The gendered newsroom : embodied subjectivity in the changing world of media

摘要

This thesis is an exploration of the gendered production of news in the Australian printudmedia. It engages with the question of how gender shapes newsroom culture and isudunderpinned by a focus on the dilemmas, constraints, negotiations and compromisesudwhich shape journalists' day-to-day routines. It is particularly concerned with theudexperiences of women. The four main questions with which I engage are: How isudnewsroom culture embodied? What are the discourses of sexually harassing behaviour inudthe newsroom? How has global industry change impacted on the workplace and whatuddoes this mean for journalists? How does feminism get played out in the newsroom?udThe thesis responds to a call from feminist media scholars for a return to the studyudof cultural production as a key area of media research (for example Byerly, 1999, 2004a;udMcRobbie, 2000). Emphasis on media texts and their various meanings, and audienceudresponses, has been at the expense of any detailed considerations of those who actuallyudmake the texts. This focus has either downplayed or dismissed both journalists'udsubjectivities and the power relations of production processes in newsmaking.udIn Australia, media studies research has not attended to the gendered dimensionsudof news production. My research addresses this gap in the literature and expands on theudwork of a group of feminist media scholars in the United States, the United Kingdom, theudWest Indies, India, The Netherlands and Sweden whose central concern is the genderedudproduction of news.udSeventeen in-depth, semi-structured interviews were conducted with eight maleudand nine female journalists working in the Australian print news media. The majority ofudthe interviews were conducted in early 2004. The participants worked for regional andudmetropolitan newspapers in four states - variously owned by a broad cross-section ofudmedia companies. The participants ranged in age and experience in the industry andudincluded editors, cadets, political reporters, sub-editors, a freelance reporter and audreporter who had recently left the industry.udThe research project was not set up to be a representative sample but rather audsmall, yet diverse, sample through which a close reading of the transcripts could allow forudthe exploration of key themes. The merit of this research consists in revealing how theudsubjectivities of Australian journalists take effect in the newsroom.udThe repercussions of men's dominance in positions of power in print mediaudnewsrooms in Australia is that men's superiority is asserted and women are viewed as,udand the majority of female interviewees experience the workplace as, outsiders. It is moreudthan just numerical gender inequity, however, which creates an uncomfortable newsroomudenvironment for the female interviewees. Other considerations include shifts in mediaudconcentration and technology and the prevalence of sexually harassing behaviour.udWomen take up various subject positions to survive the newsroom and its male culture.udRarely, however, do they attain the exclusive status of 'a journalist', which I argue isudmale and heterosexual.