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This chapter examines concepts that are related to the study. Production research on different media genres has been carried out and some conceptual frameworks have influenced these studies. Sociology of journalism and political economy of the media are discussed in relation to how they affect radio production at National FM. Both political economy of the media and sociology of journalism affect media production, including radio production as both concepts have a direct link on ownership and control as well as the funding of the production process. Studies in sociology of journalism have revealed that the human resource element is also pivotal in radio production. The chapter explores how power relations at the station influence production of content.

Sociology of Journalism

The nature of media products is influenced by many factors including the circumstances under which they are produced, and sociology of journalism plays a pivotal role in media production. Before discussing this concept at length the term “sociology” should be explained. Sociology simply means the study of history, development and societal activities and this entails that in sociological terms things are not taken for granted as there are reasons why certain things happen and happen in the way they do (Haralambos, 2008). Sociology of journalism is a discipline that examines the work of journalists in relation to the political, economic and social environment that they work in. It explores the larger context within which media organisations operate and the framework affecting the use of that content. Furthermore, it gives emphasisis to the methodical activities, performances, interactions by which journalists upholds themselves as journalists. Sociology of journalism is about the activities involved in the production and consumption of journalistic texts. McNair (1998) describes sociology of journalism as the study of journalism and its relationship to the societies within which it is produced.

It has its roots at the University of Chicago in the 1930s with Park and others looking at journalism as a target for humanistic sociology (Zelizer, 2004). This concept is grounded in the analysis of social relations in an organisation and how those relations affect business.

Early media sociologists looked at the effects of media products on consumers (Devereux, 2003;

Gitlin, 2003; McNair, 1998, Dickinson, 2007). The effects paradigm emphasises what the media do to

the people and sociology of journalism goes further to study the interplay between production and reception. While the concept examines both production and reception, this study does not look at reception of radio content. The concept is, however relevant to this study as it interrogates the nature of the forces behind the production of radio content for small linguistic communities.

Sociology of journalism also examines the five traditions in search of audiences and the reception analysis, which “may be regarded as the most recent development in area of audience studies” (Jensen and Rosengren, 2005). This research is based on content analysis and institutional analysis of National FM and this encompasses the forces involved in the production of radio content that is targeted for ethnic minority groups.

Sociology of journalism does not look at the behaviour of audiences only but also studies the activities involved in the production of journalistic texts. Many media scholars including Bourdieau (1998), Herman and Chomsky (1988) and Tuchman (1978), have studied the activities that surround media institutions through ethnography and their findings reveal why certain media content is constructed the way it is. The relationship found among personnel at a media organisation affects how, what, when a media product is manufactured. In this study the social relations within ZBC as a media entity have a bearing on the programming. This encompasses how management relates with the production personnel and other members who are not directly involved in the production of radio content. At National FM the relationship between management and executive producers affects how certain programmes are broadcast in certain ways. The relationship that prevails among personnel who occupy the same status at an organisation also impacts on the running of the organisation. The connection between producers/presenters at the radio station also influences production. In the case of National FM, there are other factors that influence radio production besides the power relations within the organisation itself. National FM is located in the same building with a sister radio station, Radio Zimbabwe. Golding and Elliot (1979:300) also realised that “Studio facilities were also a subject of contention” at Nigeria Broadcasting Corporation TV. Sociology of journalism is still pertinent in this study as what prevailed earlier in the broadcasting industry still persists. The two organisations, National FM and Radio Zimbabwe, are ZBC subsidiaries and they have the same manager, same premises, same broadcasting equipment and same technicians and this affects their ability to effectively carry out their duties. For instance, most parts of the country do not receive the National FM signal but Radio Zimbabwe has a wider coverage in terms of transmission and reception. National

FM as a PSB radio station is governed by the government and production of content at the station is influenced by ZBC management.

Studies in media sociology have revealed that the journalistic text that audiences interact with would have gone through a lot of processes including gate-keeping and agenda-setting. Zelizer (2004) discusses the works of Tunstall (1971); Schlesinger (1978); Schudson (2002); Gans (1979); Bourdieau (1998); Herman and Chomsky (1988), and Tuchman (1978) as examples of ethnographies that demonstrate how media institutions play a part in the production of the text that media users receive.

Sociology of journalism also interrogates issues to do with media regulation as well as the normative role of the media. Dickinson (2007) and Zelizer (2004) discuss the importance of regulation, especially self-regulation, and to them ethics is a very special field in journalism. The radio station under study, National FM, is a public service radio station which is regulated by the state. This confines journalists at the station to carry out their duties within the stipulated parameters. Dickinson (2007) is of the opinion that while statutory regulation is vital, the most appropriate form of regulation is selfregulation and there should be occupational socialisation and continuous training of journalists (including in-house training) as a crucial part of journalism. He goes on to say that journalists have always followed editorial policies of their organisations.

