Ethical Encounters
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Doktorsavhandlingar från JMK 52 Erika Theissen Walukiewicz Ethical Encounters The Value of Care and Emotion in the Production of Mediated Narratives Erika Theissen Walukiewicz Ethical Encounters ISBN 978-91-7911-368-1 ISSN 1102-3015 Department of Media Studies Doctoral Thesis in Journalism at Stockholm University, Sweden 2021 Ethical Encounters The Value of Care and Emotion in the Production of Mediated Narratives Erika Theissen Walukiewicz Academic dissertation for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Journalism at Stockholm University to be publicly defended on Friday 5 February 2021 at 13.00 in JMK-salen, Garnisonen, Karlavägen 104, online via Zoom, public link is available at the department website. Abstract Factual storytelling that relies on the participation of real-life people must navigate between obligations towards the participant and the story. By placing the relationship between storyteller and subject at the centre, this thesis offers an interdisciplinary examination of ethical and moral issues in the context of turning other people’s experiences into mediated narrative. Besides bringing the interests of participating subjects to the forefront, the study explores the relevance of care ethics within a media context and argues how this perspective contributes to ethical and moral reflection in the scholarly domain of media ethics as well as within media practice. This involves operationalizing the theory of care ethics, with particular emphasis on relational obligations and the moral significance of emotions. With its focus on relational and emotional aspects, the study joins the emerging discussion about the affective dimensions of journalism and extends this discussion to the domain of media ethics. Extensive interviews with six documentary filmmakers and seven participating subjects comprise the empirical foundation of this case study. Narrative emotion analysis is used to identify subjects’ interests related to participation. By placing focus on subjects’ interests and agency, the relationship between storyteller and subject, as well as the filmmakers’ conflicting obligations, the study highlights a number of ethical issues that transcend the documentary format. The empirical material is regarded against the backdrop of previous research within journalism and documentary ethics, and is discussed within a care ethics framework. The findings of the study demonstrate the importance of relational factors to the participant experience. The relationship between storyteller and subject emerges as a trusting relationship where affective signals and emotion management are important aspects in the filmmakers’ conduct. Regarded through the theoretical lens of care ethics, the importance of the relationship to both parties establishes the relationship as being subject to weighty duties. Relational and emotional aspects of the journalistic profession have been placed in the shadow of procedural and deontological concerns. This thesis argues that, to foster ethical practice within factual storytelling, scholars and practitioners alike must take emotional and relational dimensions seriously. The incorporation of care ethics into media ethics is a step in that direction. Keywords: care ethics, relationship, important interests, dependency duties, participation, emotional literacy, narrative emotion analysis, documentary, journalism. Stockholm 2021 http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:su:diva-187369 ISBN 978-91-7911-368-1 ISBN 978-91-7911-369-8 ISSN 1102-3015 Department of Media Studies Stockholm University, 115 93 Stockholm ETHICAL ENCOUNTERS Erika Theissen Walukiewicz Ethical Encounters The Value of Care and Emotion in the Production of Mediated Narratives Erika Theissen Walukiewicz ©Erika Theissen Walukiewicz, Stockholm University 2021 ISBN print 978-91-7911-368-1 ISBN PDF 978-91-7911-369-8 ISSN 1102-3015 Printed in Sweden by Universitetsservice US-AB, Stockholm 2020 For Anna Acknowledgements I am immensely grateful for my informants who have so generously shared their experiences and thoughts with me. Thank you Curre, Niklas, Maja, Sara, Gunnar, Svetlana and Kurt. And thank you Gustav, Per Anders, Ryszard, An- ders, Valentina and Sebastian. My deepest thanks to my main supervisor Gunilla Hultén for encouraging me to enter upon the work with this thesis. Thank you for your continuous support, academic guidance and genuine warmth. To my second supervisor, Christian Christensen, thank you for all your valuable comments and for inspir- ing discussions. I would also like to thank all of you who have read and com- mented on the manuscript over the years. A special thanks to Karin Wahl- Jorgensen for constructive comments on the final draft and to Malin Wahlberg and Andreas Widholm for valuable remarks during the final phase of the re- search process. Thank you Stephanie Collins, Richard Kilborn and Susanne Wigorts Yngvesson for generously sharing your reflections on matters that are approached in this thesis. Thank you, all of my colleagues at JMK, for academic inspiration and for the uplifting lunchroom conversations. A special thanks to Ester Pollack and Sigurd Allern for support during difficult times. And thank you Barbara Pol, Marie Jonsson Ewerbring, Petrus Dahlbeck, and the whole administrative staff for your constant problem-solving abilities. To my fellow Ph.D. students, past and present: I doubt that I could have made this without you. Kristina, Emma, Tindra, Magnus, Elitsa, Mona, Turid, Carl, Tom, James, Rebecca, Helena, Martin, Torbjörn, Chafic, Elias, Joy, and all of you whom I have been so fortunate to get to know during these past years. I also want to thank my loving and supportive friends. You know who you are and what you mean to me. A warm thank you to my extended families Caverius and Sandved-Theissen for being there and for cheering on me. Thank you, Tjocka släkten, for all the laughs, discussions and endless support. Benjamin. Thank you for who you were, what you gave, and everything you taught me. Mom and dad. Thank you for carrying me through the toughest times. I would not have made this or anything else without you. Finally, Magnus and Dag. Thank you for your love and for putting things into perspective. For giving me reason to be homesick. Thank you, Magnus, for reminding me to put my hands into the soil. For making me see possibilities where I saw problems, and for creating the fabulous cover for this thesis. Dag, thank you for being my sunshine and quick passing shower. This thesis is dedicated to my beloved sister, Anna, who passed away be- fore she had the opportunity to write a thesis of her own. Erika Theissen Walukiewicz Riala, December 2020 Contents 1. Introduction ...............................................................................................1 1.1 Situating the study ................................................................................................................................... 3 1.1.1 The encounter ............................................................................................................................... 6 1.1.2 Journalism and the affective turn ............................................................................................ 8 1.2 Research problem .................................................................................................................................... 9 1.3 Aims and research questions ............................................................................................................. 12 1.4 Thesis structure ..................................................................................................................................... 16 2. Telling Other People’s Stories .................................................................18 2.1 Long-form factual storytelling .......................................................................................................... 18 2.1.1 Defining documentary.............................................................................................................. 22 2.2 The Swedish context............................................................................................................................ 26 2.2.1 The public service television documentary ........................................................................ 27 2.2.2 A contemporary outlook ......................................................................................................... 28 2.2.3 Rules and regulations ................................................................................................................ 29 2.3 Professional ideals ................................................................................................................................ 33 3. Literature Review and Theory .................................................................35 3.1 Storytelling and emotion in factual storytelling ........................................................................... 36 3.1.1 Objectivity, subjectivity, and emotion ................................................................................. 38 3.2 Ethics and the media ........................................................................................................................... 42 3.2.1 Philosophical approaches ........................................................................................................ 46 3.2.2 Genre-specific ethics – long-form factual storytelling.................................................... 48 3.3