This document discusses research methods for analyzing visual content in mass media. It examines the visual reports from the Russian news website Argumenty i Fakty about a fire at a shopping mall in Kemerovo from March 25-27, 2018. The empirical basis of the research is 107 reports covering the fire, rescue efforts, and aftermath. Key people depicted include witnesses, officials, protesters, victims, and accused individuals. Locations shown are also analyzed. The document reviews works by scholars on visual culture, visual sociology, and semiotics to inform the analysis of how photos convey social information and meaning.

1. RESEARCH METHODS
OF VISUAL MASS-MEDIA CONTENT
1
Svetlana Simakova
Chelyabinsk State University
simakovi@mail.ru
Supported by Russian Science Foundation,
18-18-00007

2. Research methods
of visual mass-media content
William J. T. Mitchell (2015) Image science : iconology, visual
culture, and media aesthetics. The University of Chicago Press.
S. S. Avanesov (2014) Vizual'nost' i kommunikatsiya. PRAXĒMA.
Problemy vizual'noy semiotiki.
Peter Shtompka (2007) Vizual'naya sotsiologiya. Fotografiya kak
metod issledovaniya (uchebnik; per. s pol'sk. N. V. Morozovoy, avt.
vstup. st. N. Ye. Pokrovskiy).
V. V. Savchuk (2013) Fenomen povorota v kul'ture XX veka.
Anton Reutov (2018) Vizual'nyye issledovaniya sovremennoy
kul'tury: fenomenologicheskiy aspect (PhDthesis). Nizhniy
Novgorod.
M. V. Gabova (2017) Visual culture of modern society (experience
of typology). Man. Culture. Education.
M. Zagidullina (2018) The destiny of language as a medium to
the history of communication. Chelyabinsk.
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3. Research methods
of visual mass-media content
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4. Research methods
of visual mass-media content
The empirical base of the research is made up of the weekly
Argumenty i Fakty (AIF.ru) visual content for the period from
25 to 27 March 2018. That is 107 reports that cover the tragic
events of the fire in Zimnyaya Vishnya mall, Kemerovо (from
the fire break till the end of the rescue operation). 4

5. Research methods
of visual mass-media content
«Photo is a public document, which is the
basis for fixating and displaying social
information. ˂ ... ˃ A person concentrates on
an image. He perceives it as the only
trustworthy thing. He is viewing it, sliding
from one detail to another. Only a viewer
singles specific details out to himself, and
gives them meaning»
[D. N. Mukhamatgaliev]
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6. Research methods
of visual mass-media content
PEOPLE LOCATION
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7. Research methods
of visual mass-media content
PEOPLE:
• WITNESSES
• OFFICIALS
• PARTICIPANTS OF THE SPONTANEOUS
RALLY
• VICTIMS
• ACCUSED PERSONS
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8. Research methods
of visual mass-media content
THE WITNESSES OF THE EVENT AND
THOSE WHO ARE LED BY SWORN DUTY
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9. Research methods
of visual mass-media content
OFFICIALS
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10. Research methods
of visual mass-media content
PARTICIPANTS OF THE
SPONTANEOUS
RALLY
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11. Research methods
of visual mass-media content
PARTICIPANTS OF THE
SPONTANEOUS RALLY
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12. Research methods
of visual mass-media content
VICTIMS

13. Research methods
of visual mass-media content
ACCUSED IN THE CASE OF
«WINTER CHERRY»
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14. Research methods
of visual mass-media content

15. Research methods
of visual mass-media content
LOCATION

16. Svetlana Simakova
Chelyabinsk State University
simakovi@mail.ru
16