Making Newsmakers: Conversational Identity at Work

Abstract

This paper focuses on a single event in an organization — a meeting about the news bills and their presumed sales effects on a Swedish evening newspaper. The paper has three purposes. One is (strictly) empirical and shows in detail some aspects the editorial side of newspaper publishing. We show how shared meanings and a joint identification is accomplished, facilitating newspaper editorial work. A second purpose is methodological and illustrates the option of doing in-depth studies of micro events as a way of making organizations visible. Arguably, some situations in organizations may be seen as the organization `written small' and the close and detailed interpretation of these may, if combined with sufficient back-ground and context knowledge, open up a window for a broader understanding of organizations. The third, and most significant, purpose is to develop ideas about identity and identity construction in a specific work organizational context. In particular, we take an interest in how the self-regulation of identity may suppress consideration of aspects and modes of thinking, acting and feeling that run against dominant processes of identity construction. The meeting is viewed as a vehicle for manifesting, clarifying and solidifying identity constructions through conversations around the news bills' sales capacity. The intensity of the work with identity construction is seen in the context of the work organization and production schedule, where infrequent interaction and a quick speed create a lack of possibilities for developing shared understandings and support for the decisions made. The pressure to safeguard a distinctive social identity means that there is little space for broader reflections and considerations threatening a coherent identity constructing conversation.