Community newspapers often play active roles in tourism development processes, and their published texts and photographs can also symbolize changes in the vitality of a people and place over time. This study asks about patterns in publication of newspaper photographs during two decades of a rural community tourism development, and about symbolic meanings of the photographic images. Photographs published on the front page of the Gilpin County, Colorado, Weekly Register-Call newspaper were evaluated to assess portrayals of the community during 22 years of a casino gaming development. Data show an overall reduction in the total numbers of pictures, people pictures and smile pictures over time, as well as a decrease in the numbers of photographs of community social events and an increase in numbers of photographs showing local government activities. Semiotic analysis of the photographs suggests a pattern of increasing seriousness and professionalization over time, and increased blurring between the gaming industry and local community. The smile index proposed here provides a symbolic assessment of people in place over time, and has implications for research and tourist destination development.
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Patricia A. Stokowski (2011) studied this question.