When I was working as a sort of blogging pacemaker at the Daily Telegraph, it used to slightly irk me that the papers subs would always choose the photos. Invariably, if it was a piece that featured Gordon Brown the photo would alway capture some deeply unattractive aspect of his physog.
But the point was, I suppose, that it was the paper that owned the means to refract the image of the government as opposed to the government itself. Likewise the Guardian, the FT and the Mail etc, etc..
Hearts and Minds last night looked at how the ownership of how Northern Irish politicians look has all but been privatised… not simply through overwhelming capacity to buy resources but the photo op is now a rarity on in the press calendar…
Yet, as the great MLAs and the like standing around looking awkward page on Facebook, it does not always turn out well…
Nick Garbutt flicks through a great book of world class press photography… but it is more the case that the great era for press photography gave up the ghost when the era of epic politics finally faded back in 2007?
Mick is founding editor of Slugger. He has written papers on the impacts of the Internet on politics and the wider media and is a regular guest and speaking events across Ireland, the UK and Europe. Twitter: @MickFealty
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