The impact of new technology on the news production process in the newsroom By Abdulsamad Zangana A DISSERTATION Submitted to The University of Liverpool In partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of DoCtor of Philosophy 2017 Abstract The change brought about by new teChnology in the television newsroom has beCome a key aspeCt of the development of the television industry in Iraqi- Kurdistan; since the newsroom has begun to adopt a new automated system, it has particularly shaped journalists’ practice and the method of news production within their workplace network. This change has led to the Creation of a new form of journalistic practice, particularly with regard to multi-skills, multi- media and multi-tasks within the newsroom network. Hence, these teChnologiCal Changes have provided the news practitioner with more opportunities to obtain a detailed understanding of their practiCes, interactions and actions. This researCh projeCt provides an ethnographiC aCCount of newsroom Culture and journalists’ practice using automation and non-automation systems (see, chapter two distinction) in two Kurdish news Channels in Iraqi-Kurdistan. It draws upon in-depth interviews with journalists; non-participant observation and ColleCted doCumentation related to the research questions. The current research project is based upon two models: One is Community of Practice (COP)(see chapter 3), developed by Etienne Wenger (1998) and Jean Lave (1991). The COP approach provides a focus on subjects related to the workplace Culture, mutual engagement, identity of the members, shared history of learning, exchange of information, experience and shared knowledge. The other is the Actor-Network Theory (ANT) (Bruno Latour, 1992. MiChel Callon, 1992. John Law, others), which offers a better means of carrying out an examination related to socio-teChniCal phenomena in the newsroom network (see chapter 3). The ANT approach is suitable for discovering the interactions and relationships between heterogeneous aCtors (human and nonhuman) in the workplace network. The researCh projeCt examines how Kurdish newsroom practice and culture and journalists deal with new technology within the framework of the workplace. iii Alongside this, the projeCt addresses the key CharacteristiCs and Compared automation and non-automation systems when conducting news practice in the newsroom. In this context, the research investigates the roles of journalists in each system and their everyday interactions and practices in their particular CirCumstanCes. This study examines journalists’ relationships and involvement in their workplace learning, their interaCtion within their Community, their understanding of their practiCe and the shaping of their production in the newsroom network. In addition, this study looks at the extent to which new teChnology has a role in improving the skills that journalists need to conduct their profession. To achieve this, the researcher has conducted in-depth interviews newsroom journalists and news workers working for two TV channels, GK and KNN. The findings show that the use of new teChnology in the KNN newsroom has had a big impaCt on the news praCtiCe and everyday life of journalists in the workplace, particularly, in Comparison with the findings from the non- automation system used in the GK channel. The overall responses to these questions in the interviews reveal that the automated newsroom has impaCted on news management produCtion, and has increased the amount of news production, interaction of news workers, and exchange of experience and knowledge within the framework of their environment. However, there was no increase in news production associated with the non-automation system used in the GK newsroom network. iv Academic outputs from this thesis 2016, MeCCSA PGN Conference 2016: New direction in media research, "From laboratory life to newsroom praCtiCe: The use of Actor-Network Theory and Community of PraCtiCe to explain the newsroom praCtiCe and Culture in the case of the Kurdish news channel", University of Leicester. UK. Best Paper Award. 2015, ECREA Summer School, "[the impaCt on new teChnology on the news production]", University of Bremen, Germany 2015, Institute for the study of journalism - Negotiating Culture Conference"[the use of COP and ANT in the newsroom]",, University of Oxford, UK. 2016, Spring School at Catholic University, "Newsroom praCtiCe and everyday life of journalists", Lisbon, Portugal. 2016, Communication, Correspondence and Transmission in the Early Modern World Conference 2016, University of Leeds, UK. 2017, The University of Sheffield The conference will be held on 26 and 27 January 2017. ‘Digital Opportunities and Challenges Researching Journalism and Media in a Digital Age’. Paper title [ Every day life of journalists in the modern newsroom the use of algorithm to explain the newsroom practice ] v vi Dedication This thesis is dedicated to the following people My parents Aran and Yaran To the journalists who have sacrificed their lives to deliver the real news vii Acknowledgements First of all, I wish to express my speCial thanks to the direCtor of my projeCt, Professor Simeon Yates. He provided me with a lot of advice and with a clear aCademiC pathway to aCComplish this projeCt. Also, the three years of supervision by Professor Yates was an inspiring period of my life: he encouraged me to view everything a more in-depth way. I would like to express my speCial thanks to Mr Peter Goddard as second supervisor for this research project. Also, speCial thanks to Dr Yannis Tzioumakis, Postgraduate Research Student Exchanges Coordinator, and thanks to the reviewers of the three years of annual activities who provided me with feedback related to my projeCt, especially Professor Kay RiChardson, Head of Department, Dr David Hill and Dr Ekaterina Balabanova. Also, I would like to express my deep respeCt for and special thanks to, Mrs Marion Windsor, Amanda Dentith in the PGR seCtion and Mrs Pamela Heald of the Postgraduate Support Team. Special thanks, to my dearest Colleagues at PGR room, Morven Cook, Hannah berry and Liam Burrell. Thank you to my family members, my mam, my sister and my brother, Mohammd. I am espeCially grateful to my dear cousin, Rhman Khani. He encouraged me to work hard to reaCh my goals and finish my study. Here, I would also like to express my speCial thanks to my dear friends who supported this projeCt: Nwzad Sdiq, Kamil Omar, Baroz Ali, Hunar Rasul and Dyari Osman Arf. I owe a special thanks to the journalists who participated in this research project. I would like to express my thanks to Hoshyar Abdulah, director of KNN; Hardi Darwish, director of news in KNN; Birar Namiq, newsroom organiser and Halo Abobakar, the correspondent responsible. In GK, special thanks should be extended to Dlzar Arf, Director of the Relationship Department; Head of News Zardasht Doski; and Didar Latif, Twan Ali and Ranj Azad, news producers in the GK newsroom. Also, thanks to the partiCipants of the in-depth interviews. viii Table of Contents AbstraCt .......................................................................................................................................... iii AcademiC outputs from this thesis ....................................................................................... v Dedication .................................................................................................................................... vii Acknowledgements ................................................................................................................. viii Table of Contents ........................................................................................................................ ix List of Acronyms and Abbreviations ............................................................................... xvi List of Diagram ....................................................................................................................... xviii List of Tables .............................................................................................................................. xix Chapter One: Introduction ....................................................................................................... 1 1.0 Introduction ............................................................................................................................ 1 1.1 Theoretical considerations .............................................................................................. 2 1.2 The research question ........................................................................................................ 4 1.3 The Politico-EConomiC and SoCio-Cultural Contexts of Iraqi-Kurdistan ...... 6 1.3.1 Iraqi-Kurdistan .................................................................................................................. 6 1.3.2 Brief history of Iraqi-Kurdistan and Kurdish issues ......................................... 6 1.3.3 Kurdish culture and language ..................................................................................... 8 1.3.4 The development of media and news Coverage in Iraqi-Kurdistan ......... 10 1.3.5 Current Kurdish media context ............................................................................... 12 1.3.5.1 GK channel .................................................................................................................... 12 1.3.5.2 KNN channel ................................................................................................................