In the Digital Squeeze: Digitization and the Professional Life of the Documentary Staff at the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation

Abstract

This article examines how new digital technologies have influenced the working day of the documentary staff in the Norwegian public service channel NRK. It examines whether the digitization has changed the way they think about their work. Through interviews with journalists, editors, and other staff in the factual department of NRK, the article asks how the creators of documentary programs experience the new digital working day. Do they find their situation better than before, and, in their opinion, have the documentary programs themselves changed as a result of the new “working tools”? Does digital technology pave the way for a more flexible process from the first idea to the final airing of the program, allowing for more creativity and impulsiveness? The article also looks at what organizational changes, if any, digitization has led to in the factual department of NRK, and the potential consequences.

Notes

¹When asked, neither of them specifically expressed a wish to be anonymous.

²The Norwegian Emmy equivalent.

³Also according to former NRK director John G. Bernander in 2003; see http://beta.journalisten.no/node/14542, retrieved November 19, 2009.

⁴See, for instance, Bechmann Petersen (2007) about convergence in Danish media.

⁵The interview answers in the article are translated from Norwegian to English by M⊘lster.

⁶See also Puijk (2007, 2008) on Puls.