The influence of photographs from environmental media texts on the youth audience

Abstract

This article analyzes the influence of photographs from polycode environmental media texts on the youth audience with the use of eye-tracking. The study is supported by 102 photographs from environmental media texts in online publications and online city communities of the Chel yabinsk and Sverdlovsk regions. The content analysis of the photos reveals the most frequently repeated visual images: emissions / smog / haze; a general panoramic view of the city; industrial enterprises and their emissions; the pollution of forests, parks, and bodies of water; landfills; the negative impact on wildlife; and anthropogenic accidents. The analysis of the influence of the photos on the youth audience (100 people, 18–22 years old) using eye-tracking established the degree of respondents’ attention to the images based on the indicators of time until the first fixation on the area of interest (ttf, ms.), total time of viewing the area of interest (fix time, ms.), and the total number of fixations on the area of interest (all fix, units). The results showed that most attention is paid to images of landfills and the negative impact on flora and fauna. Special attention is paid to images of people and animals. The least attention is paid to stock images that are not related to the content of the news text.