Between picture and actuality: Images in tv information

The flood of data that greets us each time we decide up our telephones could be overwhelming. Self-proclaimed consultants – typically after finishing quick weekend programs – emerge on-line, providing fast solutions to complicated questions on the way to reside. Can the typical web consumer actually confirm their experience, or are we merely left to take their phrase for it? And what about way more severe points corresponding to wars, disasters, or political selections? In such circumstances, journalism turns into central: journalists are sure by skilled ethics to uphold accuracy, impartiality, and integrity.

It is exactly this apply – using pictures within the flagship information applications of Poland’s main broadcasters (TVP, Polsat, and TVN) – that Dr. Monika Kożdoń-Dębecka from the Faculty of Journalism, Information, and Book Studies on the University of Warsaw has examined. Her research highlights the position pictures play in shaping the credibility of tv information.

No picture, no story

The researcher analyzed 9 information studies from 2021–2023 overlaying armed conflicts. These included protection of the withdrawal of U.S. troops from Afghanistan (2021), the shelling of Mariupol (2022) (2022), a missile explosion in Przewodów in jap Poland (2022), and the observance of the National Day of Remembrance for Poles Who Saved Jews Under German Occupation (2023).

The materials included {a photograph} of a pregnant lady from the besieged metropolis of Mariupol taken by an Associated Press photojournalist, beginner pictures from the Przewodów missile affect website, and archival footage of the Ulma household from the Podkarpacie area in southeastern Poland. The research was qualitative in nature, which means it targeted on interpretation, meaning-making, and contextual evaluation relatively than statistical measurement.

The findings present that images in tv information studies usually seem in just a few recurring contexts. First, when a given picture has already gained huge circulation outdoors tv journalism, making its omission probably complicated for viewers who acknowledge it from social media or on-line information platforms. Second, when no tv crews had been current on the scene, as within the case of the Przewodów missile explosion, the place eyewitness images had been used. Third, when reporting on historic occasions that predate widespread video recording, the place images stay the one obtainable visible documentation, corresponding to archival pictures of the Ulma household.

Although images typically complement video footage, the research discovered that journalists don’t at all times use them in a totally dependable means. Of the 48 images analyzed, 23 – practically half – had been solely loosely associated to the occasions proven on display. A transparent correspondence between textual content and picture was present in solely 12 circumstances (about one in 4). In 27% of circumstances, the photographs had no clear connection to the accompanying voice-over narration. Moreover, 64% of the pictures (31 in complete) lacked correct attribution of authorship or supply, which represents a major editorial and authorized shortcoming.

“Hello TV? Please come to Facebook”

As Dr. Monika Kożdoń-Dębecka notes, the sources of pictures utilized in tv information are altering. Traditional photograph companies are getting used much less continuously, whereas content material from social media platforms is turning into more and more frequent – elevating the necessity for better editorial warning and verification.

“Today, agency photographs are used less often in news reports because television crews are now virtually everywhere. At the same time, more and more images come from social media, which can significantly shape how information is framed and presented,” Dr. Kożdoń-Dębecka explains.

This is especially evident in conditions the place journalists haven’t but arrived on the scene, whereas social media customers have already posted pictures on-line. “That was the case, for example, in Przewodów,” she provides. Relying on social media content material at all times carries threat, as there isn’t a dependable approach to confirm when, the place, or beneath what circumstances a given picture was taken. It is subsequently the journalist’s accountability to confirm the supply, decide the time and context of its creation, and assess whether or not its use might contribute to disinformation.

“This creates a constant obligation for journalists to verify sources and determine whether an image is authentic or AI-generated,” the researcher emphasizes. “For instance, an image may appear broadly realistic while still containing digitally altered elements. It is the journalist’s role to detect and verify such manipulations.”

Who can assure {that a} “chałkoń” actually exists?

“Chałkoń” is a humorous Polish web time period used to explain AI-generated pictures that mislead web customers into perceiving them as actual. Originally, it referred to a big, horse-shaped bread roll. Online feedback typically counsel that not all customers acknowledge such pictures as fabricated.

What dangers does using synthetic intelligence instruments pose for journalism? According to Dr. Kożdoń-Dębecka’s analysis, editorial managers in tv information companies stay extremely cautious about incorporating AI-generated content material into information manufacturing. The essential motive is a scarcity of belief in information circulating on the web.

The research doesn’t help the speculation that tv journalists, when utilizing company or social media images, constantly align visible materials with the accompanying voice-over narration. Nevertheless, the researcher means that audiences might, over time, more and more worth data delivered by journalists on tv. Social media customers, she argues, are sometimes overwhelmed by what is known as “information smog” – a dense and chaotic data atmosphere. Television information, against this, can partially relieve audiences of the burden of verification, successfully taking up a part of the method on their behalf.

The textual content was initially printed in Polish on the Serwis Naukowy UW web site on June 11, 2025.