In their new article Xu Zhang, of University of Tennessee, and Lea Hellmueller, of University of Houston, examine the evidence of global journalism practices in visual news content by analyzing 287 photographs published on CNN International and Der Spiegel online news sites.

The findings illustrate significant differences between the two news sites. For example both CNN International and Der Spiegel used different camera shot positions to cover the European refugee crisis: CNN International used more close-ups and tracking shots than Der Spiegel. CNN International also featured more images of individual refugees and families – Der Spiegel often depicted refugees as a large crowd. CNN International also often featured humanitarian aid workers and Der Spiegel focused on police units and military patrols.

The study claims that visual coverage of the CNN International captured the complexity of the European refugee crisis and demonstrated the evidence of global journalism through its humanized storytelling of distant suffering.

The article “Visual framing of the European refugee crisis in Der Spiegel and CNN International: Global journalism in news photographs” was published by International Communication Gazette. It is available here.

Picture: 20150904 145 by photog_at, licence: CC BY 2.0