The coding schedule and the coding process

The coding schedule (see Appendix 5) for this content analysis consisted of three sections corresponding to the categories previously identified. For each news story, the coder completed each of the coding schedules’ sections according to the information presented.67

6.5.1 Section One: Physical characteristics

In the first section of the coding schedule, the coder classified each of the news items according to most obvious descriptive variables, such as newspaper, date, page number and/or section, headline, genre type and reporter by-line, if provided. Coding these features helped organise and distinguish the various news items and facilitated the outline comparison of the quantity and frequency of categories of reports published by each of the metropolitan newspapers. These factors were relevant to the first research question pertaining to comparison of the coverage of the 2005 Venice Biennale by the mainstream metropolitan press.

6.5.2 Section Two: Recurring concepts/language

The second section of the coding schedule focused on how the various newspapers represented key aspects of the arts story. In the process of reviewing the sample texts,

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For the coding process, the researcher coded the entire sample; the coding assistant coded a portion of the sample to verify intercoder reliability. This process is discussed later in this chapter.

the researcher identified recurring elements in the narratives that structured and framed the newspapers’ accounts of the arts story (see Table 6). As suggested by Hansen et al. (1998), a list of recurring elements was compiled and then tested to identify

inadequacies in the category system. A random selection of fifteen news stories distributed across the sample period was coded by simply placing a tick (√) next to the listed item each time it appeared in the story. Those elements that received most

frequent mention were retained and represent the key narrative elements (including their referential associations) that were regularly referred to in newspaper accounts. This approach reflects the notion that the more frequently a word or phrase is used, the greater its importance to the area under investigation (Fowler, 1991; Fowler et al., 1979). For the subsequent coding process, the coder indicated the presence of these 17 content categories in the news stories by placing a tick (√) in the column next to the item listed in Section Two of the coding schedule.

Table 6: Recurring narrative elements in the coverage

Taxpayer(s)

et al.; artists; art collective et al.’s identity/anonymity Donkey, portaloo, dunny, braying, toilets, etc. PM Helen Clark (and MP Judith Tizard)

CreativeNZ (CNZ) MP Deborah Coddington Paul Holmes (or other broadcasters, journalists)

Cost/funding of event; $500,000 Tweedie

et al.’s media shyness, resistance or reluctance

Curators: Greg Burke, Natasha Conland Government arts policies/funding Peter Biggs Elizabeth Kerr Reference to “crap”

The value of this focus on an overall narrative lies in the significance of storytelling to journalistic practice. While the recounting of events is a standard feature of most news stories, the fragmented and discontinuous structure of the journalistic narrative, as Bell (1998) has pointed out, is controlled by media values, such as newsworthiness and immediacy, and results in a selective presentation of details as “facts” that are, according to McNair (1998), contextualized and given meaning when they are transformed into stories. Schudson (1982) and Johnson-Cartee (2005), among others, have shown how journalistic storytelling relies on patternistic and conventional narrative formulas. Furthermore, as Bennett (2007) has argued, this reliance on formulaic stories that focus on particular events and key actors can oversimplify narrative detail and introduce distortions to the news story. Moreover, the language of these accounts can provide insight into the institutional stance of the news organisation. In his discussion of the language of headlines, van Dijk (1991b) observed that words are “never neutral”; they not only “manifest the underlying semantic concepts used in the definition of the situation.…they also signal the social or political opinions of the newspaper about the events” (p. 53).

Content analysis, as Berelson’s (1952) definition suggests, has primarily been used as a research tool for examining the manifest, or observable, content of texts. This approach, then, may not usefully explain the complex layers of meaning that comprise journalistic narrative, but can provide data from which inferences regarding journalistic

representational practice may be drawn and further investigated. According to Zelizer (1997), “Narrative helps us explain journalism by stressing elements that are formulaic, patterned, finite, yet mutable over time” (p. 26). For this chapter’s general focus on the New Zealand journalistic field, content analysis was a useful means to describe

systematically the recurring narrative elements that each of the mainstream newspapers relied on to (re)construct its account of et al. and the Venice Biennale.

6.5.3 Section Three: Tone

The coding schedule’s third section identified the tone of the coverage and addressed the objectives of the third research sub-question. The coder classified as positive, negative, balanced or neutral the news stories’ overall evaluative stance as well as their treatment of key narrative elements selected to represent the visual arts, economic and political fields. Hansen et al. (1998) have pointed out that assessing tone is especially

challenging since these classifications generally cannot be inferred from single words or sentences but may be derived from information found throughout the text. For this reason, evaluating tone requires perceptive interpretational skills as well as clear coding guidelines. As noted above, however, an inferential approach can affect reliability and validity.

