They say a picture paints a thousand words and in media terms, it’s absolutely true.
The Scotsman on Scottish referendum day has been widely derided for what has been described as the dullest front page ever:
Exciting pic of a door “@TheScotsman: Scotsman front page: Day of destiny http://t.co/ae4SDp8eIZ#indyrefpic.twitter.com/7qAsNJWfga” #indyref
— Suzanne Carbone (@SuzanneCarbone) September 18, 2014
And that judgement is not because of the words, but their choice of picture.
But this is not typical.
In general, it is the pictures that bring a story to life. It is the pictures that are memorable.
So whatever the story you want the media to tell, it’s vital to think about the pictures that will help tell it.
In print and online, a photo can be the difference between a story being run or not. So think about what pictures might help illustrate your story, and either offer interesting, high quality stills or enticing photo opportunities – or both.
As a TV producer, I know that one of the first questions that I would ask someone pitching a story to me would be “what can we see ….” And that doesn’t mean pictures of a group of grey middle aged men at a press conference, or a shot of the outside of a building. What that means is activity, events, interesting things happening which will give me what we call “sequences”.
Remember, think pictures.
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