Ericson Baranek Chan Visualizing Deviance

Visualizing Deviance A Study o f News Organization RICH

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T a R a N T a PRESS

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© University

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Tomnto Press 1987

Tomnto Buffalo London Printed in Canada ISBN 0-8020-5727-6 (c1oth) ISBN 0-8020-6640-2 (paper)

anadian

In memory of John WilJiam Ericson, 1919-1986

ataloguing in Publicati Publication on Dat Data a

Ericson, Richard

V., 1948

Visualizing deviance Includes

indexo

ISBN 0-8020-5727-6 (bound) ISBN 0-8020-6640-2 (pbk.) l. Deviant behaviour in mass media. 2. Joumalism.

3. Reporters and reporting. 19461948-

11.

I

Baranek, Patricia

M.,

Chan, Janet B.L. (Janet Bick Lai),

. III. Title.

PN4749.E75 1987

070.4'493 02542

C87-093569-0

Contents

ACKNOWLEOGMENTS /

ix

PART 1 / THEORETlCAL CONSlDERATlONS ANO RESEARCH APPROACHES OEVIANCE, KNOWLEOGE, lntroduction / 3 News as Knowledgc / II Knowledge of News / 18

NEWS OF OEVIANCE ANO CONTROL / 44 The Salience of Oeviance and Control News / 44 Explaining Oeviance and Control News / 50

3

RESEARCH APPROACHES / 71 Research Questions and Methodological Requirements / The Research Program / 81

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NEWS / 3

2

PART

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ANO

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71

NEWS INSTlTUTlON

NEWSROOMS ANO JOURNALISTS' CULTURES / 95 Newsrooms / 95 Working Ideologies / 100 Leaming the Craft / 125

 

viii

Conlents

5

NEWSWORTHINESS 139 • r General Criteria / 139   • J .. Deviance and Control as Prime eriteria 1.149__ . Policing Organizational Life / 157 The Unnewsworthy / 173

t.

PART

III / THE NEWS PROCESS

6

ASSIGNING 8 Origins of Story Ideas 8 Considering Story Coverage / 197 Assignment Editors and Reporters / 2 6

7

REPORTING / 221 Managing Angles, Space, and Time / Reporting Methodologies / 237 Establishing Factuality / 282

8

EDITING / 297 Editing Roles / 298 Substantive Editing / 3 The Fact of Fiction

222

5

PART IV / CONCLUSIO NS 9

Acknowledgments

CONCLUSIONS The News Media The News Media The News Media

/ 345 and Organization / 345 and Deviance / 356 and Politics / 359

REFERENCES / 365 INDEX / 379

As with most cultural products these days, this book would not have been possible without the good will and direct assistance of a large number of individuals, organizations, and institutions. Our greatest debt is to the many journalists who tolerated our presence while they worked. They demonstrated intelligence about their work on the many occasions when we were unable to eomprehend it fully. They showed admirable patience when we were lacking in tact and were naive, when our reach exceeded our grasp. We wonder how many academics would tolerate someone peering over their shoulder while they were talking on the telephone, thinking, and writing. We hope that with this book journalists will also come to understand what we do, and benefit from it. The nec essary financial support was provided by two agencies. The Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council facilitated our work through two research project grants (Nos. 410-83--0748 and 410-84--0004) and through a Leave Fellowship (No. 451-84-3311 granted Program to Richard Ericson. research has also benefited from the Contributions to the CentreThe of Criminology, University of Toronto, of the Ministry of the Solicitor General, Canada. Institutional and personal support was provided generously by the Director Professor A.N. Doob. Ofp articular importance ofthe Centre ofCriminology, Professor was his willingness to assist in gaining access to news organizations and other field locations. A former director of the Centre, Professor J.L1.J. Edwards, was also extremely helpful at a delicate point in negotiating research access. As true academic leaders, professors Doob and Edwards regarded it as their duty to facilitate our intellectual curiosities and research explorations, even when none of us had a good sense of what might eventuate. We are equally grateful to Mr John McFarlane for facilitating research

x

cknowledgments

access. As a leader in journalism, he helped us to enter a new world. In the process he demonstrated a commitment to the value of scholarship and to our peculiar needs as academics. Several people contributed during the research process. Geoffrey Town send was a research assistant at the formative stages of the project, and Sophia Voumvakis was most helpful in organizing the data for this and related projects in their later stages. Ideas for theorizing were sparked in conversations with Professor Clifford Shearing, our colleague at the Centre of Criminology, and with Professor Nico Stehr, while he was Eric Vogelin Professor at the Uni versity of Munich. In drafting this manuscript, Richard Ericson benefited from the scholarly environment that he enjoyed as n Qverseas Fellow of Churchill College, Cambridge, and as a Visiting Fellow ol the lnstitute ol Criminology, University of Cambridge. Seven scholars have contributed significantly to this book by providing detailed comments on an earlier draft. These include three anonymous re viewers for the publisher, as well as Professor Stanley Cohen of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Professor Mark Fishman of the City University of New York, Professor Peter Manning o oll Michigan State Unive University rsity and Qxford University, and Professor Paul Paul Rock of the London School of Economics and Political Science. Their el l orts at pointing to devi ant features of the earlier draft proved again, however painfully, that designations of deviance are in strumental in bringing about both order and change. In the production of the manuscript we were assisted by the word-pro cessing skills of Marie Pearce, the index preparation ol Dianna Ericson, and the copy editing of Beverley Beetham Endersby. Qur editor, Virgil Dul l , has n impressive range ol experience in academic publishing, from which we continue to benefit. As a cultural product this book will become a reality that is more than the sum of its parts. Qur remaining desire is that this reality will be experienced deeply and wid ely, thereby justil ying the efforts ol everyone who helped us to make it. RVE PMB JBLC

P

RT 1

Theoretical Considerations and Research Approaches