Stellar photography is the big force driving the success of Spectrum’s ‘Health Beat’

 

The content housed under Spectrum Health’s publication “Health Beat” includes great photos and slideshows. “Health Beat” itself has already been recognized in the “Digital Publication” and “Content Marketing/Brand Journalism” categories of Ragan’s 2016 Health Care PR and Marketing Awards, but the publication has also taken first place in a third category—“Best Use of Visuals.”

Chris Clark, a full-time photojournalist on the “Health Beat” staff, is responsible for photos that do what great photography does for any work of journalism: make the story real, grab the reader’s attention and drive home the message conveyed in the text. For example, the images captured for a story about the family of a dying three-year-old child deliver an emotional wallop that goes beyond the ability of words, conveying the heartbreak of the child’s mother and caregivers. 

Too many content marketers shrug off great photos in favor of stock images or hastily shot pictures taken by non-professional photographers. The intimacy of the images captured by Clark, based on his 30-plus years of experience in the news media, comes from the relationships he builds with his subjects nurtured over the long periods of time he spends with them. 

The proof is in the results “Health Beat” receives from its readers, including the nearly half-million unique visitors who have been to the portal in less than a year. 

Congratulations to Spectrum Health and especially Chris Clark.