Personal Narratives of Health by TV Anchors and Reporters
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Personal Narratives of Health by TV Anchors and Reporters: Issues of Control Over Social Media and Professional Expression by Kirstin Pellizzaro A Dissertation Presented in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Doctor of Philosophy Approved April 2019 by the Graduate Supervisory Committee: Leslie-Jean Thornton, Chair Bill Silcock K. Hazel Kwon Pauline Cheong ARIZONA STATE UNIVERSITY May 2019 ABSTRACT Broadcast journalists often report on people dealing with illness or physical hardship, their difficulties and triumphs. But what happens when journalists personally experience those kinds of health-related issues? This study explores how 24 local and national on-air journalists share how they manage life with illness and hardship using personal narratives shared on their professional social media pages, detailing how the journalists navigate sharing a deeply personal experience while maintaining a professional journalistic persona. Thematic analysis found the journalists’ performed three acts when sharing personal health information in a public forum: they reported on their illness, they were transparent, and they justified their actions. Within the three themes a range of expression – from personal to professional – and influences over content were found, leading to the final overarching theme, implications and consequences on content creation. This dissertation finds a complicated struggle to maintain a professional self while acknowledging the urge to connect with others through a deeply personal experience. i DEDICATION To Grandma Bev. You were not here for the finish line, but I know you are cheering. To my Mom and Dad. Thank you for always supporting me. ii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Throughout the writing of this dissertation, I have received a great deal of support and assistance. I would first like to thank my dissertation chair, Dr. Leslie-Jean Thornton, an invaluable mentor whose expertise was critical in the formulating of the research topic and methodology in particular. I would like to acknowledge the rest of my committee, Dr. Bill Silcock, Dr. K. Hazel Kwon, Dr. Pauline Cheong. All had a heavy hand in my academic growth over the past years. To all my professors at the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism, thank you for providing me with the tools that I needed to be successful as I journey down the path of academia. iii TABLE OF CONTENTS Page LIST OF TABLES ................................................................................................................. vi LIST OF FIGURES ............................................................................................................... vii CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION .................................................................................................. 1 The Inspiration ............................................................................................... ...2 Histroy of the Anchor Persona .......................................................................... 5 Use of Social Networking by Journalists ........................................................ 12 Theoretical Lenses ........................................................................................... 20 2 LITERATURE REVIEW ..................................................................................... 28 Narrative Health Messages in SNSs, blogs, and microblogs ......................... 29 Evolution of Journalistic Norms and Practices ............................................... 35 Self-disclosure ................................................................................................. 42 Self-presentation .............................................................................................. 45 Emotional Labor .............................................................................................. 49 Sensemaking and Identification ...................................................................... 52 Framing Theory ............................................................................................... 60 Research Questions ......................................................................................... 67 3 METHOD ............................................................................................................. 70 Qualitative Content Analysis .......................................................................... 72 Participants, Setting, and Sampling ................................................................ 73 iv CHAPTER Page Research Design and Data Collection ............................................................ 78 Data Analysis and Interpretation .................................................................... 85 4 FINDINGS ........................................................................................................... 91 Reporting ......................................................................................................... 91 Transparency ................................................................................................. 136 Justification ................................................................................................... 151 Implications and Consequences .................................................................... 162 Summary of Key Findings ............................................................................ 187 5 DISCUSSION .................................................................................................... 190 Self-presentation: Slowly Revealing the Backstage ..................................... 193 Visual Self-presentation: Transparency Differs Between Text, Images, & Video ............................................................................................................. 198 Emotional Labor: Outsourcing Emotions ..................................................... 203 Possible Repercussions of Transparency: Accidental or Otherwise ............ 207 Limitations ..................................................................................................... 213 Future Studies ................................................................................................ 215 Conclusion ..................................................................................................... 216 REFERENCES ................................................................................................................... 219 v LIST OF TABLES Table Page 1. List of Journalists & Demographical Data .......................................................... 77 2. Data Collection Start and End Dates .................................................................... 82 vi LIST OF FIGURES Figure Page 1. List of Themes & Categories ............................................................................... 90 2. The Inverted Pyramid ............................................................................................ 94 3. Chemo Countdown Posters ................................................................................. 131 4. Kelly Fry’s Viral Video Post: Before & After ................................................... 186 5. Overlapping Themes ........................................................................................... 189 6. Range of Expression ........................................................................................... 189 7. Influences on Health Narratives .......................................................................... 191 vii CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION Journalists, traditionally, tell stories that are focused on someone or something other than themselves. Long-standing professional standards encourage journalists to present news to an audience in a straightforward, accurate manner without including their own experiences, life stories, and opinions. But at times, some journalists find themselves in conflict with those norms after experiencing a personal life event that affects them in and outside the newsroom. Some journalists who experience deeply personal but widely shared life events, such as an illness like cancer, find themselves torn between maintaining professional standards but sharing their personal experience with others, particularly their news audience. Refraining from disclosing too many personal facts about one’s self is an industry norm. Journalists, particularly broadcast journalists, want to be seen as personable to draw in their audience and attract more viewers into their news program, hoping to elevate a show’s rating (the number of households with their TV tuned into a particular program [Nielsen, n.d.]), but not so personable that they are seen as lacking authority and professionalism (Allen, 2001; Liseblad, 2018). However, with the advent of social media, researchers find a growth in personal disclosures among journalists online. Studies show journalists breaking tradition by discussing personal details (life stories, details about family and friends) and personal events (birthday or marriages) (Lasorsa, 2012; Lasorsa et al., 2012; Lee, 2014). Studies also show an uptick in journalists’ disclosures of personal opinions about politics and events (Lasorsa, 2012; Hermida, 2013; Hedman & 1 Djerf-Pierre, 2013; Lee, 2014; Sharma, 2015; Brems et al., 2017). Traditionally, personal disclosures from a journalist about their own health were rarely discussed with an audience to refrain from taking away from the news of the day and avoid bias or slant. Yet what happens when a journalist shares their personal