Constructing and Performing an On-Air Radio Identity in a Changing Media Landscape

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Constructing and Performing an On-Air Radio Identity in a Changing Media Landscape CONSTRUCTING AND PERFORMING AN ON-AIR RADIO IDENTITY IN A CHANGING MEDIA LANDSCAPE A Dissertation Submitted to the Temple University Graduate Board In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY by David F. Crider January 2014 Examining Committee Members: Dr. Nancy Morris, Advisory Chair, Department of Media Studies and Production Dr. Patrick Murphy, Department of Media Studies and Production Dr. Donnalyn Pompper, Department of Strategic Communication Dr. Catherine Hastings, External Member, Susquehanna University ii © Copyright 2014 by David F. Crider All Rights Reserved iii ABSTRACT The radio industry is fighting to stay relevant in an age of expanding media options. Scholarship has slackened, and media experts say that radio’s best days are in the past. This dissertation investigates how today’s radio announcer presents him/herself on the air as a personality, creating and performing a self that is meant for mass consumption by a listening audience. A participant observation of eleven different broadcast sites was conducted, backed by interviews with most key on-air personnel at each site. A grounded theory approach was used for data analysis. The resulting theoretical model focuses on the performance itself as the focal point that determines a successful (positive) interaction for personality and listener. Associated processes include narrative formation of the on- air personality, communication that takes place outside of the performance, effects of setting and situation, the role of the listening audience, and the reduction of social distance between personality and listener. The model demonstrates that a personality performed with the intent of being realistic and relatable will be more likely to cement a connection with the listener that leads to repeated listening and ultimately loyalty and fidelity to that personality. The successful deployments of these on-air identities across multiple channels (in-person, online, and through social media as well as broadcast) suggests that the demand for relatable and informative content will persist, regardless of radio’s future delivery mechanisms. iv This dissertation is dedicated to the memory of “Jackson S. Sturdley,” who is undoubtedly proud of the legacy his wit and wisdom have left. v ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I would like to first thank the members of my defense committee for the time and ideas they contributed to this dissertation. Nancy, thank you for your encouragement throughout and for all of the positive meetings where I entered completely lost and confused and left feeling like I was on the right track again. Patrick, thank you for teaching me ethnography, both the doing of it and the living of it. Donnalyn, thank you for being a tremendous person with whom to work on course papers and research projects (both yours and mine). Kate, thank you for being there all the way from my first day at Susquehanna as my undergraduate advisor to the process of lining up thesis participants for my Masters to my dissertation defense. I must also thank everyone in the SMC Graduate Office here at Temple for keeping me on task with all of the little things that needed to be addressed, as well as Carolyn Kitch and Matthew Lombard, who headed the M&C doctoral program during my time here. In addition, big thanks go out to my family for their love and encouragement, especially my mother for all the home-cooked meals and advice, and my aunt for drilling proper writing techniques into my head. I also thank my friends in the M&C doctoral program, most of all Carrie, Russell, Katie, Melissa, Jessica, and Maria for being the best cohort imaginable, but also Siobahn, Alanna, and Sam for their constant support. Thanks as well to my study participants. Lastly, I need to thank my friends in my hometown of Syracuse for being there for me although I wasn’t too available these last four-plus years, “Don & Mike” for inspiring me to get into radio and later to start doing research, my best friend Megan, Jenna my rock, and Brooke, without whom I would not be here today. vi TABLE OF CONTENTS Page ABSTRACT ....................................................................................................................... iii DEDICATION ................................................................................................................... iv ACKNOWLEDGMENTS .................................................................................................. v LIST OF FIGURES ......................................................................................................... xiii CHAPTER 1. INTRODUCTION ........................................................................................................ 1 2. LITERATURE REVIEW ............................................................................................. 9 Goffman’s Theories of the Self ............................................................................... 9 The Presentation of Self in Everyday Life ................................................ 10 Performance .................................................................................. 11 Teams ............................................................................................ 16 Regions ......................................................................................... 18 Impression Management ............................................................... 20 Concept of Self ............................................................................. 22 Radio Talk ................................................................................................. 23 Background ................................................................................... 24 Higher Standards ........................................................................... 25 Roles and Bases ............................................................................ 25 Types of Announcing .................................................................... 27 Errors ............................................................................................. 28 Application by Other Scholars .................................................................. 30 vii Narrative Identity .................................................................................................. 33 Coorientation ......................................................................................................... 35 Origins of Coorientation Theory ............................................................... 36 The Coorientation Measurement Model ................................................... 37 Coorientation in Media Research .............................................................. 42 Coorientation Reexamined ........................................................................ 44 Research Questions ............................................................................................... 47 3. METHOD ................................................................................................................... 51 Ethnography and Observation ............................................................................... 51 Media Production Ethnography ................................................................ 53 Observation Procedure .......................................................................................... 56 The Announcers ........................................................................................ 60 Data Analysis ........................................................................................................ 62 Limitations and Threats to Validity ...................................................................... 65 4. A DRAMATURGICAL ANALYSIS OF ON-AIR PERFORMANCE ..................... 70 Creating the “Theater of the Mind” ...................................................................... 70 Using Descriptive Language ..................................................................... 73 Embellishing ............................................................................................. 74 Teams .................................................................................................................... 76 Guests ........................................................................................................ 79 Developing Chemistry .............................................................................. 82 Directive and Dramatic Dominance .......................................................... 84 Regions ................................................................................................................. 87 viii Personal Front ........................................................................................... 88 Setting and Props ...................................................................................... 89 Performing in Public ................................................................................. 94 Backstage .................................................................................................. 95 Being a Multimedia Personality ............................................................................ 97 Using Digital Media .................................................................................. 97 Using Social Media ................................................................................... 99 Being on Radio and Television ..............................................................
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