Television Newsrooms Research Articles

Make Slot not Art: Creativity and Burnout in U.S. Local Television Newsrooms

ABSTRACT Journalism is considered a creative industry, but newsroom workers can only incorporate creativity into their stories if they have the time, tools and support for such endeavors. The structural conditions of capitalism, however, often leave workers without creative opportunities as ownership focuses on increased output and income expectations over storytelling. Instead, many workers find “one more thing” continually being added to their workloads, contributing to role overload and increasing levels of burnout. Using a labor process theory lens, this study seeks to explore the role of creativity in news gathering and distribution and its relationship with burnout in local television newsrooms. Through semi-structured interviews, forty-seven large market newsroom workers in the United States share their experiences with creative support, role overload and burnout. Those with the ability to “make art” and incorporate creativity into their routines generally speak more positively about their jobs than those who simply “make slot” to get their story on air or online. In a time of increasing newsroom worker attrition, recognizing the potential positive impact of creativity in news routines can influence how newsrooms handle staffing and storytelling into the future.

Implications for Hybrid Newswork from the Work-from-Home Activities of Local US Television Journalists During COVID

ABSTRACT In response to the COVID-19 crisis, many local television (TV) newsrooms decided to have employees work from home (WFH) or from the field rather than from the newsroom, creating a kind of hybrid work characterized by a mix of work locations. From a review of research on telework and WFH, we identified possible impacts of WFH on work and on workers, with a particular focus on news work and news workers. Data on the impacts of hybrid work are drawn from interviews with local television news directors and journalists in the United States and observations of WFH. We found that through the creative application of technology, WFH news workers could successfully create a newscast, albeit with some concerns about story quality. However, WFH did not seem to satisfy workers’ needs for socialization or learning individually or as a group and created some problems coordinating work. Lifted restrictions on gatherings have mitigated some of the experienced problems, but we expect to see continued challenges to news workers’ informal learning in hybrid work settings.

Quality of Work Life and Job Satisfaction among Journalists of Television Newsrooms in Kathmandu

This descriptive research study is conducted among journalists in television newsrooms in Kathmandu identifies that safe working conditions, adequate health benefits, and equitable compensation are critical factors in enhancing job satisfaction among journalists. Job autonomy, opportunities for professional development, social responsibility, and positive image are also significant in fostering employee satisfaction which is in line with past literature on workplace safety, employee satisfaction, and perception of work environment among journalists. The study's results suggest that companies should create a positive work atmosphere by compensating employees fairly, providing opportunities for professional growth, and fostering a culture of social responsibility and positive image.

Models of TV newsroom organization and news routines in Croatia

The efforts of today’s journalism to win back the audiences’ trust and meet the expectations of audiences, while remaining committed to high-quality journalism, has been reflected in organizational and cultural changes in newsrooms. The digitalization of news production processes meant developing new newsroom organization models and news routines. As television is still the most trusted media in Croatia, this study focuses on three Croatian television newsrooms – the public broadcaster HRT, the commercial broadcaster Nova TV, and the most-watched non-terrestrial news channel N1 – and explores their different models of organization and how they have adapted to a transformed media environment and audience expectations. For this, a series of exploratory semi-structured interviews are conducted with a total of 28 journalists and editors. This study examines newsroom practices, the efficiency of newsroom integration or convergence implementation (if any), and the attempts to produce and distribute original innovative content across platforms. The study also tackles the main opportunities and obstacles that discourage or encourage them to produce what they perceive as quality stories and build engagement and trust in journalism. Findings point to three distinct newsroom integration and organization formats shaped by several important factors – past newsroom traditions, technology, ownership (Nova TV), foreign investors, international consultants, politics (HRT) and ultimately the format of the channel (N1). This is predominantly reflected in the news production process, or more precisely, in the ways editors and journalists create and shape the daily news program. Differences are identified in workflow between journalists employed by the public service broadcaster and its counterparts.

Social Media Policies in U.S. Television Newsrooms: Changes over Time

This study analyzes survey data, gathered in 2014 and 2020, regarding local television newsrooms’ social media policies (SMPs). The purpose of the study is to explore changes to these policies. As part of this inquiry, the researchers investigate if and in which ways newsroom SMPs are evolving in four areas: journalists’ professional and personal social media activities; social media sources and content; audience complaints; and ownership of on-air talents’ accounts. The researchers found a significant increase of guidelines regarding what is and is not appropriate on the professional and personal social media of journalists, with little distinction made between these types of accounts. Although newsrooms have implemented policies to articulate what is appropriate conduct and a majority have revised policies, those guidelines don't always address the contemporary issues journalists face, specifically online threats and verification of user-generated content. The researchers found an increasing percentage of news outlets retain ownership of on-air talents’ professional accounts.

