Cultural Reporting and the Production of Cultural Reviews
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CULTURAL REPORTING AND THE PRODUCTION OF CULTURAL REVIEWS IN SELECTED SOUTH AFRICAN NEWSPAPERS: A CASE STUDY OF JAZZ MUSIC AND MUSICIANS DARRYL RULE A research report submitted to the Faculty of Humanities, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Masters of Journalism and Media Studies. Johannesburg, 2006 1 ABSTRACT Arts reporting in the contemporary South African press seems to be in somewhat of a crisis. Although on the surface the “entertainment” and “lifestyle” supplements of the major newspapers seem to be thriving, on closer inspection, it will be found that the journalism is severely lacking in critical analysis, creativity and useful information. This research report will use the reporting of jazz found in the arts supplements of two major newspapers - THISDAY and Mail&Guardian - to investigate the production of cultural reporting, and to question the kind of messages and representations the print media is sending out to the public concerning arts and culture. The research will show that economic pressures from both media owners and advertisers for profit maximisation are having a detrimental effect, and that the print media is taking a passive role in the production of arts reporting, leading to a media that is formulaic, gossip- and celebrity-news driven, and essentially uncritical. 2 Declaration I declare that this research is my own unaided work. It is submitted for the degree of Masters of Arts in the University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg. It has not been submitted before for any other degree or examination in any other university. ____________________________________ __________day of_____________________ 3 Acknowledgements Firstly, a huge thank you must go to my supervisor, Professor Tawana Kupe, without whom this research report would never have seen the light of day. He stepped in to help at an early stage of the research and guided me through to its completion. Secondly to the journalists and musicians who gave of their precious time to be interviewed – thank you. Thanks to my brother Greg for doing an excellent job of sub-editing the draft and fixing those details that I had missed. And finally, thanks go to the rest of my family and Jackie, who have been endlessly patient. 4 CONTENTS Chapter 1: Introduction.......................................................................................................... 8 1.1 Research Questions................................................................................................... 11 Chapter Two: Literature Review | Theoretical Framework ............................................. 16 2.1 Political Economy of the Media................................................................................ 17 2.1.2 Economic Influences on Journalism.................................................................. 18 2.1.3 Ownership of the Media, Advertising and Commercialism and its Impact on Journalism ........................................................................................................................ 19 2.1.4 Decline of Editorial Quality............................................................................... 24 2.2 The Production of Cultural Reporting...................................................................... 26 2.3 The Public Sphere..................................................................................................... 28 2.4 The Effects of Globalisation on the Media................................................................ 31 2.4.1 South Africa’s Global Media and its Impact on Cultural Reporting ................. 32 2.4.2 Global Media, Advertising on a Global Scale and its Impact on Journalism .... 34 2.5 Culture Industries and the Frankfurt School ............................................................ 36 2.5.1 Standardisation, Homogenisation and the ‘Culture Industries’ ......................... 38 2.6 Jazz and South African Jazz in the South African Press and Literature................... 39 Chapter 3: Methodology ....................................................................................................... 43 3.1 The Sample Group: South African Newspapers - THISDAY ArtsReview and Mail&Guardian Friday Arts and Entertainment Supplements ................................... 45 3.2 How Much Cultural Reporting? How much Jazz? ................................................... 48 3.3 Interviews.................................................................................................................. 55 Chapter 4: Findings............................................................................................................... 57 4.1 Quantitative Research – Content Analysis of THISDAY ReviewArts and Mail&Guardian Friday | A Comparison of the Data.................................................. 57 4.1.1 Pages in Entire Arts Section .............................................................................. 57 4.1.2 Ratio of “Number of Articles in Entire Section” – “Number of Music Related Articles” – “Number of Jazz Related Articles” ................................................. 59 4.1.3 Amount of Music Writing that Consisted of Jazz Writing ................................ 63 4.1.4 The Ratio of Actual Jazz Articles to Listings.................................................... 66 5 4.2 Content Analysis of Individual THISDAY ReviewArts and Mail&Guardian Friday Jazz Articles and Listings | A Comparison of the Data.............................................. 66 4.2.1 Comparison of the Ratio of Jazz Articles to Jazz Listings ................................ 67 4.2.2 Amount of Articles per Headline/Type ............................................................. 68 4.2.3 Amount of Articles Written per Author............................................................. 70 4.2.4 Article Position in Supplement.......................................................................... 72 4.3 Interviews.................................................................................................................. 73 4.3.1 Is South African Jazz ‘real’ Jazz?...................................................................... 74 4.3.2 Does South Africa still place European and other Western art forms and models at the centre of cultural production? Do you think culture is organised and produced by dominant groups?.......................................................................... 76 4.3.3 Quotas................................................................................................................ 78 4.3.4 Do arts reporters study and research the history of SA jazz? ............................ 81 4.3.5 Press Conferences.............................................................................................. 83 4.3.6 Reviews, Previews, Features and Interviews..................................................... 84 4.3.7 Do journalists gain their insight and knowledge about the artists and their music from hanging out with them i.e. are they in the same social circle? How does that impact on the critical balance and objectivity of their writing?.................. 86 4.3.8 A Good Jazz Story............................................................................................. 88 4.3.9 Editorial Decisions............................................................................................. 89 4.3.10 Financial Restraints on Journalists .................................................................... 92 4.3.11 The Value of an Arts Reporter in the Newsroom .............................................. 93 4.3.12 Job Security as an Arts Writer ........................................................................... 95 4.3.13 Newspaper Policy on Arts Coverage................................................................. 97 4.4 The Public’s Notion of the Art of Jazz ...................................................................... 99 Chapter 5: Analysis ............................................................................................................. 101 5.1 The Effects of Advertising on Arts Reporting.......................................................... 102 5.2 Arts Reporting as Part of the Business of News-Gathering.................................... 103 5.3 The Impact of Commercial Pressures on Arts Reporters and Journalists.............. 104 5.4 Mass Media and its Standardising Effects on Politics and Art............................... 107 5.5 Is the Media Educating the Public About the South African Arts Scene?............... 112 5.6 The Production of Cultural Reporting.................................................................... 113 Chapter 6: Conclusion ........................................................................................................ 118 6 Bibliography......................................................................................................................... 124 Appendix .............................................................................................................................. 129 Appendix A: Interview Guide for Cultural Editors............................................................ 129 Appendix B: Interview Guide for Jazz Journalists ............................................................ 131 Appendix C: Interview Guide for Jazz Musicians.............................................................. 133 Appendix D: THISDAY ArtsReview Supplement Information.........