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Contact: [email protected] “On the margins”: a qualitative analysis of independent hyperlocal news through a subcultural lens by Carol Arnold Canterbury Christ Church University Thesis submitted for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy April 2019 Acknowledgements Firstly, I would like to thank Canterbury Christ Church University for funding this doctorate and providing me with such an amazing opportunity. Specifically I want to thank my top notch supervisory team: Professors Shane Blackman, Ágnes Gulyás and Adrian Holliday, whose insight and constructive feedback helped me shape this project. A ‘blanket’ thank-you to everyone in the Graduate School who has helped me to reach this point. Particularly those involved in CCCU’s excellent Researcher Development Programme. They inspire and open post-graduate eyes to limitless possibilities. I am most indebted to Shane Blackman whose expertise and support allowed me to ‘breath life’ into this thesis - responding to texts and emails at all hours with wise words and plenty of encouragement. Also Dr Andy Birtwistle for mentoring me through the most difficult stages of the doctorate. Particularly grateful thanks go to the independent publishers who allowed an insight into their world by patiently donating their time to speak to me. In no particular order they are: David Wimble, James Hatts, Vijay Jain, David Shafford, David Jackman, Daniel Ionescu, John Cook, Jamie Summerfield, Rachel Howells, Richard Gurner, Sean Kelly, Annemarie Flanagan, Sue Choularton, William Perrin, Richard Coulter, Emma Cooper, Richard Drew, Gary Brindle, Paul Breeden, Michael Casey, David Prior, Emma Gunby, Martin Johnston, Adam Cantwell-Corn, Pat Gamble, Dave Harte and Simon Perry. To this list neds to be added Emma Meese, Kathryn Geels and Douglas White, whose contributions provided different angles and added valuable perspective to the data. Thanks go to Tracy Austin for proof reading and correcting the ‘typos’ in the thesis in lightning quick time, like the superb English teacher that she is. I’m hoping that the experience hasn’t put her off doing her own doctorate. Any mistakes that remain are all my own work. Also to my dear friends Kim Hodges and Julia Hobden who have provided calming words when I have needed them most. Last and most importantly thanks to my family for coming on this journey with me – it hasn’t been an easy few years. My husband Bill, son David and daughter Juliet have had to endure me working constantly, while littering our home with piles of academic books and journal articles. It has been particularly trying for Bill with three of us studying. There has been a steady stream of deadlines for exams and assignments in our house, due to variously: GCSEs, A Levels, a US college scholarship and most recently two UK undergraduate degrees in addition to my post-graduate studies. Bill has been tormented by ‘phantom’ fears that he must have an essay to hand in! At times ‘going back to sea’ to his day job, as a Master Mariner, has provided some respite from the relentless studying happening at home. The one who has taken it all in his stride is ‘thesis dog’ Max, our Border Collie, who has been my constant companion throughout the writing up period – how I wish I could sleep that soundly. There has also been sadness too. When we started this journey my dad Jack Wicken and Bill’s mum Molly Arnold were still with us, with their towering personalities. They saw the start but regrettably not the finish, nevertheless their lives were brim-full with experiences. So to the future, onward and upward! This doctorate is dedicated to my family: Bill, David and Juliet with love. Now this thesis is written… more time for making memories! Abstract This thesis adopts a little used subcultural lens for a qualitative investigation of selective UK independent hyperlocal publishers. Drawing on the biographical tradition of Robert Park of the Chicago School and the subsequent work on subcultures, it gives voice to 27 independent operators whose narrative of their everyday publishing activities evidences a variety of themes. These include the emergence of independent hyperlocal publishing as a result of a crisis in mainstream local newspapers. This crisis was the result of a combination of factors: the disruption of