Routines and the making of oppositional news

Abstract

This participant observation study takes a critical look at the idea of “news routines.” By looking at a politically oppositional news room, it is possible to sort through the elements of production to discover just which ones make this radio station's news “oppositional.” Some scholars say that news routines, like the need to show balance or to report events instead of long‐term trends, make it difficult to say anything deeply critical of the status quo. This news room, a “deviant case,” uses the same routines as “mainstream” reporters, but the resulting news is politically very different. What makes the difference are the station's organizational factors, the relation of the station to its audience, the social and political positions of those in control of the station, and the reporters’ social positions and political world views.