Power Without Responsibility (JN500) Journalism, the Nation and National Identity Case study: Princess Diana

Lecture Outline 1. Journalism and modern national identity 2. Journalism and the historical rise of the nation 3. Monarchy, media and national identity 4. Case study: Death of Princess Diana

1. Journalism and modern national identity News media present images of national identity introduction-paywall-our-britain-wraparound-cover introduction-paywall-our-britain-wraparound-cover -sun-our-britain -sun-our-britain /Red-Eds-pledge-bring-socialism-homage- Marxist-father-Ralph-Miliband-says-GEOFFREY-LEVY.html /Red-Eds-pledge-bring-socialism-homage- Marxist-father-Ralph-Miliband-says-GEOFFREY-LEVY.html has-england-changed-will-self has-england-changed-will-self

1. Journalism and modern national identity Journalism, as communicative form, is ideally suited to represent and contribute to the production of the nation (Mercer 1992). It: is a daily publication; reproduces a sense of place (and belonging); captures concerns of everyday life as well as public events; and it represents and manages the heterogeneity of a nation.

1. Journalism and modern national identity Media events: live events organised by public bodies with which media co- operate. Media events are celebrations of unity and integrate societies with public playing active role (Dayan and Katz 1994) m/commentisfree/2012/au g/10/london glimpsed-britain-fight m/commentisfree/2012/au g/10/london glimpsed-britain-fight

2. Journalism and the historical rise of the nation The nation-state is a modern phenomenon (contrasted with the city-states of antiquity), established with regularised borders rather than frontiers, more comprehensive administrative and military powers. History of modern nation-states also based upon the establishment of a common language and erasure of regional identities and languages.

2. Journalism and the historical rise of the nation Modern nation-state described as an ‘imagined community’ (Anderson). Imagined community a product of ‘print-capitalism.’ Journalism gave prominence to secular realm, humanist world-view, a national language, and enabled the regularising of time and a sense of collective, shared identity.

2. Journalism and the historical rise of the nation “ While it may seem... obvious... that there must be a public in existence before a press can be invented to serve that public, history actually suggests the reverse: reading publics, and indeed the very idea of the public in the first place, are products of theory, journalism and literature, and were literally brought into being – out on to the streets, acting as the public – by the press ” (Hartley 1996, pp ).

2. Journalism and the historical rise of the nation Modern public life is a mediated phenomenon. The public is located more in discourse and representation than in geography. Media have always been central to public formation. Early 18th C press gave rise to reasoning public, the mass market newspapers in the latter half of the 19th C gave rise to the mass publics.

2. Journalism and the historical rise of the nation Broadcasting was integral in building a sense of British national identity in the early part of the 20 th century. The BBC restored and promoted national cultural and religious traditions, key public and sporting events. Such events, when broadcast, became “punctual moments in shared national life” (Scannell 1989, p. 141).

3. Monarchy, media and national identity Rise of modern monarchy (initiated during reign of Victoria) owed much to journalism and photographic technologies. Between the late 1870s and 1914 … there was a fundamental change in the public image of the British monarchy, as its ritual, hitherto inept, private and of limited appeal, became splendid, public and popular” (Cannadine 1985, p. 120).

3. Monarchy, media and national identity Development of half-tone photographic process enabled the monarchy to be represented as ‘ordinary’ and as a middle-class family. Coronation of Elizabeth in 1953 was first royal event to be televised in Britain and the documentary Royal Family in 1969 often seen as the beginnings of a new stage in relations between the royal family and the media.

4. Case study: Princess Diana Wedding of Prince Charles and Diana in 1981 was global media event.

4. Case study: Princess Diana Panorama interview (November 1995) watched by 200 million. Covered topics such as Charles’ suitability to be King, Charles and Camilla, her battles with Charles’ staff, her adultery and experiences with bulimia and self-mutilation. /watch?v=BjYU7Q7hqEI /watch?v=BjYU7Q7hqEI

4. Case study: Princess Diana Princess Diana used the media to communicate directly to the public, bypassing (and challenging) the power of the monarchy. Two different kinds of power: contemporary, media-generated celebrity power opposed to traditional, establishment- based, institutional power of the monarchy.

4. Case study: Princess Diana Contrasting journalistic reportage of Panorama interview: More progressive newspapers, The Independent and The Guardian, praised Diana and emphasised notion of identity that was more multiple, fluid and self- reflexive. Conservative newspapers, the Daily Telegraph, Daily Express and Daily Mail, used more traditional view of identity (unified, stable and self-effacing) to label Diana’s performance as manufactured, and criticised her deviance from role within royal family.

4. Case study: Princess Diana Funeral of Diana – watched by 32 million people across Britain and two billion people world-wide. Also watched on two giant TV screens by 100,000 in Hyde Park.

4. Case study: Princess Diana Diana emphasised importance of emotion in public life and in constructions of the nation. "I'd like to be a queen of people's hearts.” watch?v=lbUs-jTUe24 watch?v=lbUs-jTUe24 grammes/b02x93dg grammes/b02x93dg

References Anderson, B 1991, Imagined Communities: Reflections on the origins and spread of nationalism, Rev. edn., Routledge, London. Cannadine, D 1985, ‘The Context, Performance and Meaning of Ritual: The British Monarchy and the “Invention of Tradition”’ in E. Hobsbawm and T. Ranger (eds.) The Invention of Tradition, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge. Dayan, D and Katz, E 1994, Media Events: The live broadcasting of history, Harvard University Press, Cambridge, MA. Hartley, J 1996, Popular Reality: Journalism, Modernity, Popular Culture, Arnold, London. Mercer, C 1992, ‘Regular imaginings: the newspaper and the nation’ in T. Bennett et al. (eds.), Celebrating the Nation: A critical study of Australia’s bicentenary, Allen & Unwin. Sydney. Scannell, P 1989, ‘Public service broadcasting and modern public life’, Media, Culture and Society, vol. 11, pp