Anton Chekhov said, "If you say in the first chapter that there is a rifle hanging on the wall, in the second or third chapter it absolutely must go off."

Let's adapt this to a journalistic principle. "All the names mentioned, all the events told, all the photographs and visuals must be related to the news itself."

You may think different in the story-telling aspect. For example French writer Guy de Maupassant did not agree with Chekhov on this matter. But one should not think differently in the journalistic aspect. This is an absolute and de facto principle. Every journalist must submit to it.

Catching the news is important. What is more important is shaping it into a serviceable condition. Both of these goals must be conducted neatly. In this perspective the photographs are as important as the text itself. They must be related to the news and project either whole or part of the news.

The basic principle is this: Photos are part of the content. They are as important as the text. Both of them must be carefully prepared. Even in the danger of not breaking the news first, reporters must use photos accordingly.

Another subject is the captions that are explanatory of the photographs. This is as important as the photos. Hıncal Uluç, a writer for Sabah newspaper who is passionate about the subject said, "The most read section of newspapers are the headlines, followed by the captions." He also said, "Captions are respecting the reader. It shows the hard work and attention to detail in the preparation of the newspaper."

Long story short, editors should write the people and the events in the photos in captions in an explicit manner. If editors do not know or are not sure about the details, they must refrain from using that visual. Also unrelated photos should not be used.

This is also about the precision of the photo archive of the newspaper. Some suggestions regarding this subject are as follows:
All photos that are going in the newspaper or archive should be supervised by a photography editor and labeled accordingly by a photograph service to make it easier to locate later.

If the authenticity of a photo is under suspicion, then that photo should not find its way on the pages of the newspaper.
The photos used must contain signatures and their sources must be included. Also any photos found on web should be used with respect to copyrights.

Heeding this suggestions will provide more time and power and will elevate the prestige of the paper. Daily Sabah is worthy
of this.