A Faster Kind of Photojournalism?: A Faster Kind of Photojournalism?: Image-Selection. Processes in a Swedish Newsroom

This article examines factors in uencing the editorial processing of photographs, the impact of photojournalistic practices on those processes as well as perceptions of images. Perspec- tives on visual gatekeeping and the news value of photographs were applied to a newsroom and interview study with a speci c focus on photographs for the main news section of a Swedish newspaper. Findings identi ed routines, publication formats and resources as key factors, with some challenges posed by mobile publication formats and a focus on routine news. Photo editors were found to have a key function asserting expertise in a shared and interactive process. Yet changing routines and a reduced visual expertise on weekends were found to result in some lower image quality. While the ‘observed moment’ appeared to remain a photojournalistic ideal among visual gatekeepers, there were divergent perceptions found of the current and future functions of the news photograph. Key words: news value, newspapers, photo editors, visual gatekeeping, Svenska Dagbladet