The erosion of the gatekeeping function of photojournalists in the digital age

In today’s digital news media environment, where the number of professional staff photojournalists is declining, this study examines the extent to which images outsourced from external sources, including vested groups, are published, and how the visual quality of images varies by photo source: 1) staff photojournalist, 2) wire services, 3) social media, 4) news sources, and 5) citizens. Computational and statistical analyses of 7,651 online news photos published between January 1, 2024, and December 31, 2024, by five major South Korean newspapers, revealed that the quality of visual journalism, based on photo characteristics, varied by photo source. The results also indicate that both the topics and the accuracy of visual representation varied by photo source: photos taken by staff photojournalists were more closely aligned with the article content than those from other sources. Furthermore, photos from social media and news sources tended to depict human faces with positive emotions, whereas those from wire services more often showed negative emotions. This suggests that the gatekeeping role of photojournalists as news gatherers may be weakening, enabling external sources, including vested interest groups, to promote their own agendas.