Professor CW Anderson and Dr Giorgia Aiello awarded AHRC funding to investigate stock photography

The Arts and Humanities Research Council has awarded £730,000 to two Leeds academics to investigate generic visuals in the news, including the role of stock photos and simple data visualization.

Beginning in October 2020, ‘Generic visuals in the news: the role of stock photos and simple data visualizations in assembling publics’ will last for three years, and will be run in partnership with Professor Helen Kennedy from the University of Sheffield. 

The project will examine the role that generic visuals such as stock photography and simple data visualizations play in bringing groups of people together around shared interests and concerns, activating citizens to care (or not) about particular issues, making possible (or not) various forms of engagement, including democratic decision-making, and in spreading or inhibiting the spread of disinformation.