The wellbeing of ordinary people in factual television production

Abstract

This article aims to explore the links between the structural organisation of the television industry and the wellbeing of the ordinary people who take part in its productions. Following a series of high-profile suicides, calls have been made for broadcasters to reconsider their duty of care. New regulations have been initiated in the UK, emphasising the need to risk-assess vulnerable contributors and provide them with psychological support. But these changes have been driven by moral outrage and media criticism rather than empirical research, and a lack of attention has been paid to understanding the views of the participants themselves. Based on in-depth interviews with a sample of 30 documentary contributors and producers, this article will seek to contextualise their experiences within the political economy of TV production, focussing on the impact of five recent developments in relation to working practices, jobs functions, narrative norms, marketing strategies, and the wider media ecology. My argument is that the wellbeing of contributors, producers, and the production environment are all intrinsically connected, and have been fundamentally reshaped by the neo-liberal reorganisation of the industry.