Screen Lives: What the experiences of documentary contributors tell us about the media

This thesis aims to explore the politics of contemporary media production from the viewpoint of the ordinary people it represents. In an era of accelerated digitalisation, commercialisation, and deregulation, scholars have focused on the everyday realities of the creative labourers who work behind the scenes in the cultural industries, but little attention has been paid to the experiences of the participants who appear in front of the cameras. In the academic scholarship and public discourse alike, media contributors are frequently depicted as ‘vulnerable victims’ or exploited subjects of capitalist forms of media production, which prioritise profits above people. However, we have insufficient knowledge about the complexities of their motivations, the values they ascribe to participation, and whether they ultimately get from it what they desire.

Drawing upon in-depth interviews conducted over the last four years, and informed by my own professional experiences of working as a television producer/ director for the preceding sixteen, this research project examines how documentary contributors feel about participating in the media and the ways they’re portrayed, considering how their experiences take shape within the structural context of the media industries.

Through an examination of a diverse range of topics - such as the casting and editing processes, the nature of relationships between documentary-makers and their subjects, issues of consent, and duty of care - I argue that the wellbeing of contributors, creative workers, and the production environment are all intrinsically connected, and as a result, ordinary participants have been profoundly affected by the changing values of the media.