Stop griping, start complaining: how public discontent can trigger a change in broadcast entertainment content

Abstract

This study examines the conditions under which public manifestation of discontent can lead to changes in the broadcasting of offensive media content. Our analysis is based on ethnographic research within the ombudsman at a regulatory institution in Israel, on content analysis of 2142 complaints regarding perceived inappropriate broadcasted content between the years 2005 and 2010, and on an examination of public discourse surrounding controversial programs in Israel, the United States, and the United Kingdom. Our analysis indicates that successful complaints share three conditions that collectively lead media organizations to amend broadcasted contents: the complaints name a socially sensitive identity within a specific broadcasting culture, the complaints are numerous and represent diversified public sectors, and the complaints are accompanied by a heated public debate around the perceived offence. We elaborate on each of these conditions and conclude by discussing the effectiveness of public complaints as a discursive device in participatory culture.

Complaints about technology as a resource for identity-work

“…There are a number of culturally recognizable types of personal and impersonal complaints, including for instance whinging, moaning, griping, kiturim, oplakvane, and so forth (e.g. Katriel 1985; Edwards 2005; Daskal & Kampf 2015; Sotirova 2018). In the delivery of negative opinions, including complaints, there is typically an orientation to the extent to which the complaint is likely to be culturally acceptable, or controversial (Strauss 2004).…”

Dissatisfied and Critical Citizens: the Political Effect of Complaining

“…Both psychological and organizational perspectives (complaining as an act of interpersonal communication and complaining as an institutional relation) place stress on the individual, and the object of complaint, respectively (Daskal and Kampf 2015). Some studies show that expressing dissatisfaction is a ritual behavior endowed with psychological and social functions: instrumental, cathartic, self-presenting, egotistic, relational and identity-making (Kowalski 1996;Kaiser and Miller 2001).…”