Some studies suggest that there are separate neural networks for processing “pictorial and verbal displays of emotion” (12) and that visual stimuli are processed more rapidly by the brain than words (e.g. 13 and 14). As we said before, when we "see" an image, it's not just the visual cortex that's involved. The brain region for emotional processing is also activated. The amygdala, for example, is “considered the single most important region of interest in the brain when considering the impact of visual images on fear, anxiety, and pain” (15). In addition, images can trigger physiological reactions, such as a rise in heart rate and blood pressure, sweaty palms, or even an upset stomach (4).

Many studies have found that negative visual stimuli, e.g. depicting violence or fear, elicit a stronger emotional response than positive examples, such as showing joy or love (12) (you can read more about negativity bias in Part 1 of this series).

But journalists need to be aware that negative images can lead to post-traumatic stress — not only for those who've experienced similar situations, but also for the audience who only witnesses the events via the news and for the journalists reporting on them. More on this in the section “One additional note: traumatization”.

In addition, more recent studies suggest that social media posts with positive images (compared to negative ones) might elicit higher levels of visual attention and “higher intentions to click and share” (16).

People are more likely to remember information presented in the form of pictures or images than information presented in text. This is called the Picture Superiority Effect (6) and it happens because:

1) pictures are more likely to use both visual and verbal channels in brain encoding (so-called dual-coding), which increases ease of recall (17).

2) relative to text, images have more unique and more distinctive visual features (distinctiveness model) (18).

In addition, images seem to elicit stronger affective and engagement responses (5), which, in turn, seems to boost remembering (19).

Ease of recalling information is greatly relevant for journalism, because news helps people make sense of the world and make informed decisions — and these two effects rely in part on memory. That is why, many times, when less tangible information needs to be presented, journalists utilise graphics and infographics. One example is the 2023 Pulitzer Prize for Illustrated Reporting and Commentary. Mona Chalabi, contributor in The New York Times, received it for a set of illustrations "that combine statistical reporting with sharp analysis" to help readers understand the immense wealth of Amazon founder Jeff Bezos. On the website of the Pulitzer Prizes, you can find some of the illustrations — and here you can read the New York Times’ article.