Radio in the workplace: a liminal medium between work and leisure

The contexts of the liminal sphere

Media anthropologists often refer in their research to the role of symbolic structures, myths and rituals in everyday life. Despite the ongoing secularisation, relations between human beings and the world still utilise elements of magic and rituals. The media as cultural systems that construct reality may affect people in a way similar to myths, rituals and ceremonies (Coman and Rothenbuhler, 2005: 9). The notion of liminality derives from this ritual aspect of modern media.

In its original meaning, the term ‘liminality’ was applied to rites of passage in small-scale societies. On the basis of an ethnographic analysis of indigenous tribes (Van Gennep, 1960), Arnold Van Gennep distinguishes three stages of the rite of passage: separation, transition and reintegration. In his description of the transition stage, Victor Turner highlights the disconnection of the individual from the community, which requires a clear separation between the sacred and the secular space and time. Entering the transition stage, which Turner (1982) calls liminal, the ritual subject passes through ‘a period and area of ambiguity, a sort of a social limbo’ (p. 24). His or her status is undetermined and has no features of the past or the future; it is a non-status. A community ‘in liminality is an unstructured or rudimentarily structured and relatively undifferentiated comitatus, community or even communion of equal individuals who submit together to the general authority of the ritual elders’ (Turner, 1969: 95). This equality rests in these individuals sharing the same position and status, in what is can be considered antistructure in relation to the social structure. ‘The novices are […] temporarily undefined, beyond the normative social structure’ (Turner, 1979: 19).

In the context of this analysis, it is important to note Turner’s claim that liminality is a notion applicable in an analysis of other aspects of culture in larger and more complex societies (Turner, 2005: 45). Turner’s starting point is his assumption that societies which have undergone the industrial revolution are fundamentally different from those which have not. Tribal societies view the ritual and to some extent the myth as ‘work’. The dividing line in these societies lies not between work and leisure, but between sacred work and profane work. The whole community is obligatorily immersed in the world of work. This work may have an element of play, though this is not mindless merriment, and is rigorously structured with ritual. This dividing line, marking out the ‘golden mean’, has been disturbed by technological progress. The secularisation of culture in the modern era has led to the desacralisation of the forms of experiencing and structuring leisure time. Being liberated from the obligation to work of work has become a value in itself. ³

The term ‘liminality’, sometimes alongside the related notion of ‘liminoidality’, has been used in media studies for several decades. It has become an ideal vehicle for defining both media production and media consumption (Coman, 2008: 94–109). The remnants of liminality can now be seen, for example, in advertising (Grimes, 1990: 145). In media studies, the concept of liminality has been applied to social phenomena such as ritualised media consumption (Rothenbuhler, 1998: 78) or television events which build ritual participation by creating liminal space (Dayan and Katz, 1992: 120). It has been utilised in the context of media as storytellers, entrenching a narratively structured perception of people’s lives, with an attendant obliteration of the distinction between informative and entertainment genres (Gripsrud, 2000: 295). Analysing the functioning of the radio in African societies, Debra Spitulnik (Fardon and Furniss, 2000: 144) describes the mass media as ‘artifacts, experiences, practices and processes’ which are ‘economically and politically driven, […] and like the most domains of human life, their existence is inextricably bound up with the use of language’. Pointing to diverse ‘spheres of operation’ of the media, she advocates ‘approaching mass media anthropologically: as institutions, as workplaces, as communicative practices, as cultural products, as social activities, as aesthetic forms and as historical developments’ (Spitulnik, 1993: 293).

Considering these approaches, it seems interesting to examine the scope of ‘liminality’ in the context of radio as the medium listened to in the workplace – probably the most ‘work-friendly medium of all the entertaining ones’. ⁴ Radio communication uses many rituals: jingles and self-promotion serve this purpose as much as popular DJs’ personal ways of presenting music and unique styles of talking. The entire programming of commercial radio is based on the concept of a ritual, where news, music, talk, phone-ins, time signals and so on recur in an unchanging order. The unchanging canon keeps listeners safe: they do not need to withdraw from their duties, because nothing unexpected happens in a radio programme. Their participation becomes a ritual. A particularly interesting element of this ritual is the direct communication that happens between the broadcaster and the working audience – this is where liminality appears in action, between the ‘ergic’ and the ‘ludic’.