the internet, centralisation strategies which distanced local newspapers from communities and finally the effects of the economic downturn. The thesis considers how independent publishers, operating on the margins of the local news ecosystem, have retrieved and repurposed aspects of the mainstream and put them to good use; frequently reinventing working practices discarded by the ‘parent culture’. Changes to the research field during the study period are also included to show a sector both organising and professionalising itself, while re-negotiating its relationship with mainstream organisations. This is in line with the notion that subcultures can ‘travel’ (Hebdige, 2014: 9) as they evolve. To contextualise narratives, three further interviews were included with representatives of philanthropic organisations which have helped independent publishing gain a foothold in the local news ecosystem. The thesis includes a high degree of autobiographical inscription by acknowledging the journalistic background of the author. The overall research strategy is a subjective, inductive approach based on the feminist tradition of open-ended, one-to-one interviews. The methodological approach is Grounded theory (Glaser and Strauss, 1967; Corbin and Strauss, 2015; Birks and Mills, 2015). i ii Contents Introduction ………………………………………………………………………….1 Chapter 1: Literature review: applying a subcultural lens to hyperlocal 1:1 Introduction………………………………………………………………..9 1:2 Defining the term hyperlocal……………………………………………10 1:3 Independent hyperlocal publishing: as a contemporary media subculture……………………………………………………………………..14 1:3:1 Resistance to and repurposing of the parent culture………15 1:3:2 A ‘make-do-and-mend’ culture………………………………..18 1:3:3 ‘Division of labour’ in the larger operations…………………. 23 1:4 Reciprocal engagement: on several levels……………………………..25 1:4:1 Direct reciprocity………………………………………………...27 1:4:2 Indirect reciprocity………………………………………………28 1:4:3 Sustained reciprocity……………………………………………29 1:5 The evolution of media subcultures……………………………………..30 1:5:1 Zine culture………………………………………………………31 1:5:2 Organisational structures of alternative media………………34 1:5:3 Precarity vs resilience: glass half-empty or half-full?............36 1:6 Not set in stone: parent and subcultures evolve………………………38 1:6:1 Changes in mainstream journalism practice…………………39 1:6:2 The role of technology: helping media subcultures to Flourish………………………………………………………………….41 1:6:3 Discontinuous and disruptive innovations influence a changing media ecosystem ………………………………………….43 1:7 Conclusion…………………………………………………………………48 Chapter 2: Methodology: the influence of autobiographical inscription 2:1 Introduction………………………………………………………………..49 iii 2:2 Research context and questions……………………………………..50 2:3 Research methods: towards autobiographical inscription…………52 2:4 Research setting and sample…………………………………………58 2:5 Interpreting the data……………………………………………………63 2:6 Coding for themes………………………………………………………71 2:7 Conclusion……………………………………………………………….74 Chapter 3: Biography and “churnalism”: looking at a parent culture in crisis and the emergence of a news subculture 3:1 Introduction……………………………………………………………….76 3:2 Positionality statement as primary research…………………………..77 3:2:1 Unionisation as professionalism……………………………..80 3:2:2 Finding my niche: independent publishing 1980s style……80 3:2:3 ‘Patch’ reporting: deeply embedded in the community…….82 3:3 Crisis in the mainstream: the internet era from 1995 onwards………83 3:3:1 What went wrong? Local newspapers’ tale of woe………….89 3:3:2 The price of change: Job cuts, ‘churnalism’ and retreat from the community………………………………………………………….93 3:3:3 Inside the mainstream: accounts of those who left………….97 3:4 The emergence of a hyperlocal news sector…………………………102 3:4:1 A hyperlocal subculture: only independent operations need apply…………………………………………………………………..104 3:5 Conclusion………………………………………………………………..106 Chapter 4: Participants’ professional background and their motivation for independent hyperlocal publishing 4:1 Introduction……………………………………………………………….108 4:2 Professional backgrounds of operators……………………………….110 4:3 Participants’ motivations for hyperlocal publishing…………………115 4:3:1 Operators producing a single title…………………………..118 4:3:2 Multiple title operations……………………………………….141 iv 4:4 Conclusion………………………………………………………………160 Chapter 5: “I thought