Old Dominion University ODU Digital Commons English Theses & Dissertations English Summer 2017 BBC News: Defining Britishness in the Early wenty-FirstT Century Christine Gilroy-Reynolds Old Dominion University, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.odu.edu/english_etds Part of the Mass Communication Commons, and the Rhetoric Commons Recommended Citation Gilroy-Reynolds, Christine. "BBC News: Defining Britishness in the Early wenty-FirstT Century" (2017). Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), Dissertation, English, Old Dominion University, DOI: 10.25777/x8ea-s841 https://digitalcommons.odu.edu/english_etds/33 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the English at ODU Digital Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in English Theses & Dissertations by an authorized administrator of ODU Digital Commons. For more information, please contact [email protected]. BBC NEWS: DEFINING BRITISHNESS IN THE EARLY TWENTY-FIRST CENTURY by Christine Gilroy-Reynolds B.A. May 2003, King’s College M.A. May 2008, West Chester University M.Ed. December 2008, West Chester University A Dissertation Submitted to the Faculty of Old Dominion University in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY ENGLISH OLD DOMINION UNIVERSITY August 2017 Approved by: Kevin Moberly (Director) Kevin DePew (Member) Louise Wetherbee Phelps (Member) Avi Santo (Member) ABSTRACT BBC NEWS: DEFINING BRITISHNESS IN THE EARLY TWENTY-FIRST CENTURY Christine Gilroy-Reynolds Old Dominion University, 2017 Director: Kevin Moberly According to the BBC’s 2006 Royal Charter, the BBC situations itself rhetorically within the notions of ‘public value’ and its commitment to, among other things, "d) representing the UK, its nations, regions and communities; e) bringing the UK to the world and the world to the UK [...]"(2-3). In order to achieve these goals, the BBC must define that which it represents particularly when dealing with the news. While BBC News claims to be impartial, rhetorically, impartiality is impossible when committing to the pursuit of definition and representation. In defining “Britishness,” BBC News must negotiate Britain’s global position as post-colonial, or neo-colonial, and European, as well as the heterogeneous nature of Britain. This dissertation will demonstrate a model for exploring the motives of the BBC News’ output using three case studies: a news report on the 2005 London transit bombings; a report on the 2006 Mumbai transit bombings; and a news report related to the 2014 Scottish Independence Referendum. The motives of the BBC must be examined, particularly because of the BBC’s unique connection to the British government. Analyzing BBC News productions through the lenses of Stuart Hall’s Encoding and Decoding model, as well as Kenneth Burkes’ Dramatist model, gives scholars the opportunity to analyze the choices made by the BBC. By exploring how these choices fit into a modification of Herman and Chomsky’s Propaganda Model, scholars can gain a greater understanding of the motivations of the BBC’s construction of Britishness from its heterogeneous audiences as well as how the corporation constructs the national good as a public value. The outcome of the Brexit referendum demonstrates that despite a projection of united Britishness, Britain is a heterogeneous space comprising of a multitude of performances of Britishness. As the United Kingdom undergoes shifts in foreign and intra-national relations, how the BBC reports on related topics will be of importance in performing new versions of Britishness. How the BBC attempts to homogenize Britishness will allow scholars to consider the motives of both the BBC and the desires of the government. iv Copyright, 2017, by Christine Gilroy-Reynolds, All Rights Reserved. v ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS First, I would like to thank my professors, colleagues, and peers in the English department for imparting their knowledge, sharing their wisdom, and for inspiring me throughout my years at Old Dominion. In particular, I want to thank my committee, Kevin DePew, Louise Wetherbee Phelps, and Avi Santo for all of their work with this project. Their input has been truly appreciated. To my dissertation chair, Kevin Moberly, I extend my gratitude for being a great teacher, mentor, and friend. Kevin has taught me how to be a better scholar and writer, as well as how to efficiently carve a pumpkin. Through his example I have also learned how to better guide my own students. Many thanks to my Mom and Dad who made sure I had an excellent education from which to build my further academic career. They gave me all the opportunities for success possible which I appreciate more than words can say. Finally, to my husband Phillip Gilroy-Reynolds: we met at the beginning of this journey, and you have held my hand when I’ve stumbled. Without your support, encouragement, and endless tea-making, I don’t know how I would have managed. I do know it would have been a lot less fun. I love you with all my heart, and I’m so happy to continue our adventures together. vi TABLE OF CONTENTS Chapter Page I. INTRODUCTION ...............................................................................................................1 PERFORMANCE, PRODUCT, OR PROPAGANDA? ..........................................1 METHODOLOGY ................................................................................................12 CASE SUMMARIES ............................................................................................20 II. LITERATURE REVIEW ..................................................................................................23 A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE BBC ......................................................................23 A GLOBAL AUDIENCE ......................................................................................34 THEORETICAL FOREGROUND ........................................................................40 ENCODING AND DECODING ...............................................................43 THE PROPAGANDA MODEL ................................................................45 RHETORICAL MODES ...........................................................................47 THE SOCIAL SCIENCE CONNECTION ................................................50 CONCLUSION ......................................................................................................52 III. THE 2005 LONDON BOMBINGS ..................................................................................54 KEEPING CALM AND CARRYING ON............................................................61 THE MEDIATED NARRATIVE ..........................................................................64 ENCODING THE BRITISH REACTION ............................................................76 THE PROPAGANDA MODEL ............................................................................84 CONCLUSION ......................................................................................................88 IV. THE MUMBAI BOMBINGS OF 2006 .............................................................................91 IMPERIALISM AND INDIA ................................................................................92 BURKE AND MUMBAI ......................................................................................98 HALL’S SYMBOLS AND MODELS ..................................................................99 THE PROPAGANDA MODEL ..........................................................................104 EMBODIMENT ..................................................................................................109 WORTHY AND UNWORTHY VICTIMS .........................................................112 CONCLUSION ....................................................................................................115 V. THE SCOTTISH INDEPENDENCE REFERENDUM ..................................................117 MODERN SCOTTISH/BRITISH IDENTITY ....................................................124 THE BBC AND SCOTLAND .............................................................................126 THE BBC AND THE REFERENDUM ..............................................................128 BURKEAN ACTION ..........................................................................................133 ENCODING AND DECODING ALEX SALMOND’S RESPONSE ................134 PROPAGANDA AND THE REFERENDUM ....................................................138 CONCLUSION ....................................................................................................148 vii Chapter Page VI. TOWARDS THE FUTURE ............................................................................................150 WORKS CITED ..........................................................................................................................161 VITA ............................................................................................................................................171 1 CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION Performance, Product, or Propaganda? The summer of 2013 brought a handful of reports from Britain’s newspaper The Telegraph detailing various scandals, investigations, and reports on bias involving the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC). On August 11, Hayley Dixon detailed a study demonstrating statistical evidence for left wing bias in the BBC (“BBC is Biased Towards Left”). However nearly two weeks before this information was reviewed, Graeme Archer of