The “Ordinary” on Commercial Radio and TV: A Reception Analysis of the Subject Position of Ordinary People in the Participatory Programs Recht van Antwoord and Zwart of Wit

Abstract

In this article, the authors examine the articulation of the subject position ordinary people by analyzing focus group discussions on 2 North Belgian commercial (semi-) participatory programs: the radio talk show “Black or White” (Zwart of Wit) and the TV audience discussion program “Right of Answer” (Recht van Antwoord). The authors' main objectives are to develop a theoretical framework that does justice to the fluidity of the subject position “ordinary people” and to show how the relationist nature of its construction works within the reception of 2 specific talk shows. For this reason, the authors first discuss different theoretical models that deal with the everyday and the ordinary. Then, through the reception study, they identify 2 relationist discourses that articulate the complex and multilayered subject position of ordinary people. The subject position of ordinary people is first defined through a negative relation with societal elites. Second, the authors use a lower class-based definition (creating a negative relation with the middle and upper classes). They conclude by arguing that these 2 relationist discourses are structural limitations for the participatory process, transforming the ordinary into ordinariness.

Notes

¹A subject position is defined here—following Laclau and Mouffe (1985, pp. 114–122)—as the positioning of subjects within an overdetermined discursive structure, which generates the conditions of possibility for this identity. Important for this analysis is that subject positions play key roles in discursive (political) struggles, based on or leading to antagonistic subject positioning (e.g., ordinary people vs. the power-bloc) and build on processes of othering. At the same time, we should keep in mind that for Laclau and Mouffe (1985), antagonisms always have negative and positive aspects, as antagonistic subject positions attempt to destabilize the “other” identity but desperately need that “other” as a constitutive outside to stabilize the own identity.

²This is well-exemplified by Livingstone and Lunt (1996, p. 179): “In the audience discussion programme, elements of, for example, the game show and the current affairs programme merge. These programmes are ‘intergenre.’”

³To not resound the strong Flemish identity construction process, the use of the expression “North Belgium” is preferred.

⁴Between 2000 and 2007, eight series of programs were broadcast.

⁵Jokfoe was a Belgian production house that produced television programs. It was founded in 2001 by Goedele Liekens (the host of Recht van Antwoord) and her ex-husband, Chris Cockmartin. Apart from Recht van Antwoord, Jokfoe produced another debate program for the North Belgian public service broadcaster (VRT), and a number of reality TV series for both the VRT and for commercial broadcasters. In the beginning of 2009, Jokfoe ceased to exist as a result of a lack of new contracts. The Web site http://www.jokfoe.com is no longer online.

⁶Examples of life-political problems are as follows: “taking the law into one's own hands,” “legalization of drugs,” “the right to decide on one's own end of life,” “the integration of migrants,” and so forth.

⁷All citations from Dutch sources, program transcripts, and interviews were translated into English by the authors.

⁸Next to the two main items in Recht van Antwoord, the host introduces two smaller items, one at the beginning and one at the end of the program. These items are more light-hearted and do not entail a studio discussion with several participants.

¹⁴The slogan Eigen volk eerst, translated as “Own people first” has been the main slogan from the extreme right-wing party, Vlaams Belang/Vlaams Blok, since its campaign for the 1991 elections. Jurgen Verstrepen was a prominent member of the Vlaams Belang/Vlaams Blok from 2004 to 2007.

⁹Although it was not the original idea, the topics were (almost) always related to politics (interview with host Jurgen Verstrepen).

¹⁰After the program ended in 2004, the host of Zwart of Wit, Jurgen Verstrepen, was invited by a series of political parties to join their ranks. He became a member of parliament for one of the largest political parties in North Belgium, the Flemish extreme-right party, Vlaams Blok/Vlaams Belang. In this party, he was mainly noticed for defending a radical freedom of speech position. In April 2007, he switched to the right-wing populist party, Lijst Dedecker. Verstrepen defined himself as a rebel that acts against “the system” (http://www.jurgenverstrepen.be), a (populist) position that is shared with both the extreme-right party, Vlaams Blok/Vlaams Belang, and the right-wing populist party Lijst Dedecker and that was already noticeable in Zwart of Wit, together with his right-wing political position.

¹¹In Belgium, the term national broadcasters is used to refer to broadcasters that cover the North Belgian Dutch-speaking region (and the Brussels region). Regional broadcasters refers to broadcasters that cover a province or city.

¹²In his 2008 book, Jurgen Verstrepen claimed that political pressure influenced the decision to stop broadcasting the program (Verstrepen, 2008, p. 69).

¹³In 2010, Verstrepen returned to television with the talk show Verstrepen & Hermans on GUNKtv.

¹⁵The selection of the programs was based on a qualitative textual analysis of eight episodes of the programs (Santana & Resmann, 2009).

¹⁶Respondents 35 years of age and younger were considered younger; those older than 35 were defined as older. This was the age distribution of all focus groups: 10–19 years: 28; 20–29 years: 19; 30–39 years: 8; 40–49 years: 11; 50–59 years: 10; 60–69 years: 10. Respondents with a higher education had (or were still studying for) a polytechnics degree (24) or a university degree (6). For the younger participants who were still in secondary school, the participants doing so-called “general secondary studies” (5) were also considered higher educated. Respondents that were considered lower educated had no degree (1), an elementary school degree (3) or a secondary school degree within the field of “technical and vocational secondary studies” (47, including the respondents that were still studying). The focus groups were held in four different cities, which ensured a regional distribution. Of the respondents, 39 were male, 47 were female.

¹⁷When using the lower class-based definition, all respondents detached themselves from the participants.

¹⁸“The man from the street” is a literal translation of the Dutch phrase De man uit de straat, which refers to the ordinary person.

¹⁹ De Zevende Dag is an elite political talk show from the public service broadcaster VRT. The program is broadcasted on Sunday mornings on the first channel één. Zwart of Wit was broadcasted at the same time.