WK 11 –Public service broadcasting, “quality” programming and audience

engagement - Research@CitySociology

DR. CAROLINA MATOS

LECTURER IN MEDIA AND SOCIOLOGY

DEPARTMENT OF SOCIOLOGY – CITY UNIVERSITY LONDON

E-MAIL: CAROLINA.MATOS.1@CITY.AC.UK

Set readings Matos, C. (2012) "Audience perceptions of quality programming and the public media" in Media and politics in Latin America

Additional

Curran, J. et al (2009) "Media System, public knowledge and democracy" in European Journal of Communications, vol. 24, no. 1, 5-26

Livingstone, S. and Lunt, P. (1994) Talk on Television: Audience Participation and Public Debate

McNair, B. (2007) "Current Affairs in British Public Service Broadcasting: Challenges and Opportunities" in G. F. Lowe and Bardoel, J. (eds.) From Public Service Broadcasting to Public Service Media, Sweden: Nordicom

PBS in comparative perspective: audience viewing, quality, journalism, political debate

Core themes * European PSBs and the UK

* Future role for PSBs and their relationship to democracy

* Audience engagement with the public and private media in a changing world

* The case of Latin America and the public media

* Methodology and key findings of the study

* Surveys

* Coding schedule and interviews

* Conclusions and questions for thought

* Seminar questions and activities

PSB at a crossroads: some key debatesPSB in decline in the UK/Europe since the 80’s due to

deregulation trends in the media market, commercialisation of TV and rise of new technologies

Attacks from market liberals point to: 1) what is the purpose of PSB in a multi-media society?; 2) the burden of the license fee; 3) audience fragmentation and “multiple publics”; 4) “give the public what they want” (the consumer is sovereign

argument);

PSB tradition versus citizens’ wider knowledge of politics

BBC is pointed out by researchers as being able to deliver more elections news, produce longer stories of greater substance and give more attention to minority parties

Studies (i.e. Curran, 2007; Scammell and Semetko, 2005) have shown how certain countries with a strong PSB tradition, like Britain with its dual system and the Scandinavian nations, where the state subsides minority media outlets, citizens have more knowledge of politics and international affairs than countries where the commercial media system predominates (in Matos, 2008)

Future role for PSB in old and new democracies

In the UK, PSB has emerged as vehicle for strengthening debate.

Talk became more spontaneous and less constrained (Scannell, 1995)

As a vehicle for cultural and educational emancipation; boost of political diversity as well as both regional and national integration

Functioning as a counterweight to the market – the necessity of multiple public spheres and media to attend to both citizen and consumer demands

Is a truly independent public media possible?

Broadcasting in the UK and regulation

Role of the state as mediator of competing interests in society – • - The state’s participation in the ownership or regulation of the broadcast

media in liberal democracies in Europe has been largely based upon the need to guarantee standards of ‘neutrality’, minimising political bias....

• Set up under the 2003 Communications bill, the UK’s broadcasting regulator, Ofcom, has been an example of reference in media regulation in Europe;

According to Forgan and Tambini (2000, 03, in Santos e Silveira, 2007, 73), regulation in the UK improved through time;

Dunleavy (1987) has argued how public service broadcasting regulation in the UK has managed to act as a counter-weight to the press, neutralising or balancing the biases of the partisan British tabloids ;

Television viewing in the UK and the public sphere (in Matos, 2012)

Some explanations for the growing similarities between the public and private TV:

* “The report The ownership of the news of the Select Committee on Communications of the House of Lords (07/08) indicated a fall in the viewing of television in the UK amongst mainly the younger strata of the population. Other research work has come to similar results, underscoring a fall in viewing which includes also socially excluded and ethnic minorities. These groups have began to turn away from PSB (Tambini and Cowling, 2004, 173)”.

* Criticism towards the ‘elitist’ nature of PSB, which placed further pressures on UK broadcasters to invest in more entertaining programmes capable of catering to younger audiences.

* The genres associated to entertainment (i.e. talk-shows, sit-coms, fantasy, sci-fi, see Table 1) have an advantage over the ‘serious’ television material (i.e. historical narratives, documentaries and in depth reporting).

BBC and the tradition of quality journalism (in Matos, 2012)

Public television and everyday life in the UK:

* “…the nature of the medium of television is different from print media. We therefore must discuss its educational, cultural and informational potential taking into consideration the nature of the medium….there are increasing blurring of the boundaries between the private and the public sphere within social and political life…”.

