Similar to the now-ubiquitous AI-generated photos, multi-purpose stock photos are directly at odds with the values of photojournalism, which seek to visually speak the truth and depict genuine human emotions. Using stock photos and staffed photojournalist photos as stimuli, this study examines effects of truth and emotion in photos in a news context. Facial expression biometric measures, valence perceptions, and arousal levels are the dependent variables. The findings show a number of nuanced interaction effects that suggest overall stronger effects of staff-taken photos. In the contemporary media era of deepfakes and synthetic media, institutions prioritizing human-captured visuals may better safeguard audiences against disinformation, which can weaponize artificial emotional appeals and hallucinate even in innocuous contexts. The present research shows that authenticity is a currency of trust in visual communication, and there is a continued merit to truthful news photographs taken by on-staff photojournalists.
Mortensen et al. (Fri,) studied this question.