The television viewer and the television news: a combative encounter

Abstract

Television news has been studied from a number of perspectives. Few studies have focused on the moment of the encounter between the television viewer and the news. This research focused on what takes place at the encounter as described by the viewer. Its specific research questions were: what viewer typology constructs? What key news aesthetic emerges? And what is the nature of the encounter process? These were examined in a qualitative study mainly using a phenomenological approach involving 58 participants. The study had three key findings: that the television viewer is a disturbed, reflective, and dominating person at the encounter; that an epic news genre dominates the site and process; and lastly, that the key process at the encounter is one of intertextuality through a combative, combustive fusion and filter procedure. The research argues for a new area of encounter studies.