Normative theory

In his discussion of the history of normative theory, Nyre (2009: 4) notes that since the 1920s, three research traditions have developed: social engineering, administrative research and critical research. Social engineering, he notes, has a “highly visible value orientation” and is a form of progressive research which, after World War I, aimed to invent and implement new structures in society (2009: 5). Its contemporary version is action research, which is normative in that it aims to improve the situation of the people involved in the research project (2009:5). Critics of this kind of research, however, have described this progressive ideology as “naïve” and its proponents as “the new priesthood” (Nyre, 2009: 6).

The second research tradition of normative theory, administrative research, was developed during the 1940s and refers to research justified by the values of an existing institution in society, whether a media company, NGO, state department or local community, an example of which is statistical media research (Nyre, 2009: 7). Administrative research, notes Nyre, aims to be as neutral as possible (2009: 9), and the researcher is “simply not allowed to promote his convictions in the way that social engineering presumes” (2009: 8).

From the 1960s, the focus shifted to a critical research tradition, which aims to be as partisan as possible, with researchers driven by a sense of right and wrong (Nyre, 2009: 9) and having a moral obligation to speak out against manipulation by the media (Nyre, 2009: 10). Nyre further notes:

The label, critical research, was introduced with the socialist theory of the Frankfurt school after World War II, but gained widespread political momentum from 1968 onwards. It typically has a clearly formulated value orientation that the researcher has formulated and therefore there is always a notable intensity of ethical engagement. (2009: 9)

For the purposes of this study, I will be following the administrative research tradition with the aim of being as objective as possible and ultimately using the knowledge gained to try to improve public communication (Nyre, 2009: 11) of the arts in the Cape Town’s community newspapers.

Of the specific normative theories, which include libertarian, authoritarian,

development and social responsibility theory (Fourie, 2007a: 178), I will be drawing on the last, which is underpinned by the right to freedom of publication, coupled with an obligation to society (Fourie, 2007b: 194), as well as the requirement to maintain high standards. According

to this theory, the media should be accountable to society – and have mechanisms in place to ensure this (McQuail, 2008: 185). Social responsibility theory also upholds objectivity over commentary, the balancing of opposing viewpoints, maintaining the role of neutral observer for the journalist (Benson, 2008: 2593) and demands that the media be truthful and relevant, providing an accurate reflection of the community they serve (McQuail, 2008: 172) – all of which is in line with the administrative research tradition. Citing the report of the 1947 Hutchins Commission in America – an inquiry into criticisms of sensationalism,

commercialism and concentration of media ownership (McQuail, 2008: 170) – Ward (2009: 229) notes that the press should provide a “representative picture of the constituent groups in society”. Added to this, Gurevitch et al (2005: 16) emphasise that media are expected to reflect a “multi-faceted reality as truthfully and objectively as possible, free from any bias, especially the biases of the professionals engaged in recording and reporting events”.

A part of the community (or society) that the media – in this case, the community newspapers which form part of this study – are expected to reflect accurately and fairly, is the arts and entertainment landscape, and so, using the theories relating to how we believe the media ought to be operating and what we believe their role and function ought to be, this study will seek to interrogate how well the community is reporting on the arts and also why it is important for reporting on the art sector to be of a high standard.

On the media’s responsibility to play an upliftment and developmental role, Ansah (1988: 7) argues that one of the functions of communication is to provide the space for social interaction and participation, and that to serve the ends of development, mass media should provide a “marketplace for the exchange of comment and criticism regarding public affairs”.

Because the arts play such a significant role in the upliftment and development of communities, a matter which is discussed in greater detail later in this chapter, I believe community newspapers are the perfect place for the development and promotion of local arts and arts initiatives to take place. I also believe that it is often on the pages of local papers that valuable interaction and participation, such as that referred to by Ansah, often take place.

In the South African context, Fourie emphasises, current media policy is aimed at achieving two primary goals or functions – normatively, the media are expected to play a key role in development and nation-building, while also adopting a market paradigm with the aim of liberalising the media from monopoly control, leading to “increased competition and fragmentation of audiences” (Fourie, 2005: 26).

