This thesis examines television news anchor credibility -
cultivation . The establishment of trust is examined through its
relationship to station identity and audience construction.
Open-focused interviews with news anchors, news directors,
producers and make-up artists in a major Canadian television
market were conducted. I maintain that anchors' actions and
looks can personify distinction and credibility when they
reflect viewers' tastes and sensibilities . Perceptions of
anchor trustworthiness are the key t o viewer loyalty decisions
and station identity .
I contend that credibility cultivation requires anchors'
entry into a complex system of expressive control which is
exercised through constraint and expectation. Institutional
needs for trust and an audience, the constraints imposed by the
medium, entertainment format and news genre, all contribute to
the expressive standards which must be adhered to. The image
demands are intensified when viewer reflexivity , continuity and
trust needs are incorporated into an already rigid performance
regimen. There is room, however, for anchors' authentic
expressions which are integral to the construction of trust and
necessary reflections of both station and viewer uniqueness.
Findings suggest that anchors who cultivate the appearance
of their own accessibility are likely to be trusted because they
seem familiar , on some level , to typical citizens tuning in . I
argue that while this image is currently in vogue, it is
unlikely to be a permanent mode of trustworthy expression.
Dominant styles and viewer loyalty patterns appear to undergo
evolutionary transformations. Distrust of the friendly facade
could arise from any number of unforseen cultural changes and
through changing expectations that are prompted by anchors who
continually negotiate the trustworthiness of their image with
the audience. / Arts, Faculty of / Anthropology, Department of / Graduate
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:UBC/oai:circle.library.ubc.ca:2429/5853 |
| Date | 05 1900 |
| Creators | Eisler, Karyn Lee |
| Source Sets | University of British Columbia |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Text, Thesis/Dissertation |
| Format | 5372608 bytes, application/pdf |
| Rights | For non-commercial purposes only, such as research, private study and education. Additional conditions apply, see Terms of Use https://open.library.ubc.ca/terms_of_use. |
Page generated in 0.0019 seconds