Work, leisure and radio studies

It is commonly assumed that contemporary post-industrial societies are permeated with entertainment (Postman, 1985). Some scholars, however, note another dimension of contemporary culture: the totalisation of work, while others point out to the blurring of the distinction between work and leisure. In the 20th century, the transformation of work management style has led to elements of entertainment being introduced into work, at the same time affecting the attitude to leisure (Thomas, 1965: 96–103). The increased flexibility of labour market and working hours as well as the greater mobility of workers has been convenient for employers. ‘At a time when the category of free time was clearly defined, it was clear what constituted a work commitment, what was billable and what was not. This is no longer obvious’ (Krzysztofek, 2008: 235–237). On the other hand, in modern society ‘business and work activities penetrate homes, cars and vacations to create circumstances dissolving work/play, labor/leisure distinctions’ (McKenzie, 2001: 94). Work and leisure cross each way. In the 1960s, leisure time was researched as a natural, compulsory escape from daily routine (Burch, 2009: 313–314). The Aristotelian approach points to leisure as the basic value of a culture (Simpson and Yoshioka, 1992: 222); leisure has been positioned in the context of social development (Veblen, 1998: 73); it has been characterised as inclusive of semi-leisure, or time spent on educational or religious activities but free from paid employment, household duties, personal-time activities (sleeping, eating, grooming) or commuting (Robinson and Godbey, 1997: 12–13); and it has been defined as excluding semi-leisure activities (De Grazia, 1963: 49). A theory referring to intrinsic and extrinsic motivations has been formulated, where leisure activities are dictated by the intrinsic motivation of individuals (Neulinger, 1981: 14–22).

Leisure Studies, however, has taken little account of the existing extensive analyses of the forms of radio’s presence in the leisure sphere. The functioning of radio in the context of everyday life has often been studied with a focus on the audience’s engagement in the communicative process with the broadcaster and on the intentions of both agents (Scanell, 1996); alternatively, radio was named as a medium in which free time can be filled with what can be termed hobby work (Best, 2010: 229), or it was listed as one of the media-based options in a range of free time activities (Roberts, 2010). Analyses of radio in the context of leisure time are for the most part limited to quantitative studies focusing on its consumption (Critcher and Bramham, 2004: 43) – even when media use is analysed, the radio is treated marginally in comparison to others (Robinson and Godbey, 1997: 150–151).

Radio and music in the workplace: friend or foe?

Radio is usually all but equated with music; therefore, it was music which was the subject of early analyses as a factor impacting the efficiency and quality of work. Important studies concerning the practical influence of music were published in the 1930s. They were primarily based on the intuitive notion that ‘music is a friend of work’ (Fox, 1983). Early research indicated for instance that women’s productivity increased by 6.2%–11.3% by dint of background music; music was also held to prevent monotony (Torington, 1936). The BBC therefore introduced a radio show titled ‘Music While you Work’ during World War II. Between 1950s and 1970s, musical background was common in the working environment. The American company Muzak offered specially designed instrumental versions of popular music themes, devoid of parts which could distract the listeners (Spice, 1996: 128). Eventually, in the following decades, the acceptance of such soundtracks gradually fell. ⁵

Early 20th-century scholarly research on the influence of jazz music on people showed that jazz not only causes involuntary rhythmic movements of the body (Husband, 1934: 303), but also contributes to a higher rate of typing errors, whereas typing to funereal music resulted in a slower typing speed (Jensen, 1931). However, the assertion that sound has a negative impact on people was undermined by another experiment conducted by Jensen, who analysed the influence of background noise on learning and showed that the human body can adapt to diverse working conditions. Studies from the past decades show that music can have a positive influence on mental activities. Jazz music as a background to learning was shown to have a calming influence on learners, especially when the task is competitive and has to be completed quickly. The impact of music on workers depends to a substantial extent on their psychology, habits, kind of work and the type of music (Freeburne and Fleischer, 1952).

