Journal of Technical Writing and Communication Oct 2009

“Proof” in Pictures: Visual Evidence and Meaning Making in the Ivory-Billed Woodpecker Controversy

Wendy Winn Appalachian State University

Abstract

This case study focuses on images in three Science articles on the ivory-billed woodpecker, whose rediscovery was recently heralded. Because the primary piece of evidence is a frustratingly fuzzy four-second video, two groups of authors ultimately disagree on its interpretation and the same still video images that are used to argue for the sighting are used to argue against it. Given that the authors are making taxonomic arguments, images that closely resemble reality are employed. These images, like all images, are coded, and this analysis seeks to unlock these visual codes to reveal how meaning is made at the site of production, the site of the image, and the site of the audience. It also exposes how meaning making at the site of the image fueled the controversy.

Journal
Journal of Technical Writing and Communication
Published
2009-10-01
DOI
10.2190/tw.39.4.b
Open Access
Closed
Topics
qualitative research multimodality

Citation Context

Cited by in this index (3)

  1. Winn (2014)
    Increasing Accessibility with a Visual Sign System: A Case Study
    Journal of Technical Writing and Communication
  2. Buehl (2014)
    Toward an Ethical Rhetoric of the Digital Scientific Image: Learning From the E…
    Technical Communication Quarterly
  3. Wickman (2013)
    Observing Inscriptions at Work: Visualization and Text Production in Experiment…
    Technical Communication Quarterly

Cites in this index (1)

  1. Fahnestock (2003)
    Verbal and Visual Parallelism
    Written Communication
Also cites 7 works outside this index ↓
  1. 10.1126/science.1114103
     ↗
  2. 10.1093/oso/9780195134544.001.0001
     ↗
  3. 10.3138/9781442678477
     ↗
  4. 10.1177/007327537601400301
     ↗
  5. 10.1007/s10344-006-0039-1
     ↗
  6. 10.2307/2928741
     ↗
  7. 10.1353/par.2006.0006
     ↗
CrossRef global citation count: 6 View in citation network →

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