Creating Value and Valuing Creation in Contemporary UK Television: or "dumbing down" the workforce

On the basis of British evidence, this paper addresses the debate about standards in television, particularly the charge of "dumbing down". It makes this address not in terms of changes in television content but rather by focusing on changes in the working and employment conditions of television production employees. It suggests that a mixture of labour-saving strategies and "growth in the job", varying between public and commercial sectors, have "dumbed down" the working environment and employment terms. A narrow focus on broadcast journalists suggests that, in terms of time, team working and training, these workers are now less able to meet their own professional standards than previously, with serious implications for the prospects of achieving "quality" broadcast news in the near future. However, while "dumbed down" working conditions equally describe other television production workers, the implications for the "quality" of non-journalism contents are more difficult to identify. It is suggested that this reflects a surviving consensus on the social and political functions of journalism, in comparison with a relative lack of consensus about non-journalism genres. Further inquiry along these lines is recommended.