The Postgraduate Networking Project

Picture not provided Caroline Dover Department of Media and Communications Goldsmiths College, University of London Nationality: British Funded Full-Time Registration: October 1997 Transfer to PhD: June 1998 Completion: September 2001 Director of Studies: Prof. Christine Geraghty The aim of the PhD To examine the professional identity, beliefs and practices of documentary programme-makers working in British television in the late 1990s to understand the ways in which traditions of genre and profession are influential within current documentary programme-making and how these traditions interact with structural and ideological changes within the British broadcasting industry Experience in stages towards the PhD Not provided. Support Very good support from PhD supervisor; next to no involvement from ESRC (although as funders the research council required yearly reports); annual assessment from other members of department; twice-yearly workshops with other PhD students in department; research methods training in first year of PhD; occasional seminars with other PhD students. What you would suggest to a new PhD student... Enjoy the opportunity to conduct your own research on a topic of your own choosing, but remain aware that the PhD is an exam. By meeting the exam's objectives as efficiently as possible, the PhD becomes more manageable. If you imagine it is going to be your life's work, you risk losing site of it's primary purpose and never finishing Abstract of the Thesis: British documentary television production: tradition, change and 'crisis' in a practitioner community This thesis will examine the professional identity, beliefs and practices of documentary programme-makers working in British television in the late 1990s. The principal purpose of this enquiry is to understand the ways in which traditions of genre and profession are influential within current documentary programme-making and how these traditions interact with structural and ideological changes within the British broadcasting industry. Original research findings presented here describe and analyse: changes in the types of documentary programmes broadcast during the 1990s; transformations in the production process; public debates about documentary television that took place in 1998/1999; practitioners' production experiences and their perceptions of profession and genre. It is argued that documentary directors/producers comprise a symbolic community that is conceptually constructed through common practices, shared guidelines and traditions. Although documentarists' claims for documentary-making are sometimes contradicted by the practical realities of their work, the community and its associated traditions are particularly important to practitioners when industry change prompts fears of a 'crisis' in their profession. The general theoretical aim is to describe and analyse relational and discursive aspects of both professional identity and cultural production within the context of a changing industry. Contained within the thesis is an exploration of the academic fields within which this study is sited, a discussion of the theoretical and methodological approach adopted and presentation of the findings arising from the programme survey (including a comparative study of documentary television in the United States) and the ethnographic-type research conducted with documentary television practitioners. Publications and Papers Dover, C & Hill, A (forthcoming/2007) 'Mapping genres: broadcaster and audience perceptions of makeover television' in D. Heller (ed) Reading Makeover Television: Realities Remodeled. London: IB Tauris Dover, C (2006) 'British Documentary Television' and 'Docusoaps' in I.Aitkin (ed) The Encyclopedia of Documentary Film, 3 vols. London: Routledge Dover, C (2005) 'Crisis in British documentary television: the end of a genre?', Journal of British Cinema and Television, Vol 1, issue 2. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press Dover, C & Barnett, S (2004) The World on the Box: International Issues in News & Factual Programmes on UK Television 1975-2003. London: Third World & Environment Broadcasting Project Rampton, B, Harris, R & Dover, C (2002) 'Interaction, Media Culture & Adolescents at School'. www.identities.org.uk Current Job Research Fellow,Communications & Media Research Institute, University of Westminster Also, research consultant on ESRC-sponsored project at King's College Previous posts: a variety of contract research posts in various different university departments; visiting lecturer posts Contact details Dr Caroline Dover Research Fellow Communications & Media Research Institute University of Westminster Northwick Park Harrow HA1 3TP E-mail: doverc@wmin.ac.uk