For decades, visual journalism has been at the heart of storytelling — shaping how audiences understand, connect with and remember the world around them. Yet as newsroom budgets tighten, the visual side of journalism has become one of the first casualties. The National Press Photographers Association (NPPA) is trying to change that.
In a conversation with E&P, NPPA Vice President Lauren Steinbrecher and longtime member Mark E. Johnson, who serves as chief technology officer of the Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication at the University of Georgia, discuss why visuals are critical to trust and engagement, how AI threatens credibility, and why the next generation of journalists must reclaim the power of storytelling through imagery.
The paradox of visuals in modern newsrooms
When E&P reported that 85% of editors say visuals are a top priority, yet only 31% employ a full-time staff photographer, Johnson wasn’t surprised. “If you go back and look at the research dating all the way back to the late 1980s,” he recalled, “The Poynter Institute showed that 85% of stories with visuals were read, compared to only 17% without them.”
To Johnson, that decades-old data still tells a timeless truth: “We live in a very, very visual world. The human brain is wired to store memories visually. Ask someone to think about their best friend. It’s not their name or email address that comes to mind; it’s what they look like.” He added that the oldest form of storytelling predates the written word itself: “The oldest permanent form of human communication isn’t writing. It’s visuals — the paintings of the hunt on cave walls in France and around the world.”
Steinbrecher agrees that newsrooms often underestimate the influence of imagery on how people process information. “I think a lot of people don’t realize, even on a conscious level, how important visuals are in how people consume news,” she said. “Especially with social media, we’re getting information through video and images. Whether or not people say that’s how they want it, that’s how they’re instinctively consuming it.”
For Steinbrecher, a well-crafted image can do what paragraphs of copy can’t: “When you see a picture that tells a powerful story — even just one image — you feel something. You remember it. That’s what separates visual journalism from everything else.”
Social media’s visual revolution
Johnson spends his days teaching 18‑ to 22-year-olds — digital natives who live and think visually. “They want to see things. They need to see it to believe it,” he said. “They’re not going to take the word of a translation of a reporter sometimes. To stop someone from scrolling, to get them to pause and read deeper — that's the challenge.”
But too often, news organizations underestimate the creative demands of visual storytelling on these platforms. “If you’re using social media and just throwing up a logo or a static graphic, thinking that’s going to grab attention; it’s not,” Johnson said flatly. “People tune that out in seconds.”
Steinbrecher noted that compelling visuals aren't just clickbait — they’re an extension of credibility. “When people watch a story instead of reading it, they’re seeing facial expressions, surroundings, emotions — the full picture,” she said. “Those moments create empathy. And empathy drives trust.”
Why AI can’t replace authenticity
The rise of generative AI has raised new questions for photojournalism: If machines can instantly produce images, why keep human photographers at all? Johnson bristled at the idea. “Let me ask this: say you forgot to ask the mayor a question after the news conference. Is it okay to just make up a quote?” he said. “Any journalist will tell you that's unethical. Well, it’s the same with synthetic images. If you’re using AI to generate a fake photo — something that looks real but never happened — you’re lying to your audience.”
He warns that credibility is the only currency newsrooms can’t afford to lose. “Eventually, people will stop trusting you,” he said. “And trust is all a news organization has.”
That’s why NPPA’s Code of Ethics — a ten-point pledge to honest and accurate representation — remains central to both his teaching and the association's mission. “Every NPPA member, and every student in our visual journalism classes, agrees to that code,” he said. “It tells audiences: you can trust us. We’re going to tell the truth — ethically, honestly, and appropriately.”
Steinbrecher echoed the sentiment from a newsroom perspective. “AI might be able to mimic an image, but it can’t replicate the human instinct to see meaning," she said. “A trained journalist doesn’t just capture what’s in front of them; they understand context, emotion, and impact. That’s something technology can't fake.”
Training, advocacy, and the fight for the craft
As local newsrooms downsize, NPPA’s work has only grown more urgent. “We’ve seen fewer photographers as newsrooms cut staff,” Steinbrecher said. “That makes the work of NPPA even more critical, because what we do is document history. What we capture is what people will look back on years from now.”
Education is a major focus. “We’re training not just the next generation of visual journalists but helping current professionals sharpen their storytelling,” she said. “Anyone can use a smartphone. In fact, I do a lot of work on an iPhone. But knowing how to frame a shot, how to compose it, where to point the lens — that’s a craft. When you do it right, people feel something. They remember it.”
