A Converging Image? Capitalism and the Visual Identity of Alternative and Mainstream News Sites

Abstract

While largely overlooked in mass communication research, visual imagery is central to how organizations represent, make meaning, create identities, and communicate with the rest of the world (Messaris, 1994). This research explores visual differences between alternative and mainstream news sites along the conceptual categorization of deviance. More deviant groups have historically represented themselves through alternative media with themes of confrontation and challenge, often through violent or sexualized imagery (Ray & Marsh II, 2001). However, that might not still be the case in an online environment where the whole world is watching and the omnipresent ideology of capitalism may influence the commercialism and professionalisation of media messages.