When is a photo a "file photo"?

It has nothing to do with anything, at least anything related to producing the paper and having people read it.

 

And 95% of design is that as well...but higher ups have hardons for certain shit and...well, here we are.

 

See my most recent post for the reasoning. It's a decision that takes about 13 seconds, so I don't think anyone's obsessing about anything. And it's dishonest to run a 2-year-old photo of a player or coach and not acknowledge that it is a "file photo," whether the reader gives a shit or not.

 

Spike -- an excellent counterpoint.

It's almost like newspaper managers don't see the big picture or something.

 

Design doesn't have anything to do with making people want to read the paper? Blue font, or shall I just vehemently disagree?

 

I think the photographer should always be credited, regardless of whether they currently on staff, and people can figure out it is an old photo by reading the cutline, where that information should included.

 

Personally, I also believe that ALL photographers should be credited, but our paper's style is just to use ASSOCIATED PRESS or GETTY IMAGES. I think their name should be included as well. And we don't use bylines on most wire stories. But while I agree, I also see the reason for the paper's style and have to go with that. And before we get back into the who gives a shit argument, the style is for consistency's sake. Not so a bunch of muckity mucks can sit around debating things that mean nothing to the reader. In most cases.

 

Light blue...perhaps? I get what you are getting at, and I agree to a point, but at the same time, we care. Most people that read us don't.
People really don't care about what us in the biz call "eye-catching" layouts. They just don't. They want to see the headline and if the headline informs them or makes them interested, they read it. Words matter more than look to John Q.
I can show my parents a page with 8 headlines and two 1-column photos on the front vs. a splash page front with a well-made centerpiece and they would say the latter is more "informative." and "gives them more to read."
The splash front is for awards...just something to stroke our cocks over.

 

If the photo is accompanied by a game story in which the pic was taken, it's a photo. If the photo being used was from a previous game, it's a file photo.

My pet peeve is when our sister paper uses "Special to the Press" when the same photo was distributed to every paper in the region. It's not special to your paper unless it was only issued to your paper.

 

I prefer good design over splashy design any day of the week, but how the paper look does matter to the reader, whether subconsciously or not. A ton of time is wasted on design, so I agree with you there. But an impactful photo used properly makes a difference.

 

If design doesn't make a difference, I'm in the wrong business.

Of course, I might be in the wrong business.