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Reimagining Public Service Broadcasting News for the Digital Age

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Reimagining Public Service Broadcasting News for the Digital Age REIMAGINING PUBLIC SERVICE BROADCASTING NEWS FOR THE DIGITAL AGE AMANDA M. N. OYE A DISSERTATION SUBMITTED TO THE FACULTY OF GRADUATE STUDIES IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSPHY GRADUATE PROGRAM IN COMMUNICATION & CULTURE YORK UNIVERSITY TORONTO, ONTARIO November 2020 ©Amanda M. N. Oye, 2020 ii Abstract This dissertation compares and contrasts the development of the use of online technologies in the national newsrooms of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) and the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC). It critically assesses the relationship that the implementation of these technologies has with each public service broadcaster’s (PSB) respective mandate. It uncovers how the three online national news services have been framed in public discourse in relation to the mandates of the PSBs considered and explores how various structures, including legislative and regulatory ones, have enabled and constrained the development of online use for national news services at each of the PSBs. It further provides a comparative analysis that sheds light on the similarities and differences of online news at the BBC, CBC and ABC. This project relies on a content analysis of the homepages of the national news websites of each of the broadcasters considered, a critical document analysis of official documents pertaining to the development of online news services at each of the broadcasters, and a critical discourse analysis (CDA) of the coverage of the development of online news services at the broadcasters considered, in the national daily press of the countries where each PSB operates. This dissertation shows that the influence of market liberalism on newspaper coverage and on government media policies has placed commercial media organizations, including newspapers, in a position of power and privilege within media ecologies and has marginalized the PSBs. It found that PSB in Britain, Canada and Australia, to varying extents, needs to be reimagined not just through new initiatives by the PSBs themselves but also through new legislation and regulatory mechanisms that are designed specifically with the digital media environment in mind. Reimagining PSB for the digital media age is essential because failing to do so will result in the iii continued and increasing marginalization of public broadcasters, which in turn will facilitate media systems in which access to quality, relevant news and information is unequal. This will leave some citizens without reasonable access to the news and information needed to participate meaningfully in the public sphere. iv Dedication To Aby, Dan, Jordan, Justine and Candice for your unwavering support and endless patience v Acknowledgements This dissertation would not have been possible without the feedback, encouragement and support of many people. I owe each of them a tremendous debt of gratitude. First and foremost, I would like to thank my committee. My supervisor, Dr. David Skinner, provided invaluable feedback, challenged me, and never gave up on me or my work. His guidance and encouragement, which began back when I was first making the decision to apply to the program, will always be appreciated. I also greatly appreciate all of the time he spent patiently listening to me talk through ideas and guiding me towards becoming a more critical scholar. Thank you also to Dr. Anne MacLennan and Dr. Tokunbo Ojo who served as members of my committee. This work would not be what it is without their thoughtful feedback, words of advice and encouragement. I am a stronger scholar because of their contributions to my work and because of the support each has given me throughout my time as a graduate student. I would also like to thank the staff and faculty in the Joint Graduate Program in Communication & Culture. I have had the privilege of meeting many people in the program who have taken the time to provide assistance and guidance as I navigated graduate studies at York. Without their help, I would have been lost. I am also very grateful for the assistance of the librarians at York who helped me gain access to documents I needed to complete my research. Thank you to my parents for their patience, understanding and support throughout my time as a graduate student and for inspiring me. Thank you to my siblings, for reading my work, listening to me practice presentations and helping me figure out Zoom. I am incredibly lucky to have so many family members who are always willing to help out despite their own very busy schedules. vi Thank you to my friends and colleagues who made being a graduate student a fun and enriching experience. Attending conferences was a highlight of