‘Crisis’ in British Documentary Television: the End of a Genre?

Abstract

This article is drawn from a larger study (Dover, 2001) which examines the professional identity, beliefs and practices of documentary programme-makers working in British television in the late 1990s. Underpinning it is the argument that documentary directors/ producers (and, indeed, any professional creative group) comprise a symbolic community which is conceptually constructed through common practices, traditions and perceptions of genre. An understanding of such communities, including relationships between members and negotiations with outsiders, is necessary for an understanding of everyday practices within a changing creative industry such as television production. The original research involved an examination of the media coverage of documentary debates, participation in documentary community events (film festivals, conferences, and so forth), contact with a number of documentary directors over a period of twelve months (involving interviews, observation and participant diaries) and a comparative survey of factual programmes broadcast in 1990 and 1998. The study of media organisation and production affords different levels of analysis – the macro-, mesoand micro-levels, as Cottle refers to them (2003a: 24). By investigating producers’ perceptions of professional identity and practices, my focus here is on the largely under-theorised micro-level: ‘the cultural milieux and interactions of producers ... and the relationships entered into with technologies, professional colleagues and outside sources’ (ibid.). In the larger study, I was able to situate documentary practitioner beliefs and practices within a changing industry context by examining the articulation of this professional culture with the economics of practice.1 Documentary television in this country has always been associated with the notion of public service broadcasting and so has fallen under the rubric of ‘quality television’. In recent years, certain types of factual