Readers' Ombudsman: Was this style over substance – or at least something similar to it?

Published on Sunday 5 October 2008 22:44

SOMETIMES, when old-fashioned newspaper hacks like me gather in darkened corners to reminisce and take stock of our present-day business, there are mutterings about "the tyranny of design". The phrase is delivered in the manner of Billy Bones saying, "the curse of the black spot", and the response is always a muted, "It's never just about the words any more". Yes, it probably is a bit sad, and there are more important things in the world, but at least it shows we care

Design is a vital part of newspapers; it is what makes them appealing to read and distinctive, and sets the tone for the whole newspaper. There can be no doubt it plays an increasing role in modern newspaper thinking, and, for some of us old hands, there is just the hint of a suggestion of the tail wagging the dog. There are times that it does have an impact on the journalism.

With regard to a report of terrorism suspects being taken off an aircraft in Germany, Sandy Simpson writes: "Your photograph of a plane 'like the one involved at Cologne airport after police held two men' opens up a whole new world of opportunities for photographers.

"I myself would happily have supplied a photograph of a woman who looks rather like Nancy Pelosi to illustrate the story headed 'US Treasurer got down on knees to beg for $700bn' (page 5) or a picture of a milk lorry similar to those used by Wiseman Dairies to accompany 'Wiseman lifts prices as rising costs take toll' (page 35); and I daresay that my charges are competitive with those charged by Reuters. So please, don't hesitate to ask for my help in future."

Good letter. This starkly (and wittily) highlights a design issue for us. Every day, part of our job is to sift through news stories and decide which we think will be of interest to our readers. This editing process discards and grades, and we rank stories in order of interest. When we get what we think is a good news story, we want to let the readers know that by where we present it and how we present it. The fact is that, on a tabloid-sized inside page, it is very difficult to give a good story maximum presentation without the use of a picture.

Nine times out of ten, this does not present a problem, as good news stories often come with good pictures. However, there is then the exception.

The story Mr Simpson first refers to, the storming of the passenger plane, was a very good story. It deserved a good show.

Strangely, there were no photographs. Often in these circumstances, a decision to place the story as a good right-hand page lead is taken in the expectation that pictures will come through, in these days of an omnipresent media. However, in this case, television had a very long-range muzzy picture of the plane, taken long after the incident, and that was it.

So rather than downgrade the impact the story has on the page, or break design rules by having a massive wodge of text and headline with no illustration, the decision was taken to illustrate the story with plane "similar to" the one that was raided. In journalistic terms, this adds very little – most of our readers will know what a plane looks like. In fact, it's a little bit of a journalist in-joke just how tenuous the "similar to" caption can become. It is literally style over substance. But that aspect of journalism is sacrificed for the more over-arching journalistic principle of giving the story the show it deserves on news values.

I think Mr Simpson's letter highlights that we need to think carefully about the circumstances in which we decide to go down that route. Other newspapers would not have thought twice about using pictures of a previous police snatch or even a training exercise showing armed police storming a plane and either using a "similar to" caption or just forgetting a caption altogether, but that would have been going too far for us.

It is clear we need to think closely about the value of photographs in certain situations and how we use space on the page.

&#149 Contact Ian Stewart on 0131 620 8633, at [e-mail] or at 108 Holyrood Road, Edinburgh, EH8 8AS