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My research is an attempt to add a degree of nuance to this issue through an examination of
regional/local commercial (TV4) and public service (SVT) television newsrooms in Sweden.
Based upon data obtained from 27 days of observation at four local/regional newsrooms, 25
in-depth interviews, and analysis of over 330 potential stories presented at editorial meetings,
this research shows how a number of factors other than deliberate attempts to create
‘audience-friendly’ news impacted story selection and modes of coverage.
Theories of Journalism and Context
Many methodological and theoretical models relating to news are based upon work
originating from either the United States (e.g., Lippman, 1922; White, 1950; Breed, 1955;
Gans, 1979; Epstein, 1973; Tuchman, 1972, 1978; Altheide, 1976; Herman & Chomsky,
1988; Parenti, 1993; Bogart, 1995; Altschull, 1995; McChesney, 1999; McManus, 1994;
Hallin, 1994; Bagdikian, 2000) or Great Britain (e.g., Schlesinger, 1978; Glasgow Media
Group, 1976, 1980). While news ethnographies and critical political economic analyses from
the United States have provided valuable insight into the process, structure, organization and
routines of news work, the research originated in a country with an unusual tradition (from a
Western European perspective) of commercialized media, as well as a relatively large media
market. Discussion of the ‘practice’ of journalism based upon newsroom ethnographies and
content analyses from the United States, therefore, must be taken with a pinch of salt, as such
studies focus on news work soaked in a tradition of competition and commercialism, and not
in the public service tradition of, for example, the Nordic region. In addition to the problem of
the US-centric nature of research on news, there exists a gap in research on regional and local
news. This is especially true of research into commercial local news in Europe, which, with
the exception of studies on local news from larger nations such as Great Britain (e.g. Negrine
& Eyre, 1998), is woefully underrepresented in scholarly work.
Convention