[{"_id":11825,"sv":"Journalistik","en":"Journalism","parent":[{"_id":11822,"sv":"Institutionen för samhällsvetenskaper","en":"School of Social Sciences","parent":[{"_id":481,"sv":"Södertörns högskola","en":"Södertörn University"}]}]}]}]},{"other_personnel":[{"_id":"authority-person:218","orcid":"0000-0002-8531-4230","name":"Åker, Patrik","role":"co_investigator","affiliation":[{"_id":11817,"sv":"Medie- och kommunikationsvetenskap","en":"Media and Communication Studies","parent":[{"_id":11809,"sv":"Institutionen för kultur och lärande","en":"School of Culture and Education","parent":[{"_id":481,"sv":"Södertörns högskola","en":"Södertörn University"}]}]}]},{"name":"Mäenpää, Jenni","role":"co_investigator"}]}],"tags":[{"_id":11763,"id":"50801","sv":"Medievetenskap","en":"Media Studies"}],"titles":{"en":"The future of visual journalism in Finland, Russia, and Sweden. Working with photographs as visual truths"},"type_of_awards":{"sv":"Projektbidrag","en":"Project grant"},"publications":[{"id":"diva2:2038862","type":"article-journal","status":"Published","issued":{"date-parts":[[2026]]},"title":"The Time Dimension of Visual Journalism : The Rhythm of Photographic “Truth Claims”","language":"eng","author":[{"family":"Åker","given":"Patrik","ORCID":"0000-0002-8531-4230","localId":"shpkar","affiliation":[{"id":"11817","name":"Södertörns högskola, Medie- och kommunikationsvetenskap"}]},{"family":"Mäenpää","given":"Jenni","ORCID":"0000-0001-7771-7833","affiliation":[{"name":"Faculty of Information Technology and Communication Sciences, Tampere University, Finland"}]},{"family":"Voronova","given":"Liudmila","ORCID":"0000-0001-7943-3076","localId":"shlava10","affiliation":[{"id":"11825","name":"Södertörns högskola, Journalistik"}]}],"abstract":"Using theories of rhythm, temporality and photography, this study explores how the rhythm of visual news flow is shaped in today’s newsrooms and how it affects the truth-telling mission of news journalism. The material on which the study is based was collected in 2024 through participant observation and interviews with visual professionals at a regional Finnish newspaper, at a national Swedish newspaper, and through interviews with Russian visual professionals working in newsrooms in exile. The results show that the 24-h news cycle of online news, where there is a constant need for new visual material, as well as new opportunities for slower visual journalism, creates a rhythm where images do not need to give evidence to certain specific moments in time. Although visual journalism professionals express a restrictive attitude towards AI-generated images and a protective attitude towards photography as a registration, truth claims tend to focus on ‘abstract’ and ‘emotive’ truths. New opportunities to obtain detailed information on user behaviour also affect the rhythm of how, what, when and where to publish, and newsrooms are struggling to find a rhythm that corresponds to users’ experience of living in media-saturated societies.","DOI":"10.1080/21670811.2026.2626733","ScopusId":"2-s2.0-105030257563","NBN":"urn:nbn:se:sh:diva-59284","issue":"8","volume":"14","page":"1392-1409","container-title":"Digital Journalism","ISSN":"2167-082X","keyword":"newsroom; temporality; truth claims; photography; visual journalism","publisher":"Taylor & Francis","published":[{"raw":"2026-02-16T11:49:00.000+01:00"}],"created":[{"raw":"2026-02-16T11:49:46.254+01:00"}],"updated":[{"raw":"2026-10-07T17:56:08.319+02:00"}],"URL":"https://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:sh:diva-59284"}],"links":[{"type":"pid","link":"https://www.diva-portal.org/smash/api/project/swecris/project:7230"}]}]