McNair (1998) posits that there are several factors that affect the quality of the journalistic text that is produced by any media institution. He talks of professional ethics, the political environment, political economy, technological developments, market forces, and the management of information by extra media social actors as forces that compete to influence journalistic discourse. Sources and techniques used in news gathering as well as public relations also have a bearing on the content. McNair is of the view that media products are shaped by the codes of conduct that the journalists follow. Zelizer (2004) also considers professional ethics to be the basis on which journalistic work is derived. In relation to regulation, this study analyses how journalists at National FM are affected by the regulatory framework in the country. ZBC is regulated by the government and there are also codes of conduct that ZBC personnel follow. Although all journalists in the country subscribe to the national ethics code of conduct (VMCZ), ZBC journalists are not members. They only follow their organisation’s code of conduct.

McNair (1998) and Dickinson (2007) are of the view that the training of media personnel affects the production at media institutions. African media practitioners are said to be partially trained (Myers, 2009; AMB, 2014; IMPI Report, 2014 etc.) and this has resulted in them not performing to international standards. At National FM the initial batch of producers and presenters of minority language programmes in 2001 were not trained journalists. They were employed because they were conversant in the minority languages. However, they have since acquired qualifications in Mass Communication and Journalism and some have attained degrees. The issue of training is also related to technological developments where sociology of journalism concerns itself with how organisations equip their personnel with skills to work with new technology. It also examines how organisations adapt to new technology, like the use of computers and editing software. At National FM, some of the producers/presenters still need the assistance of technicians to edit their audio programmes. Some of the journalists at the radio station were not computer literate. They also had no Twitter or Facebook accounts. This meant that audiences who spoke their languages could not interact with them fully as they only used the WhatsApp platform with these producers/presenters. The station did not have enough computers and some producers actually used their own computers. This lack of adequate equipment sometimes resulted in poor programming in terms of quality audio output or repetition of programmes. The techniques and sources used in news gathering also affected the programmes.

Journalists mainly used ‘officialdom’ reporting where they got news from officials and very little information from the grassroots. There was also the problem of resources and this resulted in the journalists doing telephone interviews with interviewees they could not meet physically. They also used almost the same sources, which resulted in lack of variety in the programming.

Sociology of journalism regards marketing forces as other elements that impact on media production.

While most public service broadcasters thrive to rely on government funding, studies have indicated that this is not happening in most African countries (Ndlela, 2007; Myers, 2009; Teer-Tomaseli, 2008;

Chiumbu, 2009; IMPI Report, 2009). Research in the PSB radio stations in Zimbabwe has established that the government has failed to fund ZBC and the money that is supposed to come from licences is not adequate as only a few subscribers are paying (AMB, 2014; IMPI Report, 2014). These problems that were found at National FM were also identified by early media researchers elsewhere. Golding and Elliot (1979) found out that there were lack of resources at NBC. For instance, The NBC film crew complained that there was one car, one camera and this made it difficult for them to do their

duties. National FM had a similar predicament; there was no car that was specifically for the station, no camera and had only three audio recorders. Due to lack of funding, National FM - just like other PSB radio stations in Zimbabwe and Africa has gone commercial. It got funding through advertisements and sponsorship and this determined the kind of programmes that were broadcast on the station.

The political environment is pivotal in media production and research on radio production in Zimbabwe has also revealed the same. This is portrayed in different studies that have been carried out (Coplan, 2011; Davies, 2011; Ligaga, 2011; Mhiripiri, 2011; Moyo, 2012). In the Zimbabwean context, media scholars established that during the colonial era radio was used to propagate the ideologies of the colonial masters and despised opposition parties and their supporters. When Zimbabwe gained independence the tables turned and the same radio stations became mouthpieces of the new ruling elite and also suppressed dissenting voices (Mosia et al, 1994; Zaffiro, 2002;

Windridch, 2010; Moyo, 2004; Ndlovu, 2016 etc.). National FM as part of the public radio stations in Zimbabwe, is also supposed to be performing the normative role of disseminating information that satisfies the citizenry. Research in radio operations in Zimbabwe also indicates that the political environment impacts on the production of programmes. Like all PSB radio stations National FM only broadcasts information that supports the status quo. The restrictive media environment is also a sign of political instability and the populace are not at liberty to say out their views through public radio stations. This has resulted in the proliferation of clandestine radio stations where people get alternative voices and at the same time get a chance to air their views (Moyo, 2010; Mhiripiri, 2011; Moyo, 2012, Ndlovu, 2016).

Agenda-setting and gate-keeping are some of the elements that have an influence on media production.