The media, however, do not always function “optimally” or in line with the ideals espoused in normative theory, and “responsible journalism,” Luce (2013: 394) point out, “is

built upon the assumption that journalists understand that their actions affect those around them”. Despite these idealistic ideas of what role the media ought to be serving, McQuail (2008: 164) notes that while the media are expected to serve the public interest, most media were, in fact, established to serve their own goals, be they cultural, political or economic. In addition to this, audiences and advertisers also have their own ideas about what the media’s role ought to be (McQuail, 2008: 163). To this, Fog (2013: 3-4) adds that media get most of their revenue from advertising and so they often seek to satisfy the interests of advertisers – which are not always the same as the interests of their consumers. He even argues that, in the case of newspapers which rely entirely on advertising for their revenue, readers needs’ are only served if they happen to coincide with those of advertisers and that media not only satisfy consumer preferences, but contribute to forming them (Fog, 2013: 4). In addition to this, notes Fourie (2005: 24), emphasis on commercial interests results in increased commercialisation, popularisation, repetition, less depth and less diversity in the media. These factors, among others, have the ability to work against an ideally functioning media system.

On the media’s ability to set the news agenda, Rühl (2008: 33) refers to journalism, public relations, propaganda and advertising as “persuasive systems” and believes that to differentiate journalism from public relations, propaganda and advertising, a unique function of journalism must be identified. He points out that in the 1980s he had described these unique functions as performance and the “provisions of themes for public communication” (2008: 32), that is, setting the news agenda.

In their research, which was focused on the coverage of blockbuster movies, Kristensen and From (2015: 484-485) lamented that press coverage of the arts had transformed “from critical, cultural reflection to publicity-driven journalism, entertainment and celebrity gossip” and that there had generally been a “decline in arts and cultural journalism” which has been increasingly informed by PR. Of particular interest on this point, will be the impact of public relations and the increasing reliance on “ready to use” press releases on the ability of Cape Town’s community newspapers to fulfil the expectations of normative media theory.

Moloney, Jackson and McQueen, who describe news journalism and public relations as independent reporting and favourable reporting respectively, warn that the two have

“incompatible outcomes” (2013: 259) and that what they refer to as “PR-isation of content” is a “colonisation of the news media by stealth” (2013: 260). Explaining the term “PR-isation”, they note that it is the “professional state where PR attitudes are incorporated into journalism’s mindset and where PR-biased material is published without sourcing (2013: 261). In addition, they write that:

Structural and commercial development in the media industry have led to changes in journalism practice which are eroding the crucial practices of fact- checking and independent investigation. (Moloney et al, 2013: 260)

Among the factors which have made it easy for PR to infiltrate the newsroom, they list the drop in the number of journalists employed in newsrooms while the PR industry is growing (Moloney et al, 2013: 264); the fact that the internet has provided almost unlimited space for publication; pressure on journalists to produce more copy; and that journalists are increasingly deskbound, with less time to develop sources or do original investigation (Moloney et al, 2013: 264). Furthermore, notes Fourie (2005: 19), in South Africa, we have a first world media system operating in what’s effectively a third world setting “divided between rich and poor, literate and illiterate, developed and underdeveloped”.

In my experience, how this plays out in a media environment where entertainment pages are largely populated with PR copy, is that well written, professionally packaged copy is given preference over less well written or professionally presented material, which,

understandably puts the arts practitioner or promoter with less access to public relations resources, at a severe disadvantage. Questions about the use of PR material, on entertainment pages in particular, have been included in the interview question lists for both editors and PR practitioners and will be further discussed in the chapter on research findings.

With the primary goal of public relations being the subjective promotion of a particular product, organisation, or event, the use of such material is, arguably, in contrast to, not only the accepted requirement that news reporting be objective, but also to the social responsibility model of normative media theory. One of my research aims, therefore, will be to interrogate how newsrooms are meeting the challenge of providing good quality arts coverage without dedicated arts reporting staff and in an era when many may simply succumb to the lure of using freely available PR content.