Performance Journalism: A Three-Template Model of Television News

Abstract

Journalists and their editorial managers are increasingly beholden to standards of performance built into industrial performance templates imported from outside what used to be regarded as the journalistic ‘field’. This paper distinguishes three sets of criteria for journalistic ‘performance’: ethical (P1), commercial (P2) and theatrical (P3). These are elaborated in turn with respect to their industrial origins, their underlying conceptions of the public interest, their political implications and their productive consequences. The three-template model extends Franklin’s (2003) critique of McJournalism by: a) providing a fuller account of the (P2) McDonaldization of television news, b) more precisely demarcating backstage (P2) and frontstage (P3) elements of journalistic performance, and c) elaborating a new P3 news template with reference to Bryman’s (2004) work on Disneyization. The paper concludes with a New Zealand case study highlighting tensions between P2 and P3 modes of performance and audience outcomes.