* A more complex understanding of the role of television in contemporary societies and in everyday life shows that it is one among many influences on an individual (i.e. peer pressure, etc), but also it makes evident that entertainment does not necessarily need to stand in opposition to ‘serious’ journalism.

* “Both ‘serious’ and ‘entertainment’ genres (i.e. talk shows, sci-fi) are shown on both private and public television..”

I.e. BBC One River – (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OEqCDbLMjww)

What constitutes “quality programming” and to whom? (in Matos,

2012) * There are thus difficulties when one wants to establish the boundaries between ‘elite’ and ‘popular’ culture, and a lot of anxiety on how to provide ‘quality culture’ for a mainstream audience without ‘boring’ them.

As Bignell and Orleber (2005) note, there is a lot of controversy amongst academics and professionals on how to judge quality. Critics have defined it differently (Brusdon, 1997:134-6), either referring to the public service function or to aesthetic criteria and professional expertise.

Different understanding of what “quality” is according to ideology:

“Thus for conservative market liberals, ‘quality’ is judged by ratings….whereas public sphere liberals and others understand ‘quality’ as being associated with the impartiality criteria, high production costs of a programme, accurate information and/or challenging or original texts”.

I.e.

Comparative TV viewing: audiences responses in UK and Brazil (in Matos,

2012) * The dichotomy ‘quality’ versus ‘quantity’ - in the sense of should ‘quality’ be sacrificed in favour of more of the same type of entertainment genres, and/or a wider variety of channels to choose from – has remained central to the assessment of the role that PSBs have had in the UK.

* Some of the UK’s PSB successes have been programmes judged as being of a high quality standard (i.e. classic English literature adaptations, such as Jane Austen and Charles Dickens).

* Both the Ofcom study on what audiences want from TV and the Brazilian study point to a common concern with information and entertainment.

* In the UK, audiences might question PSB and criticise it, but value its role in everyday life and see its importance. In Brazil and other Latin American countries dominated by commercial broadcasting and a heavy entertainment diet, many are beginning to realise a potential for PSB and broadcasting regulation in nation-building.

‘Private’ versus ‘public’ dichotomyPrivate PublicRight/Conservative/Centre/Left – the consumer

Centre/Left/Liberal/some conservatives - citizen

‘Objective’ and informational journalism ‘Objective’/’public’/’serious’ journalism

Talk shows/sit-coms/reality TV – American programming, some content from other countries

Realism in films/documentaries/reality TV – ‘arty’ and European programming, some US material

Advertising/aesthetic of consumerism – self/intimacy/the private sphere (i.e. Sci-fi, horror)

‘Quality’ aesthetic/Challenging material - collective/the public sphere

Dreamy/fantasy/’escapism’ texts – occasional ‘serious’ material

Historical material/in depth analyses – some entertainment (i.e. Soaps, drama, sci-fi, horror).

Ofcom 2013 report on the media: key findings

News consumption in the UK

* TV remains the most important and frequently-used mode of news consumption, and one in five people say their only source of news is television.

* Nearly 8 in ten (78%) UK adults say they use television to access news. Newspapers by four in ten; radio by just one-third (35%); and the Internet, either on a computer or mobile, by just one third (32%).

* TV channels are seen as the most important source, but one in seven people nominate a website or apps as their most important news source

* TV channels are the most popular source of local news, although one in three respondents say they browse online for local news and information.

* Across all platforms, BBC One is the most-used news source. After the BBC, Facebook and Google are the most used online news sources.

UK audience attitudes to the broadcast media – Ofcom (May, 2015)

Key findings:

Issue on quality programming and regulation

* About half of adult viewers say that TV programmes have “stayed the same” over the past 12 months, while three in ten feel they have “got worse” (“more repeats” (57%), “lack of variety” (43%), “general lack of quality” (32%) and “too many reality shows” (30%)

* One in five adult viewers say that they have found something on television to be offensive in the last 12 months

* Four in ten adult viewers feel there is “too much” violence and “too much” swearing on television, while three in ten feel there is “too much” sex. Attitudes differ by age

* 8 in 10 adults believe that TV programmes are regulated, and most adults (61%) believe the amount of regulation is about right.