NPPA’s advocacy arm is equally active. “We have two phenomenal attorneys, Mickey Oesterreicher and Alicia Calzada, who work on journalist rights and legislation,” Steinbrecher explained. “They’ve helped pass the Film Act, which protects journalists’ access to national parks, and they fight for our right to film in public spaces.”
Johnson added that those legal efforts have produced ripple effects across the entire industry. “Both Mickey and Alicia worked with the FAA on Part 107 licensing — the drone certification process,” he said. “That impacts not just journalists but all kinds of visual storytellers.”
He also praised NPPA’s years-long campaign for the Small Claims Copyright Court Act. “It took nearly a decade to get through Congress,” he said. “Now, content creators can bring copyright claims before a tribunal instead of a federal judge. It’s massively lowered the cost of protecting your work and that benefits every publisher and photographer.”
The smartphone paradox
For Johnson, the rise of the smartphone was both a blessing and a curse. “When the iPhone came out in 2007, publishers all over said, ‘I don’t need my photo staff anymore. I’ll just get iPhones for reporters,’” he recalled. “But the ability to craft a story with words, with audio, with video or with still photographs — those are completely different skill sets.”
He explained that timing alone can make or break a visual. “The right moment to record video or take photos isn’t always when you’re doing the interview,” he said. “So when photography becomes a reporter’s secondary task, it’s inevitably an afterthought.”
Johnson believes that newsroom leaders need to rethink how they assign visual work. “It’s easier to take someone who’s an excellent visual storyteller and help them build writing skills than to go the other direction,” he said. “It’s two different sides of the brain.”
Steinbrecher agrees that multimedia reporting has to be intentional. “Even if photojournalism isn’t your main job, it’s still vital to build that skill,” she said. “Local publishers sending out staff can absolutely learn — but they need training, mentorship and awareness. Capturing a visual that resonates requires more than just pointing a phone. It's about emotion and composition.”
Building bridges with small publishers
NPPA wants to be a partner for local outlets struggling to maintain quality visuals. “We have members who are reporters, and we have members who aren’t even in the industry but support the First Amendment and the right to document communities,” Steinbrecher said. “We appeal to a wide range of people. Visual journalism is our focus, but it’s something everyone in news should understand — even if it’s not their everyday job.”
Johnson emphasized the mindset shift editors need to make. “Publishers and editors should ask themselves one question: Am I using visuals to illustrate the story and advance understanding, or just to decorate the page?” he said. “Those are two very different things. Journalists are there to illustrate the story — not to decorate around the edges of a feed or a print display.”
He added that this distinction directly impacts audience trust. “When you’re trying to listen for quotes and look for expressions at the same time, your brain’s going in two directions,” he said. “You can’t do both well without intention. Visual storytelling has to be treated as journalism, not as ornamentation.”
NPPA’s role at the University of Georgia
While Johnson isn’t officially on NPPA’s board, his relationship with the organization runs deep. “About ten years ago, NPPA decided to relocate,” he explained. “They owned property in North Carolina, and we proposed moving their headquarters here to the University of Georgia. For the last decade, they’ve been based in our journalism building in Athens.”
He jokes about his title: “I’m their landlord, which means every month I go down and remind them their $0 in rent is due. We partner on everything — drone journalism schools, First Amendment sessions, student training. We even administer their annual Best of Photojournalism competition from here.”
Steinbrecher said the partnership has strengthened NPPA’s reach. “Mark might call himself the landlord,” she laughed, “but we on the board consider him much more than that.”
She also noted the organization’s growing footprint. “Our members are spread across the world,” she said. “Our board alone covers every U.S. time zone, which makes scheduling meetings a challenge — but it also shows how diverse and widespread NPPA truly is.”
Why the visual mission still matters
For both leaders, the future of photojournalism depends on making sure the public and publishers understand what’s at stake. “Visual journalists document history,” Steinbrecher said. “What we capture is how people will remember events. That’s a responsibility that can’t be outsourced or automated.”
Johnson sees hope in NPPA’s educational mission and the new generation of visual storytellers emerging from classrooms like his. “At the end of the day, journalism’s business model isn’t that different from a hundred years ago,” he said. “We connect buyers and sellers in a marketplace by providing useful information. And as long as we’re delivering something of value, there will be an audience and there will be a business community that wants to reach that audience.”
The tools may change, but the need for truth-telling through images does not. “Technology will keep evolving,” Johnson said, “but our responsibility to be honest, ethical and accurate stays the same.”
Steinbrecher put it even more simply: “When people see the truth, they remember it. And that’s what keeps journalism alive.”
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