Television News Construction in Converging Environments: Emerging Paradigms and Methodologies

This thesis examines the difference made to local television news production by the introduction of convergence and changes in production methodology. By considering the change in the technique of production from the traditional method, in which individuals were trained in a specific craft, to the present climate, where individuals are required to carry out a number of tasks, it contributes to the discussion of the impact of advancements in technology and various forms of convergence upon journalism. The research is based on an ethnographic study I completed between 2006-2010 in the United States at two separate local television news stations. During the ethnographic study I conducted interviews with external and internal participants in the news production process. I also observed how the news organizations were utilizing similar production techniques. From the archives of WKYC-TV, one of the news organizations in the ethnographic study, a textual analysis was conducted from a sampling of news stories from the 1970s to the present day. As a framework for analysis, grounded theory method was used to analyse the qualitative date from the case studies and ethnographic findings. This method was chosen to minimize implicit or explicit assumptions made prior to and during the ethnographic study. I was aware of explicit assumptions, based on current research, that technology is changing the final product presented to the audience (Farhi, 2002: 5) (Kolodzy, 2006: 15), (Hemmingway 2005: 8-26), and, in terms of newspapers converging with television news organizations, that they are creating new multi-media products (Dupagne et al., 2006: 247-249), (Patterson et al., 2008: 99-105). Unless the research text is practitioner- 2 based (Boyd-Hinds, 1995), (Machin et al., 2006), (Medoff, 2007:15-38), the majority of research also reflects implicit assumptions that specialized craftspeople provide support to journalists but do not make independent decisions. Grounded theory does not start with a hypothesis; I chose not to make any assumptions and tried to avoid any prejudices before I attempted the fieldwork of this study. To help facilitate the study, I attempted to be critical of my methodology in both the context of discovery and the context of validation. The quantitative research of the finished news stories was conducted without any hypothesis, but the gathering of data was conducted with specific variables used for comparisons. This study finds that the differences in tasks or technological advancement do not change the fundamental method of how a local television story is produced, nor does technology change the structure of the finished product. These issues are particularly relevant to local television news journalists and management when they discuss how the future of their industry may be affected by the changes in production methodologies. While there may be speculation about journalistic objectivity and production quality based on the new model, this study focuses primarily on the impact of the change in production methods and upon the ability of local television news organizations to complete the daily tasks of journalism. These core questions are conceptualized within the thesis by reference to relevant dimensions of production and business, and interpreted in the terms of an ethnographic study.