Intellectual framework for comparative analysis

• My aim has been to expand the available knowledge on the media and political systems of Latin America/Brazil, providing interesting observations of the region and of more advanced democracies

• Latin American continent has changed significantly since the fall of dictatorship regimes;

PSB in comparative perspective – 1) it assists in the evaluation of the achievements of public service

broadcasting in European countries and its future challenges; - 2) it can also provide a framework for the development of the PSB platform

in emerging democracies which are seeking to deepen political democratisation and reduce economic inequalities, thus contributing to expand debate and to promote wider social and cultural inclusion (Matos, 2008)

Four lines of research inquiry An evaluation of the historical evolution and the public

broadcasting tradition in the UK and Brazil; The relationship between the public media with the state, public

sphere and the public interest; The debates on what constitutes ‘quality’ programming and

information in both the private and public media; An examination of the ‘crisis’ of civic forms of

communication, and how they can still be relevant.

Methodological issues* Triangulation approach is considered to largely avoid the biases of a single method, working towards providing a thick description (Jick, 1979: 608-9 in Jankowski and Wester, 1991)•Online self-completed questionnaires applied to 149 communication university students (small survey) •Conduction of in depth interviews with 12 journalists and policy-makers•Media analysis of: a) programmes (from the public media) in contrast to the private (TV Brasil versus TV Globo), including TV schedules and programmes shown in the evening (results showed that the differences are subtle); b) Internet political campaign (2010) •* Secondary data: Ofcom reports, Unesco and audience research in Brazil

Empirical work and survey: multi-triangulation method

* Online survey applied to 149 communication students at UFRJ * Conduction of in depth interviews with 12 journalists and policy-makers

* Discussion of programmes from the public media, mainly TV Brasil

* Analyse of the uses of the Internet (as open to the public) in political campaigning and blogging in the 2010 elections:

a) new media as a counter-public sphere; b) gender politics and representation

Survey results: media use, public and private media

* Respondents revealed a lack of knowledge of the public media * Most watch TV Globo and cable and satellite TV * That said, 71% of students defended the public media, stating that it could have a role in correcting market failure and contributing to democratization

* Most however saw little difference in regards to the type of information broadcast in commercial and public TV stations

* Differences however are subtle, regarding style and choice of programmes, such as emphasis on “serious” programmes over heavy entertainment

* Growth of the use of the Internet

Questions: Audiences uses of commercial and public media

* Questions including media consumption habits and the viewing of television

* Contrast between reading newspapers, watching TV (open and cable, private and public), and obtaining news from the Internet

* Questions also on preferred genres (i.e. documentary, soap operas, news), as well as on specific programmes (Big Brother, and other programmes shown on the public media)

* They were also asked to if they preferred the commercial or the public media, and if they saw any role for the latter in strengthening pluralism in the public sphere

* Questions also on balance, political bias and impartiality in the commercial and public media

* Questions also on the uses of the Internet, political blogging and campaigning, and its capacity to contribute to the public sphere

Programmes analysed * Discourse analysis:

TV Brasil:

News broadcasts and documentaries

TV Globo

* Key evening news programme Jornal Nacional

* Viewing of core soap operas shown during the years 2010 and 2011

* The 2006 elections coverage – Presidential Debate (27/09/2006 and 29/09/2006); election coverage (14/09/2006; 23-26/10/2006).

Internet: analysis of the 2010 political campaigning conducted by the main parties

 

Public communications in Brazil: achievements and future challenges

Globo TV versus BBC:

* Broadcasting was constructed in an attempt to forge a sense of national identity (Mattos, 1984, quoted in in Straubhaar, 2001; Sinclair, 1999 in Matos, 2008)

* Latin American broadcasting and Southern Europe media systems - Genuine public media does not exist in Brazil, but educational stations controlled by the state or others which represent the Legislative, Executive or Judicial powers;

* Scholars argue that only a new media regulatory framework can be capable of contemplating differences between the state and public TVs in relation to the commercial sector (i.e. pressures from Unesco for PSB for the public interest)

Survey methodology * Survey is a type of research design

* A survey may be used to establish the prevalence or incidence of a particular condition, or the survey can be used to collect information and behaviour

* Surveys can take many forms: a survey of an entire population would be known as a census

* Cross-sectional surveys

* Longitudinal surveys (cohort and trend surveys)

* Explanatory or correlational surveys

* What are the advantages of using a survey?: 1) Have internal and external validity; 2) Surveys are an efficient method: 3) Ethical issues and flexibility

Advantages and limitations of quantitative analysis

•Efficient way of collecting information from a large number of respondents; due to the focus provided by standardized questions; easy to administer

•Reliability, causality, statistical significance, generalization and replication •Surveys can be used to study attitudes, values, beliefs, and behaviours•Because they are standardized, they are relatively free from several types of errors

•Not appropriate for sensitive topics or population difficult to reach

Surveys* Limitations of the survey:

* Dependent upon the chosen sampling frame

* Not so good at explaining why people act like they do

* Subject to errors:

a) Sampling error (unlikely that one will end up with a truly representative sample);

b) Data collection error (such as a poorly worded question);

c) Misunderstanding on the part of the interviewee;

d) The way the information is processed

* (in Bryman, 2012)

Steps in conducting a survey* 1) Develop hypothesis

2) Decide on type of survey (i.e. by mail, post etc)

3) Write survey questions and design layout

4) Plan how to record data

5) Pilot test survey

6) Decide on target population

7) Decide on sample size and select sample

8) Locate respondents, conduct interviews and record the data

9) Enter data into the computer; perform statistical analysis (* Neuman, 2011)

Survey question writing: what not to do* * 1) Avoid jargon , slang and abbreviations

2) Use of emotional language and prestige bias

3) Double-barrelled questions (i.e. do you support or oppose…)

4) Leading questions (i.e. did you do your patriotic duty…)

5) Issues beyond respondent capabilities (i.e. memory testing and knowledge)

6) False premises

7) Distant future intentions

8) Double negatives and 9) Unbalanced responses

* (in Neuman, 2011)

Self-completed questionnaire* * Advantages of the self-completion questionnaire over the structured interview

a) Quicker to administer and b) No interviewer variability

* Disadvantages:

a) Cannot ask many questions that are not salient to respondents; b) Do not know who answers; c) Difficult to ask a lot of questions; d) Greater risk of missing data and e) Lower response rate

* Steps to improve response rates to postal questionnaires:

a) Write a good introduction and presentation of the research;

b) Follow up individuals who do not reply

c) Write short questionnaires, with clear instructions (* Bryman, 2012)

Designing the self-completion questionnaire* * Prepare a clear layout, facilitating the answering of all questions

* Closed or open questions: ( I.e. Closed question with a horizontal format:

What do you think of the Prime Minister’s performance in his job since he took office?

Very good - Good – Fair – Poor – Very poor – 5 4 3 2 1

* Formatting a Likert scale

I.e. My job is like a hobby to me – SA (Strongly Agree), A (Agree), U (Undecided), D (Disagree) and SD (Strongly Disagree)

* Clear instructions about how to respond

* Keep questions and answers together (* Bryman, 2012)

Conducting interviews*•Interviews and open/closed questions

•* Structured interview, standardized and semi-structured

•* Open questions – Respondents are asked a question and can reply however they wish

•* Closed questions – They are presented with a set of fixed alternatives from which they have to choose an appropriate answer.

•* Survey researchers prefer to use closed questions, but open have advantages (i.e. respondents can answer in their own terms), however can also be time-consuming for the interviewer

•Problems: “sensitive” questions and social desirability bias

•* (Bryman, 2012; Neuman, 2011; Matos, 2012)

Coding schedule and interviews* * What is coding?: The unstructured material must be categorised. The researcher must examine people’s answers and group them into different categories (i.e. assign numbers to the categories created.)

* Coding an open question means reading the transcripts of the respondents’ replies. A coding frame is then designed which identifies the types of answers associated with each question and their respective codes

* Coding schedule – to keep record of the rules to be followed in the identification of certain answers.

The numbers associated to each answer then can be used in the computer processing of the date. Conduct a pilot study before administering the questionnaires.

* Semi-structured and in depth interviews – Either face to face, online, etc. What questions should I ask? * (in Bryman, 2012)

Conclusions *PSBs at a time of “crisis” in European countries, are being seeing as a means of strengthening media democratization in emerging democracies throughout the world

* In the digital age of multiple media outlets, audiences still value quality, at the same time that genres and formats in both private and public media have become blurred

* Both methods (qualitative and quantitative) have their strengths and weaknesses. It is up to the individual researcher to decide which method to use

* The trend in any good, quality research has been the combination of both quantitative and qualitative methods (i.e. discourse analysis and quantitative content analysis)

* “Triangulation” method – Multiple method approach that aims to compensate the weaknesses of each method

Seminar activities Part I - General questions:

How has the viewing of television changed in the last decades? What has been the role of PSBs in Europe, and what role can they have in democratization in emerging democracies across the world? How do different audiences engage with media texts in the digital age? What are some dominant media consumption habits?

Part II – Using the handout and the readings of this week, in groups, organise your own survey research and/or interviews.

a) How would you go about it? What type of questions would you ask?

b) What are you seeking to find?

c) Will you use self-completion questionnaires, or semi-structured interviews?

d) What will you do to avoid errors? Will you use open or closed questions?