The Impact of Corporate Newsroom Culture on News Workers & Community Reporting
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Portland State University PDXScholar Dissertations and Theses Dissertations and Theses Spring 6-5-2018 News Work: the Impact of Corporate Newsroom Culture on News Workers & Community Reporting Carey Lynne Higgins-Dobney Portland State University Follow this and additional works at: https://pdxscholar.library.pdx.edu/open_access_etds Part of the Broadcast and Video Studies Commons, Journalism Studies Commons, and the Mass Communication Commons Let us know how access to this document benefits ou.y Recommended Citation Higgins-Dobney, Carey Lynne, "News Work: the Impact of Corporate Newsroom Culture on News Workers & Community Reporting" (2018). Dissertations and Theses. Paper 4410. https://doi.org/10.15760/etd.6307 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access. It has been accepted for inclusion in Dissertations and Theses by an authorized administrator of PDXScholar. Please contact us if we can make this document more accessible: [email protected]. News Work: The Impact of Corporate Newsroom Culture on News Workers & Community Reporting by Carey Lynne Higgins-Dobney A dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Urban Studies Dissertation Committee: Gerald Sussman, Chair Greg Schrock Priya Kapoor José Padín Portland State University 2018 © 2018 Carey Lynne Higgins-Dobney News Work i Abstract By virtue of their broadcast licenses, local television stations in the United States are bound to serve in the public interest of their community audiences. As federal regulations of those stations loosen and fewer owners increase their holdings across the country, however, local community needs are subjugated by corporate fiduciary responsibilities. Business practices reveal rampant consolidation of ownership, newsroom job description convergence, skilled human labor replaced by computer automation, and economically-driven downsizings, all in the name of profit. Even so, the people laboring under these conditions are expected to keep their communities informed with democracy- and citizenship-enhancing information. This study uses a critical political economy framework to focus on the labor aspects of working in commercially-run local television newsrooms in the United States. Surveys and interviews with news workers from the 25 largest local television markets highlight the daily challenges of navigating the dichotomy of labor in the space between corporate profiteering and public enlightenment. In addition to their more well-known and well-studied on-air reporter and anchor peers, “behind the scenes” workers and those with newly converged job descriptions also share their news work stories, thus filling a gap in the literature. Corporate capital incentives affect all who gather and disseminate the news. While all of these workers generally strive for high journalistic quality, the pressures of increased workloads and constant deadlines imposed by shrinking news staffs and growing digital media expectations mean journalists have to make craft work News Work ii compromises in the race to report news faster and first. Owners push experienced news veterans with deep community connections out in favor of younger, cheaper, more tech- savvy workers. Financially beneficial content trumps deep policy investigations. These outcomes not only worry those in the journalistic trenches of local television news, but also potentially deprive the public of the information they seek from these outlets. As local television newsrooms remain the most popular sources of information for Americans, particularly in times of crisis, such outcomes are not in the community’s best interest. News Work iii Dedication For Milo & Vera, the best study buddies a Mommy could ever want News Work iv Acknowledgments As my personal, news, and academic worlds collide, I find myself surrounded by some of the best people on the planet. I am forever grateful to all of those who have crossed my path, providing encouragement, laughter, inspiration, love, humanity, and the occasional much-needed kick in the backside. A few in particular have made an indelible mark on my personal, television, and academic existences. First off, to the faculty, staff, and students of the Urban Studies department at Portland State University for embracing the oddball tv newscast director who landed in your midst. Never let it be said I did things the “normal” way! Thank you for your patience and inspiration. To Professor Gerald Sussman, my Chair and co-author on multiple research projects: 15+ years ago I landed in your Critical Theories class, and the rest is history. Thank you. To Dr. Greg Schrock, committee member and ever-patient presence through this project: Thank you for pointing me in the right direction in labor studies. Again, the rest is history. To Dr. Priya Kapoor, committee member and the instructor of the first-ever grad class I took at Portland State. 15+ years later the tv director is looking at Ph.D. Thank you. To Dr. José Padín, committee member: Thank you for your patience and expertise during this project. News Work v To my tv families at WBBH & WZVN in Fort Myers, Florida and KPDX, KPTV, and KGW in Portland, Oregon: Our discussions (good, bad, and ugly) are the inspiration behind my studies of the crazy business we are part of. Thank you for your support, your humor, and your griping. And rock on with your bad selves. To the fabulous local television news professionals who took my survey or agreed to chat with me for interviews: This project never could have happened without your insight. Thank you! To the library crew at UGA Main Library: Our time together changed my life. I cherish each of you and I am so proud of what we have accomplished in the last 20 years. I can’t believe how many advanced degrees we’ve managed to accumulate amongst ourselves! Thank you for your advice, encouragement, and friendship throughout this process. To UGA: WOOF! As a first-generation college student, I had no idea what I was in for, but I knew the second I stepped foot on campus that academia was where I was meant to be. Thank you for changing my life. To David Hazinski: Thank you for planting the love of tv news in my being and providing a starter set of colorful phrases appropriate for control room usage. My 20-year career is all your fault! (Enjoy your retirement!) To the University News crew of 1997: Thanks for a great show. News Work vi To the fabulous folks of BEA: Y’all have no idea how much your acceptance, enthusiasm, ideas, and feedback have meant to me in getting this project finished. Thank you. I look forward to April in Las Vegas. To my students at Clackamas Community College: Thank you for being such fantastic, enterprising, creative broadcasters. You have cemented my love for teaching. I expect business cards from wherever you end up! To “Dr. Scott”: Who would have thought the former academic would be among those pushing the grad student to the finish line? Thank you for your wisdom and storytelling abilities. To the Blue Man Group: Your musical oddities have powered me through not one, but two graduate degrees. Nothing like a little Mandelbrot and Drumbone to get the brain waves moving! To my Twitter friends: While many of us have not met in person, our discussions have been invaluable to surviving the trials of life, local television, parenthood, and grad school. Thank you for sharing a wacky sense of humor through it all. To the fine folks at Fresno State: Thank you for taking a chance on the newscast director with an Urban Studies degree. I look forward to the next set of academic adventures together. To my fabulous little book worms, Milo and Vera. You weren’t around when I started this journey, but my life sure is better with your arrivals. Keep on being open, inquisitive, and adventurous. You are my inspirations. (Yes, we can go to the zoo now!) News Work vii And finally: To my always-supportive best friend and spouse who encouraged this academic adventure from its beginnings. This portion of the journey comes to an end almost 9 years, 2 kids, and multiple simultaneously-held jobs later. I couldn’t have done it without you. I can’t wait to see what we come up with next! News Work viii Table of Contents Abstract ................................................................................................................................ i Dedication .......................................................................................................................... iii Acknowledgements ............................................................................................................ iv List of Tables .................................................................................................................... xii List of Figures .................................................................................................................. xiii Chapter 1: The Place of Local Television News in the Community .................................. 1 A Changing Media Environment .............................................................................8 Rationale for the Study ..........................................................................................10 Research Questions ................................................................................................14 Organization of the Rest of the Study ....................................................................17 Chapter 2: Theories of Community, Political Economy, and Labor Affecting Local Television