This article’s contribution to theory-building focuses on the everyday circumstances under which journalism encourages a civic gaze. Specifically, it elaborates our heuristic conception of the “visual citizen” to explore journalism’s mediation of a politics of seeing, paying particular attention to how and why renderings of in/visibility signify varied opportunities for civic engagement within digital news landscapes. In recognizing a distinction between direct and virtual witnessing, it establishes a conceptual basis for an inductive typology delineating interrelated, potential citizen-subject positions across a continuum. Four such positions are identified and appraised, namely the visual citizen as: (a) news observer and circulator, (b) accidental news image-maker and contributor, (c) purposeful news image-maker and activist, and (d) creative image-maker and news commentator. Evaluating these positions in relation to their significance for visual journalism, this article aims to advance efforts to rethink the inscription of imagery in news reportage and its import for public life.

中文翻译：

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数字新闻环境中的视觉公民

本文对理论构建的贡献侧重于新闻业鼓励公民凝视的日常环境。具体来说，它阐述了我们的“视觉公民”的启发式概念，以探索新闻业对观看政治的中介作用，特别关注不可见/不可见的渲染如何以及为什么意味着数字新闻环境中公民参与的各种机会。在认识到直接见证和虚拟见证之间的区别时，它为归纳类型学建立了概念基础，该类型学描绘了一个连续统一体中相互关联的、潜在的公民-主体位置。四个这样的职位被确定和评估，即视觉公民：（a）新闻观察者和传播者，（b）偶然的新闻形象制造者和贡献者，（c）有目的的新闻形象制造者和活动家，(d) 创意图像制作者和新闻评论员。本文评估这些立场对视觉新闻的重要性，旨在推动努力重新思考新闻报道中图像的铭文及其对公共生活的重要性。