4.1 Meaning of captions

A caption is the short text placed beside, below or over a photograph that identifies the people, place and event shown and explains what is happening and why it matters. In newspapers, magazines, websites and social media, the caption joins the picture to the facts, because a photograph alone shows a moment but cannot say who, where, when or why. Captions are among the most read words on a page, since readers usually look at the picture first and then its caption before deciding whether to read the story. Example: a newspaper photograph of farmers at a cereals depot in Garbatulla means little until the caption names the depot, the date and the price farmers were offered per bag.

Key terms

• Caption: The explanatory text attached to a photograph. In many newsrooms the term covers all text that goes with a picture.
• Cutline: A traditional newspaper term for the body of the caption, the sentences that explain the photograph. It comes from the days when pictures were printed from engraved plates called cuts.
• Catchline or overline: A few bold words set above or at the start of the caption to attract attention, sometimes called a caption headline.
• Photo credit (credit line): The name of the photographer or agency that took the picture, usually in small type beside or below it.
• Metadata caption: The caption stored inside the digital image file, used by newsrooms, agencies and archives to search for and identify pictures.
• Alt text: A short description of an image added to web pages for people who use screen readers, and for search engines.

Caption and story

A caption and the story it accompanies work together, but the caption must make sense on its own because many readers see only the picture and caption, especially when an image is shared on social media without the story. The caption should agree with the facts in the story, use the same spelling of names and the same figures, and add information the picture cannot show.

Where captions are used

• Print newspapers and magazines: Below or beside photographs, often with a credit line.
• News websites: Below images and in slideshows, with alt text in the page code.
• Social media: In the post text or overlaid on the image.
• Television and video: As on-screen text identifying people and places.
• Exhibitions and books: On labels or facing pages giving background to documentary images.
• Photo agencies and archives: In the file information that travels with each image.