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View metadata, citation and similar papers at core.ac.uk brought to you by CORE provided by OpenGrey Repository The Production of Religious Broadcasting: The Case of the BBC Caitriona Noonan A thesis submitted in fulfilment of the requirements of the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. Centre for Cultural Policy Research Department of Theatre, Film and Television University of Glasgow Glasgow G12 8QQ December 2008 © Caitriona Noonan, 2008 Abstract This thesis examines the way in which media professionals negotiate the occupational challenges related to television and radio production. It has used the subject of religion and its treatment within the BBC as a microcosm to unpack some of the dilemmas of contemporary broadcasting. In recent years religious programmes have evolved in both form and content leading to what some observers claim is a “renaissance” in religious broadcasting. However, any claims of a renaissance have to be balanced against the complex institutional and commercial constraints that challenge its long-term viability. This research finds that despite the BBC’s public commitment to covering a religious brief, producers in this style of programming are subject to many of the same competitive forces as those in other areas of production. Furthermore those producers who work in-house within the BBC’s Department of Religion and Ethics believe that in practice they are being increasingly undermined through the internal culture of the Corporation and the strategic decisions it has adopted. This is not an intentional snub by the BBC but a product of the pressure the Corporation finds itself under in an increasingly competitive broadcasting ecology, hence the removal of the protection once afforded to both the department and the output. Those who informed this study have responded to these challenges in a number of different ways. Of these, the two most important are the adoption of a discourse of ‘professionalism’ designed to underscore their creativity, knowledge and value to the BBC and overcome the ghettoisation of religious broadcasting and second, in the opening up of religion to a range of new formats and conventions which are designed to make the programming more audience, and thus commissioner, friendly. However, despite both these responses the long-term future of religious broadcasting and its suppliers is still far from clear. Therefore, using historical analysis, interviews with media professionals and a period of observational research this thesis offers critical insights into the private world of religious broadcasting at the BBC. Acknowledgements This research would not have been possible without the support of a number of people. In particular I would like to sincerely thank those who I interviewed for this thesis. I appreciate all the feedback you have given me and hope we can continue this dialogue. A further thank you must go to my colleagues and friends at Tern Television who gave me the unique experience of seeing them at work and helped me appreciate just how challenging and rewarding their work is. I would like to express my sincere gratitude to both my supervisors, Professor Philip Schlesinger and Dr Raymond Boyle, for all their help and advice. Their professionalism has shaped me to be the researcher I am today. Financial support from the University of Glasgow and the University of Stirling is gratefully acknowledged. I would also like to thank my colleagues at both universities who have provided much support over the last three years. I am also very grateful to my family and friends for their encouragement and patience throughout my time as a born-again student, especially those who have helped me edit and re-edit the final narrative. Finally, I would like to give a big thank you to my mother without whose emotional and financial support this ambition would not have been realised. All I can say is thank you mum. Author’s Declaration This thesis represents the original work of Caitriona Noonan unless otherwise stated in the text. The research upon which it is based was carried out at the University of Stirling and the University of Glasgow under the supervision of Professor Philip Schlesinger and Dr. Raymond Boyle during the period October 2005 to December 2008. Table of Contents Introduction ......................................................................................... 8 Religion: “it’s a different sort of genre”..........................................................................10 Choosing the BBC .......................................................................................................12 Organisation of this thesis............................................................................................14 Part I: The Research Framework ...............................................................16 Chapter One: Research Context................................................................17 Research on religious broadcasting .............................................................................17 Public Service Broadcasting (PSB) ..............................................................................24 The BBC: a media institution at work ...........................................................................28 Mapping the field of production studies........................................................................34 Conclusion: the context of this research.......................................................................40 Chapter Two: Methodology......................................................................42 Historical analysis ........................................................................................................42 Semi-structured interviews...........................................................................................45 Observational research................................................................................................47 The analysis.................................................................................................................49 Part II: Historical Analysis .......................................................................52 Chapter Three:The History of Religion on BBC Radio (1922 – 1950) ....................54 The beginning..............................................................................................................54 The war years..............................................................................................................61 Change in the air .........................................................................................................64 Conclusion: religion in the early days of BBC Radio.....................................................68 Chapter Four:Religion on BBC Radio and Television (1950 - )............................70 New competition ..........................................................................................................70 An end to the golden age of radio ................................................................................75 The mood darkens.......................................................................................................79 Market reforms.............................................................................................................85 The Broadcasting Act (1990) .......................................................................................89 Public discord ..............................................................................................................92 Conclusion: religion on BBC Radio and Television.......................................................96 Part III: The Contemporary Production Context.............................................98 Chapter Five: Challenges from Within the BBC............................................ 100 BBC management and religion: killing it softly?..........................................................100 The fight for religion ...................................................................................................104 The politics of place ...................................................................................................109 Conclusion: the challenge from within........................................................................120 Chapter Six: Professionalisation.............................................................. 123 The drive towards professionalism.............................................................................124 Quality in religious broadcasting ................................................................................126 The commissioning process.......................................................................................132 Saving Heaven and Earth : the threat of the independents .........................................138 Conclusion: avoiding professional ghettoisation and promoting specialisation ...........144 Chapter Seven: Producing Religion .......................................................... 147 “Not a museum piece” ...............................................................................................147 Representing the human aspects of religion ..............................................................155 Worship: the end of an era?.......................................................................................160 Performing religion: specialist factual programming ...................................................162 Landmarks, super landmarks
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