The agenda-setting perception was devised by McCombs and Shaw (1972) after they realised that the media did not so much define what publics were thinking but they had a definite impact on what they were thinking about. The political environment has a link on what is to be produced and what should not be published. The agenda-setting role entails that the mass media “exercise a highly important form of political power that politicians and certain pressure groups know how to take advantage of”

(Gripsrud, 2002: 43). The political environment and other factors guide organisations on the prominent issues which need publishing or broadcasting. In this thesis it is apparent that the agenda-setting theory is pivotal as research has shown that public service radio stations are controlled by the ruling party. At

National FM current affairs programmes and the news bulletin stories are set by ZBC management, which means the agenda is set by the people who are not part of the small linguistic groups and it is set at national level. The news bulletins at National FM were just translations from national news in English and the current affairs issues that were covered were determined by the ZBC news department which was responsible for the current affairs programmes. This means that the interests of the small linguistic communities were not considered as they were just given what to think about.

The same applies to gatekeeping which is influenced by the context in which the media operates. The gatekeeping allegory was initially developed by Kurt Lewin in 1974 “to describe the decisions in a family household that determine what kinds of food end up on the dinner table” (Jensen, 2012: 88). In media production, a lot of forces are involved and there are also processes that take place. The journalists source for news stories and collect different news items and bring them to the attention of their editors. After that the editors would then select what they think is appropriate at that particular time. In this selection process, some gate-keeping takes place and only stories with the media house’s preferred news values are published. This also happens in broadcast media where the programmes have to undergo some selection. According to Jensen (2012:89) news value is determined by significance, intensity, topicality immediacy and closeness. Significance means that news items should report on happenings or matters worthy to numerous people or society at large. On intensity, news items should be based on conflicts and unanticipated incidences, giving precedence to actions and the reactions of the actors involved. Topicality means that news should report on contemporary events, that is, what has just transpired and what is probable to occur in the immediate future. Closeness refers to matters that are local to the audience. The question of immediacy may be geographical, cultural or psychological and should appeal to almost all the people who are targeted by the media institution in question. This study established that National FM is more concerned with remaining competitive than fulfilling its mandate. This was also realised by Dickinson (2007:7) when he says that organisations exert pressure “on their employees in order to improve managerial efficiency and increase competitiveness”.

In the case of National FM, it is quite significant for the station to ensure that the programmes that are of interest to the small linguistic communities in the whole country. This entails that national events are also pivotal in their programming. The question of language becomes significant then as sometimes the radio station broadcasts national events in English, Shona and Ndebele. The issues would then be

briefly covered in the news bulletins which are just five minutes long. As said earlier, National FM news bulletins were not produced by the radio station but by Newsnet, which is a subsidiary of ZBC.

The radio station covered significant information but lacked in intensity as most of the news items in news bulletins were very brief and did not give adequate details. On topicality, National FM programming falls short in the sense that the news in minority languages are not broadcast throughout the day. The news bulletins for minority languages were only broadcast between 10am and 4pm. The other hourly news bulletins are in Shona and Ndebele and those who are not conversant in Shona and Ndebele would be left out until the following day. Gate-keeping also involves the issue of closeness in news values and due to the vastness of the geographical area that is covered by National FM, it is practically impossible for the station to broadcast programmes that are close to all the small linguistic communities. In terms of cultural and psychological attributes, the radio station is providing newsworthy programmes as it broadcasts in the languages of the target audiences and covers national issues that affect them. The only pitfall in this instance is that the coverage is minimal in terms of time and related content.

The agenda-setting and gate-keeping theories are both parts of sociology of journalism, where these agents play a significant role in the production process. Sociology of journalism, as said earlier also discusses the relationship between the text, reception and the users of the text. This thesis is concerned with the production of the text and the text itself. The forces behind media production are mainly informed by the political environment prevailing at a particular time and place. Sociology of journalism also encompasses political economy of the media and several media scholars have done ethnographies in media institutions to study production. In conclusion, one can say that news items are selected, rejected and re-edited on the basis of various criteria that are shared, at least in part, by professional journalists within and across specific contexts of country, medium and market (Jensen, 2012:91).

Sociology of journalism plays a pivotal role in radio production at National FM. In Chapter Eight this study shows that professionalism, technological advancement, market forces and many other political and socio-economic factors affect the product that is received by small linguistic communities.

Technological advancement led to the relocation of National FM to Mbare Studios and that on its own was a setback. ZBC had started the digitalisation process so they needed more space at Pockets Hills.

The producers/presenters started competing for resources with Radio Zimbabwe. The migration also

disturbed their broadcasting activities. It was at this time that this researcher embarked on field work for this study. The issue of professionalism also had a bearing on the station. When they moved to Mbare they were not given enough office space as well as studios for broadcasting and editing. There was also the issue of competition in terms of revenue. National FM had to produce programmes that were as marketable as those of Radio Zimbabwe. This meant broadcasting more in Shona and Ndebele,

disturbed their broadcasting activities. It was at this time that this researcher embarked on field work for this study. The issue of professionalism also had a bearing on the station. When they moved to Mbare they were not given enough office space as well as studios for broadcasting and editing. There was also the issue of competition in terms of revenue. National FM had to produce programmes that were as marketable as those of Radio Zimbabwe. This meant broadcasting more in Shona and Ndebele,