Mastering Metrics: The Impact of Social Media on the Routines and Values of Broadcast Journalists

Social media use is essential for success in today's television news industry. Broadcast journalists use social media platforms to gather and disseminate news in more efficient ways. Broadcasters are also using social media to engage with news consumers in innovative ways. This study employs a mixed-method approach to better understand how social media impacts broadcast journalists’ routines and values and explores the role of gender in broadcasters’ social media strategies. Qualitative in-depth interviews with top broadcast journalists and a social media discourse analysis of their Twitter pages produces this study's findings. Findings suggest that in many television newsrooms social media have become more important than traditional platforms like evening newscasts, and social media metrics are being used to gauge journalists’ success. Additionally, women broadcasters are disadvantaged by the current social media practices in many newsrooms. Implications are discussed.

Not on air, but Online: The Labor Conditions of the Digital Journalist in U.S. Local Television Newsrooms

As American news preferences shift from broadcast to digital platforms, corporate-owned local television stations have hired digital teams to keep a growing array of mobile, social, web, and over-the-top platforms updated with revenue-generating and audience-friendly information. Yet, these workers are currently missing from the labor literature. Therefore, this exploratory study uses a political economy framework with a labor focus to begin to understand the day-to-day working conditions of these employees. Interviews outline workload issues including long hours of multitasking and nearly-constant connectivity even when off the clock, sped-up production expectations with a commodified information focus, and limited worker protections. The findings here aim to provide a starting point for digital journalism labor studies moving forward.

Coverage Competence via Collaboration: Overcoming Political Journalism Challenges in Local Television

Recent national media surveys point to relatively high levels of public trust in local political reporting. The problem, however, is that challenges with reporter training and experience mean that local television is not as equipped as it might be to provide quality political coverage. We assess how professional journalists and college students majoring in political science or journalism view their reporting competences. We find mixed results, including lower confidence across all groups in performing data and statistical analysis. These results drive our recommended collaboration strategies for local television newsrooms and university departments to improve training and experiential opportunities.

Where Newsroom Leaders See Technology Facilitating Innovation in Local TV News

Little research has examined how local TV newsrooms determine the type and scope of technological innovation they will embrace. Given the importance of local TV news in keeping the public informed, it is critical to understand this process that could help sustain the industry into the future. This study explores technology-led innovation in local television newsrooms within the U.S. Analysis of interviews with TV newsroom leaders from a broad cross section of small, medium, and large markets identified three primary areas where they say they are innovating including live reporting, social media, and on-demand television services. Three motivating factors for media innovation were also identified: audience preferences, economic drivers, and corporate influence.

Marketing the construction of reality: Multiplatform production routines and the renegotiation of journalistic role identities in a legacy local television newsroom

Times have changed since Warren Breed published his famous study, ‘Social Control in the Newsroom’. Today, corporate owners are requiring newsroom managers to adopt marketing strategies, launching many television newsrooms into routines similar to those of their newspaper-turned-online colleagues. This exploratory case study presents data from 6 months of observations of digital training in a legacy television newsroom, including interviews with the managers who underwent the training, conversations with newsroom staff, and a survey of that staff, all to explore how managers moderate between these corporate and journalistic needs by learning what corporations require as marketing-based multiplatform production routines and by helping journalists to reconcile their traditional role identities within these new newsroom requirements.

The seriousness of storytelling: What constraints to professional news routines reveal about the state of journalistic autonomy in local television newsrooms

This study follows the advice of scholars James Carey and Barbie Zelizer in that it takes journalism seriously. The seriousness comes from the concern that modern corporate approaches to news production are contributing to the erosion of the professional status of journalists with restrictions to storytelling routines serving as one example of this issue. Using a multiple case study method, this research presents 180 hours of newsroom observations and interviews with 62 news professionals to identify some of the constraints to local television news storytelling routines, further illuminating the struggle between market-driven news production and journalistic autonomy.

Work–life balance in media newsrooms

This research examined work–life balance in media newsrooms. A total of 50 in-depth face-to-face interviews were conducted with individuals currently employed in US newsrooms of varying market sizes including small and medium market television stations, such as KCAU (Sioux City, IA), WHTM (Harrisburg, PA), WGAL (Lancaster County, PA), NBC12 (Richmond, VA), NY1 (News York, NY), and WNBC (New York, NY); regional newspapers, such as Lancaster Newspapers and the York Daily Record; and national news organizations, such as The New York Times, CNN, ABC, and FOX. Results indicate that males had more difficulty separating work and life than females. However, females reported more positive work-to-family spillover than males. Those working in both print and television newsrooms stated that digital technology further impeded their ability to adequately balance work and family life.

Challenging Assumptions about Ownership and Diversity: An Examination of U.S. Local On-Air Television Newsroom Personnel

ABSTRACTMedia ownership and diversity have been areas of concern for the U.S.’ Federal Communications Commission (FCC) for decades. In this study, the effects of ownership type and network affiliation upon ethnic and racial diversity within U.S. television newsrooms were explored. An exploratory content analysis of local television stations (N = 232) was undertaken to compare the diversity levels of on-air personnel for stations that were network owned-and-operated, as well as stations involved in Shared Services Agreements (SSAs). Findings reveal some significant positive effects for network owned-and-operated stations, but none for SSA-attached stations. Network affiliate status also did not play a significant role.

