The news that wasn‘t

Abstract

This paper presents a single-case study of the minute-by-minute unravelling of the coverage of a political news item by a journalist in the television newsroom of a national French-language public broadcasting corporation in Europe. It is documented how the journalist’s eventual decision not to cover the news is thwarted by the fact that competing media have decided otherwise. Drawing on linguistic ethnographic fieldwork, the data provide a unique close up of newsmaking practice on a politically delicate issue, with the individual journalist emerging as a responsible and sensitive professional, who is realistic and thoughtful about his own actions, in tune with what other media are covering and savvy about the workings of the news business as a whole.