From noted ‘phenomenon’ to ‘missing person’: A case of the historical construction of the unter-journalist

Abstract

Tim Hewat was celebrated during his tenure at Granada Television as one of the most influential journalists working in Britain in the second half of the 20th century, but then largely forgotten for 30 years.This is explained as a function of the specific historicization of journalists, reflecting both academic prejudices and occupational values.The history of journalism is largely devoid of the lived experiences of the majority of its practitioners. Hewat’s case indicates that journalists disappear from history when they step outside the domains of valorized media institutions and journalism hierarchies that contribute to notions such as the Fourth Estate. Mobilizing Paul Thompson’s category of ‘underclasses’, this article argues that this reductionism has largely rendered the majority of journalists historically invisible and classified them as unter-journalists , a kind of sub-category which does not comply with a priori norms.