Kerry Traynor
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Making Local News An organisational ethnography investigating news values within Local Digital Television Programme Services (L-DTPS) Kerry Traynor A thesis submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements of Liverpool John Moores University for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy June 2017 Abstract This study of the production of British broadcast journalism, rather than its finished products, reveals the ways in which the organising and financing of journalism have traceable consequences on the ways in which news is selected and constructed, supporting the critical political economy perspective. Using a comparative ethnographic approach including interviews and observation of professional practice in three local television newsrooms, studios and other production spaces, this study represents a rare opportunity to gain insights into the ways in which events, issues and sources are selected by journalists, editors, producers and others engaged in the production of British broadcast news and how material is shaped into news bulletins and other programming. Drawing on news value theory (Galtung and Ruge 1965; Golding and Elliott 1979; Harcup and O’Neil 2001, 2016), the study offers a new model of news value analysis, the ‘News Value Matrix’, which takes account of the interplay between two key categories of news values, organisational pragmatics and perceptions of audience appeal. The study will be of interest to local broadcast journalists, editors and producers, to policymakers concerned with media and cultural policy, and to those wishing to develop a greater critical understanding of the professional practice of journalism. Keywords Broadcast journalism, local, commercial, public service, news values, professional practice, ethnography, critical political economy, Local Digital Television Programme Services (L-DTPS), UK Acknowledgements Completing this PhD has been a truly life-changing experience for me and it would not have been possible without the support and guidance that I received from many people. Firstly, thank you to my supervisors Nickianne Moody and Steve Spittle at Liverpool John Moores University and Peter Campbell at the University of Liverpool for their valuable advice and guidance. I gratefully acknowledge the studentship and other support I have received from the Institute of Cultural Capital, a strategic partnership between Liverpool John Moores University and the University of Liverpool. In particular I would like to thank Prof. Phil Redmond, Dr. Kerry Wilson and Dr. Beatriz Garcia for the opportunity to undertake the study, and Prof. Simeon Yates and Sue Potts for their generous and unstinting support from beginning to end. I am also grateful to colleagues in the Department of Communication and Media at the University of Liverpool who have been incredibly supportive, particularly Prof. Kay Richardson, Prof. Julia Hallam and Dr. Rudi Palmieri. I am of course extraordinarily thankful to all the anonymous participants of the study – the journalists, editors, producers, presenters, station managers, owners, volunteers, students, politicians and others involved in the production of L-DTPS who allowed me into their working lives and generously shared their time, thoughts and experiences. I am especially grateful to those who allowed me to observe their work while they themselves were under considerable pressure to manage live broadcasts, pull together daily news bulletins and launch whole new television channels. Without your honesty, openness and bravery, this study really would not have been possible. I am indebted to all my friends and family who have kept me sane, kept me laughing and helped in so many other ways. And last but definitely not least I would also like to say an enormous heartfelt thank you to my amazing husband Tom and children Sam and Ruby for supporting me throughout, giving me time and space to study and for always believing in me. 3 Contents 1. Introduction ......................................................................................................................... 8 Contemporary debates about broadcast journalism .......................................................................... 9 Critical factors in post-1990 broadcast journalism ............................................................................. 9 British media policy 2010-2016 ........................................................................................................ 12 Original contribution to knowledge .................................................................................................. 15 2. Theoretical framework ....................................................................................................... 21 Normative functions and professional values of broadcast journalism ........................................... 21 Journalism and the public sphere ................................................................................................. 21 Accuracy ........................................................................................................................................ 23 Objectivity ..................................................................................................................................... 24 Public service broadcasting ........................................................................................................... 29 Impartiality .................................................................................................................................... 32 Professional practice of broadcast journalism.................................................................................. 33 Constructing the news .................................................................................................................. 34 Concerns about the quality of journalism..................................................................................... 37 Conclusions ....................................................................................................................................... 44 3. Conceptual framework ....................................................................................................... 46 Local broadcast journalism in digital Britain ..................................................................................... 46 Audience perceptions of local journalism..................................................................................... 46 Citizen engagement in local journalism ........................................................................................ 49 Funding local journalism ............................................................................................................... 51 Local television in Europe and America ........................................................................................ 55 L-DTPS policy framework .............................................................................................................. 57 News values as analytical model ...................................................................................................... 58 Defining news values .................................................................................................................... 59 News value typologies .................................................................................................................. 62 Conclusions ....................................................................................................................................... 73 4. Research design and methodology .......................................................................................... 75 Social constructivism......................................................................................................................... 76 Inductive research............................................................................................................................. 77 Research approaches and methods .................................................................................................. 78 Stage 1. Document analysis .......................................................................................................... 78 Stage 2. Ethnographic case studies ............................................................................................... 82 Fieldwork ........................................................................................................................................... 98 4 Negotiating access and entering the field .................................................................................... 98 Leaving the field .......................................................................................................................... 100 Data analysis and writing up ........................................................................................................... 101 5. Organising and financing L-DTPS ........................................................................................... 105 Organising L-DTPS ........................................................................................................................... 105 Applications ................................................................................................................................. 107 Assessment and Awards ............................................................................................................