The Television News Viewer And The Television News Encounter: A Study Of A Combative Communication Space

Abstract

Television news has been studied from a number of perspectives. Few studies have however focused on the moment of viewing from the perspective of the viewer – the moment of the encounter between the television viewer and the television news. Therefore the aim of this research was to investigate what took place at that moment of encounter as described by the viewer. Its specific research questions were: –what kinds of viewers are present at the encounter between the viewer and the incoming television news? What could be specific television news forms which attract the viewer? and lastly, what is the nature of the encounter process between the viewer and the incoming news? The research was guided by a critical theory perspective and was carried out in Kiambu, Kajiado, Machakos counties and in two additional sites in Nairobi. It was justified because what happens at that moment of encounter is important in defining the nature of television news communication from the standpoint of the viewer. It should be of interest to television news research and the practitioner. Meanwhile, the research involved a phenomenological method within the qualitative research approach relying on the diary method but also using the face to face indepth interviews, and the focus group discussion techniques of data generation. Sampling was done purposefully and 58 research participants were identified for the research. Data was analysed using thematic coding and specific procedures were adopted to achieve trustworthiness and ethical requirements. The study had three key findings – that the television viewer is a disturbed, reflective, and dominating person at the moment of encounter with in coming news; that an epic news genre dominates the encounter between the television viewer and in coming news; and lastly, that the key process at the encounter is one of relating reported reality to viewer convictions. The study concludes that this is a significant investigation offering a fresh perspective of looking at communication of television news. It has potential for further development around viewer and television news encounter studies.