TV Inside the Psychiatric Hospital: Patient Experiences

This study investigates patients’ experiences with participating in a television (TV) documentary series filmed within psychiatric hospital wards. The study relies on interviews with patients, health staff, and TV producers, and asks how access is negotiated and how patients experience different phases of the production process. Based on a discussion of health ethics versus journalistic ethics, and the particular relations of power asymmetry and dependence within a health institution, the study concludes that a discourse emphasizing the benefits of openness worked to overshadow the need for extra sensitivity and care for the most vulnerable patients. Most patients appreciated the opportunity to share their experiences of illness and hospital treatment, but the increased strain on patients who were negatively affected by exposure calls for renewed attention to what informed consent and autonomy imply when media professionals enter health institutions.TV Inside the Psychiatric Hospital: Patient ExperiencespublishedVersio

‘Someone should have looked after us’: the boundary work of mental health disclosure on TV

publishedVersio

TV Inside the Psychiatric Hospital: Patient Experiences

This study investigates patients’ experiences with participating in a television (TV) documentary series filmed within psychiatric hospital wards. The study relies on interviews with patients, health staff, and TV producers, and asks how access is negotiated and how patients experience different phases of the production process. Based on a discussion of health ethics versus journalistic ethics, and the particular relations of power asymmetry and dependence within a health institution, the study concludes that a discourse emphasizing the benefits of openness worked to overshadow the need for extra sensitivity and care for the most vulnerable patients. Most patients appreciated the opportunity to share their experiences of illness and hospital treatment, but the increased strain on patients who were negatively affected by exposure calls for renewed attention to what informed consent and autonomy imply when media professionals enter health institutions

‘Someone should have looked after us’: the boundary work of mental health disclosure on TV

This article investigates the boundary work of young people who disclose personal experiences of mental health illness and trauma in a reality TV series. The programme in focus features group therapy sessions led by a professional psychologist, supplemented by personal video diaries. Combining disclosure theory with media sociological perspectives, the article analyses how boundaries are drawn, negotiated or trespassed in the production process. Data is based on in-depth interviews with participants, supplemented with background interviews with the production team and therapist. A main finding is that participants’ experiences in retrospect vary greatly: from accounts of meaningful self-disclosure to regret, increased strain and flare up of illness. Participants with negative experiences highlighted a lack of control over their stories, alienating representations of themselves and guilt about revealing information about third parties. The article concludes that interventional ‘do-good TV’, which builds authority and rhetorical ethos by offering professional therapy to participants, calls for careful consideration of the often-opaque relations of power and instrumental interests involved in this production setting

Autonomous Journalists and Anonymous Politicians? Norwegian Media Coverage of then NSA and the "Snowden Affair"

The NSA/Snowden revelations represent a case for studying the degree of journalistic autonomy versus the political field, in a situation where national and international security is at stake. In an era of rapid digital transition the revelations constitute a unique moment for studying field relations. This article examines the coverage of the NSA/Snowden revelations of massive transnational surveillance in six national Norwegian newspapers, with a main emphasis on opinionated articles. By way of content analysis we find that a clear majority of the editorials demonstrate a supportive attitude to Edward Snowden and treat him as a whistleblower, while treating the publishing journalists in The Guardian as situated within a proud tradition of investigative journalism, albeit with some diversity of opinion. In external opinionated contributions, a majority of the items reveal a critical attitude towards this surveillance and a supportive attitude towards Snowden. With a few exceptions, politicians do not take part in these exchanges, and are challenged for their low degree of engagement by several editorials. The article demonstrates a strong field autonomy vis-à-vis a political field where only a few parliamentarians came out in support of Snowden. Keywords: journalism, field autonomy, surveillance, NSA, Snowde