Reconstructing Visual Trust:

by

Professional Standards for Photojournalism After the AI Turn

Abstract

The proliferation of artificial intelligence and synthetic media has fundamentally altered the conditions under which photographic images are produced, circulated, and evaluated. As traditional assumptions of indexical trust have eroded, journalism, human rights documentation, and accountability processes face an urgent need to reconstruct the foundations of visual credibility. The crisis of visual evidence has revealed the inadequacy of appearance-based trust and purely technical verification as guarantors of authenticity.
This research article proposes a professional and institutional response to the post-AI visual environment by articulating a framework for reconstructing visual trust. Drawing on interdisciplinary scholarship in journalism studies, media ethics, visual communication, and evidence theory, the study synthesizes prior analyses of visual testimony, ethical risk, quasi-legal standards, and AI-driven disruption. It advances a set of professional standards centered on procedural trust, transparency, and accountability.
The article argues that visual trust can be restored not through the elimination of uncertainty, but through resilient professional practices that integrate provenance, verification literacy, institutional oversight, and ethical reflexivity. By framing trust as an outcome of governed processes rather than visual realism, the study offers a forward-looking model for sustaining the evidentiary and social role of photojournalism after the AI turn.

Keywords:

visual trust; photojournalism standards; artificial intelligence; visual evidence; media ethics; professional accountability

Author: Mykola Khokhotva
ORCID: 0009-0007-4365-875X

Reviewers:

  • Myroslav Ivanovych Dochynets
    ORCID: 0009-0007-2018-0132
  • Oleh Tytarenko
    ORCID: 0009-0008-9343-0427

DOI: pending

Full Text (PDF)

Reconstructing-Visual-Trust

References

International scholarship
Barthes, R. (1981). Camera Lucida: Reflections on Photography. Hill and Wang.
Chesney, R., & Citron, D. (2019). Deep fakes: A looming challenge for privacy, democracy, and national security. California Law Review, 107(6), 1753–1820. https://doi.org/10.15779/Z38RV0D15J
Farid, H. (2022). Digital Image Forensics. MIT Press.
Floridi, L. (2023). Ethics, Governance, and AI. Oxford University Press.
Newton, J. H. (2013). The Burden of Visual Truth: The Role of Photojournalism in Mediating Reality. Routledge.
Paris, B., & Donovan, J. (2019). Deepfakes and Cheap Fakes. Data & Society Research Institute. https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3510417
Silverman, C. (2015). Verification Handbook. European Journalism Centre. https://verificationhandbook.com
Wardle, C., & Derakhshan, H. (2017). Information Disorder: Toward an Interdisciplinary Framework. Council of Europe. https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3090072
Zelizer, B. (2004). When facts, truth, and reality are God-terms. Journalism, 5(1), 5–22. https://doi.org/10.1177/1464884904040064

Ukrainian scholarship
Горбач, О. (2022). Професійні стандарти фотожурналістики в епоху штучного інтелекту. Український інформаційний простір, 9, 41–56.
Михайлин, І. Л. (2021). Журналістика в умовах цифрової трансформації. Київ: Академія української преси.
Романюк, М. Ю. (2023). Візуальна довіра після deepfake: виклики та стандарти. Діалог: Медіа-студії, 33, 77–92.

Polish scholarship
Lisowska-Magdziarz, M. (2021). Zaufanie wizualne w epoce algorytmów. Studia Medioznawcze, 1(84), 19–34.
Piekarska, K. (2023). Standardy wiarygodności obrazu po zwrocie AI. Zeszyty Prasoznawcze, 66(2), 51–66.
Szylko-Kwas, J. (2020). Obraz, procedura i zaufanie: nowe ramy dziennikarstwa wizualnego. Media – Kultura – Komunikacja Społeczna, 16, 101–116.

Russian-language scholarship
Качкаева, А. Г. (2021). Журналистика после алгоритмов: доверие и визуальные доказательства. Медиаскоп, 4.
Симакова, С. И. (2022). Переосмысление визуального доверия в эпоху искусственного интеллекта. Вестник Московского университета. Серия 10: Журналистика, 3, 83–99.
Уразова, С. Л. (2023). Визуальные стандарты и профессиональная ответственность в цифровых медиа. Медиаскоп, 2.