White space is the absence of content. White space does not hold content in the way that a photograph or text holds meaning and yet it gives meaning, through context, to both image and text. In fact, white space can make or break the effective transmission of image or text. The third wins every time. The asymmetry symbolizes daring and innovation while still being safely within the Modern semiotic code.
White space is extravagance.
White space is the surface of the paper on which you are printing showing through and on which you are choosing NOT to print. Printing plates, separations, paper and four and more colour presses still have to be used and paid for with the inclusion of white space. In most paperback books for instance, where presentation of text in the most functional, economical, and readable way is the first priority, white space has minor importance. Historically newspapers have not been big on white space, although this is changing as newspapers are slowly shifting their function and provide colour and entertainment as well as hard core information. In these Post-modern times there has been an increasing competition for the eye in all media, so sales are promoted not through content, but through quick visual summaries made using the visual code in which white space plays a dominant part.