You Can’t Post That!

The use of social media by journalists raises new ethical and professional dilemmas. As a result, news outlets are implementing policies addressing what is and what is not permitted on social media platforms. Through a nationwide survey of local television (TV) news directors, this study examines the prevalence of social media policies in TV newsrooms, the source of those policies, and the application in newsrooms. This study provides a framework for newsroom policies and further empirical investigation. The authors identify and explore five areas to be used as guidelines in formulating newsroom social media policies: personal and professional social media activity of reporters, social media sourcing and content, audience complaints on social media, the use of social media while reporting in the field, and ownership of social media accounts. The authors investigate how the policies address emerging issues in each of those five areas and provide policy recommendations.

In the silences of a newsroom: age, generation, and sexism in the Indian television newsroom

This paper explores the impact of liberalisation and globalisation on the construction of the gendered self within the space of Indian English-language television newsrooms. Using the lived knowledge of women journalists, the paper seeks to map the intersections of ageism, sexism, and capitalism in these neoliberal newsroom settings. It posits that the weakening of journalists’ unions, the expansion of women workers in newsrooms, and the evolution of a mythical, celebratory post-feminist narrative in journalism are intrinsically interlinked. The object of this paper is to analyse how young female journalists working in Indian English-language television newsrooms negotiate feminism in relation to their profession. Has post-feminism, using the words of “choice” and “empowerment,” made its subjects apolitical by feeding them the image of a socio-economically and sexually empowered woman who does not need feminism, as equality is seen as a goal that has already been achieved? As part of this enquiry it discusses the various ways in which young female journalists deal with issues of sexism, gender discrimination, and sexual harassment at work. What are the different ways of “doing” discrimination and how are they changing? Following from this, the article asks: how does age become an important criterion for difference among women in the newsroom; and what does this mean for both “young” and “old” journalists? The article concludes by considering the newer assertions of dignity and modes of protest in this space.

The Multimedia Journalist in Large-Market Television Newsrooms

This article examines the effect of the proliferation of the multimedia journalist (hereafter, MMJ) newsgathering model on reporters in large-market, local television newsrooms. This model requires one person to fill the roles of reporter, videographer, and video editor. The authors used a web-based survey of MMJs in the top 50 U.S. markets to gauge their reactions to—and the professional consequences of—working alone as opposed to working with a videographer. The results suggest many large-market reporters see the MMJ model as an inevitable outgrowth of advances in technology and increased news competition. However, they also lament that the trend leads them to believe they’re producing lower quality journalism. Most of the respondents say they are less satisfied with their jobs and some have considered quitting the business.

The growth of TV news, the demise of the journalism profession

In response to the dearth of critical literature on the transformation of local news ownership structure and the impacts of technological reorganization of news production on the television profession and local communities, we analyze the consolidation of local news and the paradox of expanded news hours in times of shrinking staffs and less-trusting audiences. Focused on Portland, Oregon, characterized as one of America’s most civically active cities and a top-25 market, we interviewed many key workers from among the city’s four television newsrooms. Despite having union representation, once discrete news production professionals and functions have been radically integrated, resulting in a multitasked news staff forced to provide fast-turnaround for multiple platforms, while seriously weakening investigative reporting, the quality of news production, and the utility of local news for the community.

Boom or Bust? U.S. Television News Industry is Booming But Burnout Looms for Some

Studies indicate that U.S. television newsrooms are booming with increases in staff size, news content and profitability. In light of the changes, a survey of 887 examines burnout levels of television journalists, and their workload and perceived organizational support. Results indicate that TV news workers are experiencing average rates of burnout, however 22% (n = 196) show signs of burnout with high levels of exhaustion and cynicism as indicated by the Maslach Burnout Inventory-General Survey. Results also show that those experiencing signs of burnout are overburdened by their workload and do not perceive high levels of organizational support.

Representing Ourselves: Ethnic Representation in America's Television Newsrooms

To what extent does the ethnic composition of America's television newsrooms actually reflect that of the local communities they serve? By applying representation theory from the political sciences, this content analysis examines the proportional representation of the on-air personnel within designated market areas (DMAs) across the United States to determine the extent to which these communities are ethnically represented. Statistically significant correlations were found between the proportion of persons of similar ethnic background in the newsrooms and the DMAs, suggesting that television newsrooms' ethnic composition is related to the demographic constituencies they serve. Although some descriptive physical representation seems to be taking place, underrepresentation still occurs among some ethnic groups and suggestions for areas of improvement are offered.

Facebook and Twitter in the Newsroom

This article examines the role social media is playing in local television newsrooms. The authors used a web-based national survey of news managers at network affiliated stations to look at what forms of social media are being used in the newsroom, who is using it and how it is being applied. The results show stations are embracing social media as a means of connecting with news consumers and raising their newsrooms’ profile in the community, and are encouraging their news staff members to have an individual social media presence. Stations also report their news staff are using social media as a newsgathering tool, but the value and reliability of information gathered through this means is up for debate.