The overall tone of the news stories required an interpretive approach derived from the context. As Riffe et al (2005) have explained, “context units are the elements that cue researchers to the context that should be evaluated in assigning content to categories” (p. 71). They point out that specific assertion about the content, such as the overall tone, may be derived from any number of details in the story, including what was highlighted in the headline or lead, or the descriptions of key actors in the news story.

To carry out the analysis, the coder read each item in the sub-sample twice. The first reading, to assess the overall tone of the item regarding the event, followed Einsiedel’s (1992) approach whereby coders were instructed to identify their “overall impression” after reading the news item the way they ordinarily would (p. 93). Advantages of this approach are its simplicity and speed, and it also recreates, to an extent, the impression formation that occurs during the reading process.

As discussed previously, a news story’s account of an event comprises numerous details, and various attitudes, or tones, may be conveyed within a single account due to the different treatment of the various narrative elements. For instance, a story may focus negatively on CNZ, but may be neutral in its treatment of et al. To look more closely at the stance of the story in terms of particular narrative elements, a second reading assessed the positive, negative, neutral or balanced tone, via the use of quotes,

assertions, or innuendo, regarding particular narrative elements that might be present in a news item’s account of the event. These key elements, selected from those categorised according to the visual arts, political and journalistic fields in Section Two of the coding schedule, included et al., CNZ and/or the Venice Biennale; key political figures Helen Clark, Judith Tizard and/or Deborah Coddington; and media coverage of the event.

Examples of Coding Decisions for Tone

The following examples demonstrate coding decisions concerning the evaluation of the tone of the news stories.

First of all, the stories that were assessed as “neutral” were those that reported

information related to the artist and the event in a straightforward way. An example of this type of coding was the Dominion Post story, “Et al. wins art prize” (October 30, 2004), which simply announced that the art collective had won the $50,000 Walter’s Prize and included a brief description of the winning artwork, restricted access (2004). This article neglected to include the detail that Robert Storr, former senior curator at the Museum of Modern Art in New York and a prestigious figure in the international visual arts world, was the judge who had chosen et al.’s work.

In order for a story to be coded as “positive” or “negative”, it had to clearly reflect either a positive or negative perspective. Articles that two different newspapers

produced about the response of international critics to the New Zealand exhibit provide examples of these two categories. On June 11, 2005, the NZ Herald published “Et al make splash in Venice” (Donaldson, 2005) that described the successful opening of the exhibit. The story cited the positive reactions of international arts journalists to et al.’s work that described it as “brilliant” and focused on its novelty (“a level of freshness”) and suitability (“it works perfectly”) for the event. Besides quoting the praise of international critics, the article also described the well-attended party held for the exhibition opening and cites the New Zealand commissioner Greg Burke’s analysis of the work’s New Zealand character. The overall positive tone of the story, and its representation of et al., was apparent and it was coded as such.

In contrast, an article on the same topic published thirteen days later by the Dominion Post, “Critics silent on biennale exhibit” (McLean, 2005d), described the international response to the exhibit as being “as elusive as the artist”. The reporter detailed her unsuccessful search of the Internet for reviews as evidence of the lack of international reviews of the exhibit, although she did point out in a subsequent paragraph that the specialist art magazines that cover the event had not yet gone to print. McLean cites other international coverage such as a Time magazine article that described New Zealand’s marketing strategy and the controversy surrounding et al. and their previous

work. The overall coding of the article and of its treatment of et al. and CNZ was indicated as “negative”.

The most challenging assessments of tone occurred in the case of “balanced” reporting. A story that presented both positive and negative viewpoints was coded as “balanced” in tone (that is, both positive and negative). An example is McLean’s story, “We know best, says biennale team” (2005h). One half of the news story cited the views of a number of sources from the art field including the chief executive of CNZ and members of the artist selection panel expressing their support for et al. as the New Zealand representative. One panel member’s comment did not refer to et al., but instead focused on the lack of substantive information in the media as the main reason for the adverse reaction to the artist collective. In contrast, the other half of the story presented quotes from selected readers’ e-mails critical of the artists, their artwork and the organisation responsible for their selection. Also, a balanced perspective of the story is represented in the title of the news story which suggests positive and negative elements: it reports the positive position of the biennale artist selection panel, but represents that view in a way that suggests an arrogant, self-important stance. The tone regarding et al. expressed by the sources cited in the story was roughly equivalent (four positive and three negative views). The inclusion of the panellist’s criticism of the media resulted in a negative coding for the “media coverage” category. Helen Clark was coded as neutral; her spokesperson indicated that she was awaiting the CNZ report but her comment did not include an opinion about the artist or event. Since the story presented a somewhat equal amount of positive and negative views on the topic of et al., the overall assessment of the story as balanced was confirmed.