every year because of the people I met there and because of the people I was able to share the experience with. My work has benefited immensely from being able to talk to others with similar interests about my work and the work of other scholars. Last but not least, I owe a huge thanks to the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council for the financial assistance provided to me through the Joseph-Armand Bombardier Canada Graduate Scholarship, which helped make this dissertation possible. vii Table of Contents Abstract……………………………………………………………………………………………ii Dedication………………………………………………………………………………………...iv Acknowledgements………………………………………………………………………………..v Table of Contents………………………………………………………………………………...vii List of Tables.………………………………………………………………………………….....xi List of Figures……………………………………………………………………………………xii Chapter One: Introduction………………………………………………………………………...1 Purpose and Research Questions………………………………….………………………2 Public Service Broadcasting………………………………………………………………3 The History of News at the BBC, CBC and ABC………………………………...7 Political Economy of Communication…………………………………………………….8 Critiques of Political Economy of Communication……………………………...15 Production………………………………………………………………………..16 Journalism and Democracy………………………………………………………………18 Commodification of the News…………………………………………………...21 Financial, Technological and Policy/Regulatory Disruption…………………………….24 Financial Disruption……………………………………………………………...25 Technological Disruption………………………………………………………...26 Policy and Regulatory Disruption………………………………………………..28 Journalism and PSBs in the Digital Age…………………………………………………30 Relationship to Existing Literature………………………………………………………32 Methodology……………………………………………………………………………..38 Content Analysis of the Websites………………………………………………..39 Document Analysis………………………………………………………………41 Critical Discourse Analysis………………………………………………………44 Conclusion……………………………………………………………………………….49 Chapter Two: The History of Public Service Broadcasting in Britain, Canada and Australia......53 Radio Broadcasting in Britain……………………………………………………….…...53 The British Broadcasting Company……………………………………………...54 The British Broadcasting Corporation…………………………………………...55 BBC News……………………………………………………………………………….56 World War Two………………………………………………………………………….59 Television………………………………………………………………………………...60 Commercial Television…………………………………………………………..61 Cultural changes………………………………………………………………….62 The Pilkington and Annan Committees………………………………………….63 The Erosion of the Public Ideal in Broadcasting………………………………………...63 The Peacock Committee………………………………………………………....64 The 1990 Broadcasting Act……………………………………………………...65 Multi-Channel Broadcasting and the BBC………………………………………………66 Radio Broadcasting in Canada……………………………………………….…………..68 The Aird Commission……………………………………………………………69 viii The Canadian Radio Broadcasting Commission………………………………...71 The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation………………………………………...73 CBC News……………………………………………………………………………….74 World War Two………………………………………………………………………….75 Television………………………………………………………………………………...76 The Massey Commission………………………………………………………...76 News on CBC television…………………………………………………………77 The Fowler Commission and the 1958 Broadcasting Act……………………….77 The Fowler Committee (1965) and the 1968 Broadcasting Act…………………79 The Erosion of the Public Service Ideal in Broadcasting………………………………..80 The Caplan and Sauvageau Report………………………………………………82 The Broadcasting Act, 1991……………………………………………………..82 Multi-Channel Broadcasting in Canada………………………………………………….84 Radio Broadcasting in Australia…………………………………………………………86 The Australian Broadcasting Company………………………………………….86 The Australian Broadcasting Commission………………………………………87 ABC News……………………………………………………………………………….88 World War Two………………………………………………………………………….90 The Gibson Committee…………………………………………………………..91 The 1942 Australian Broadcasting Act…………………………………………..92 Television………………………………………………………………………………...94 The Broadcasting and Television Act……………………………………………95 The Erosion of the Public Service Ideal in Broadcasting………………………………..96 The 1983 Broadcasting Act……………………………………………………...96 Commercial Sector Gains………………………………………………………..98 Multi-Channel Broadcasting in Australia………………………………………………..99 Conclusion……………………………………………………………………………...102 Chapter Three: BBC News Online………………………………………………………….….107 The BBC Goes Online………………………………………………………………….108 Funding BBC News Online…………………………………………………………….110 Reviewing the Licence Fee……………………………………………………..111 The National Press and the BBC……………………………………………………….116 British Internet Publishers’ Alliance……………………………………………117 Increasing Commercialization and Competition……………………………….118 Building the BBC’s Presence Online…………………………………………………..120 Independent Online Review……………………………………………………121 The BBC’s Vision for its Future………………………………………………..124 The Charter Review…………………………………………………………….125 The BBC Trust………………………………………………………………….127
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