The Effects of Print News Photographs of the Casualties of War

Abstract

This investigation examined effect of news photographs of Iraq war casualties on reader emotional response and attitudes about U.S. military presence, and the impact of inoculation pretreatments. Three print news conditions were used: photographs with caption, photographs accompanied by full text, and text. Photographs plus caption elicited greater emotional response and reduced support for continued U.S. presence, although effect sizes were small. A second study revealed that inoculation treatments reduced the influence, but effects were limited to women.