Multimodal storytelling in the news: Sequenced images as ideological scripts of othering

Abstract

The paper examines the process of visual othering in documentary photographs in print news stories. Adopting the perspective of multimodal critical discourse analysis, it demonstrates how a series of images can construct, in combination with the textual component in image captions, a coherent and self-contained narrative reflecting a shared stereotypical script. The articles argues that the traditional exploration of text-image relations in the press should be extended by considering the storytelling potential of sequenced images in view of the fact that such images can manifest subtle patterns of multimodal manipulation. The implications of this study are relevant for our understanding of the semiotic potential of sequenced images in news stories, as distinct from the genre of print or online picture galleries, and of how such storytelling contributes towards articulating discourses of prejudice.