Jan Wierszyłowski (Wierszyłowski, 1981: 153) describes an interesting experiment was carried out by a Polish scientist in 1948 (Wróblowa-Koblewska, 1958: 256). Using a questionnaire, an interview and an introspective description of experiences while listening to music, she distinguished five types of the musical experience: polysensoric (aural-olfactory and visual sensations appear), representational (the representations conceived of by the listener usually derive from music and may be creative or reconstructive), interpretative (the listener perceives music as a symbol and seeks to uncover its meaning), formal-analytical (the listener analyses the structure of the musical piece), and aversive (the listener does not enjoy listening to music or remains indifferent to it). This division could partly explain why listeners in the workplace choose programmes of different kinds, become fully immersed in them or only occasionally focus on radio broadcasts. This ambivalence finds its expression in the announcements of DJs. At times, they refer to the positive influence of radio on listeners, where radio is an ideal background to the duties performed:

On other occasions, they imply that radio aspires to engage the listener’s attention rather than merely blend into the background:

The conclusions of later studies generally confirmed the positive effect of music on work, for instance in visual monitoring tasks (Poock and Wiener, 1966). No less interesting are findings of 1980s studies concerning the influence of music on workers performing repetitive tasks associated with the assembly line and mass production. These findings led to the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) recommending music for four groups of tasks: ‘simple assembly tasks (assembly line); complex assembly tasks; simple machine operations; complex manual operations’ (Puzyna, 1985: 82). More recent research on computer programmers proved the positive influence of background music on the quality of work and task time (Lesiuk, 2005). This is one of very few studies which use fragments of an actual radio show (a 10-minute sample, including three songs connected by the DJ’s voice) in this context. The authors assessed the levels of distraction of such sample extracts on memory recall and reading comprehension of different types of personality. They found that, in both cases, introverts were more significantly affected by the distraction than extraverts (Furnham and Bradley, 1997: 445–455).

Part II. The liminal sphere in commercial radio in Poland

Communication in the liminal space

Work does not preclude entertainment:

leisure as the opposite of work, that is, leisure as detachment, passivity, and general absence of effort is not reconcilable with work, but leisure as interest, pleasurable activity, and a general sense of creative self-expression can be seen as continuous with some aspects of work. (Parker, 1971: 134)

Radio in the workplace introduces an element of recreation into it, constructing the context of relaxation, but it would be impossible to draw a firm dividing line between these spheres. Radio can be argued to create a sphere of transition, showing characteristics of work and leisure at the same time, just like the liminal phase of transition.

Radio evinces the meshing of work space and leisure space. A listener who won a prize says on air:

The meshing of work space and relaxation (play) space interferes with the discipline of work; despite that, entering the liminal space is essential for an act of on-air communication to take place. In the example analysed below, the listener dials a phone number which enters her into a competition, but when the presenter calls her back to conclude the competition, she says she cannot take part in it:

Radio-liminality can be accompanied by a ‘parallel move’ which ‘can be simply opening of door or the literal crossing of a threshold’ (Turner, 1974: 58). In the case of radio, this requires a worker to freely submit to the requirements of communication:

If air-time is to be used effectively, the listener must accept the convention imposed by the host, who always asks what the listener does or is doing at the moment. In this dialogue, the workplace is noisy, so the worker has to leave her workstation to enable communication to happen. Here, the liminal suspension of the rules in force at work is unquestionably evident. Once she leaves the noisy room, the listener is no longer working. Thus, the listener can leave the sphere of work mentally (by focusing solely on the communication with the radio) or physically (when he or she leaves the workstation) or when they suspend part of their duties at a given moment:

For the duration of the game, the worker becomes a medium, who, by virtue of communicating with the radio, acquires the status of an initiate (the winner of a competition) and can share their knowledge with their co-workers; having achieved success by winning the competition, the worker obtains this status momentarily, only to return to the sphere of work, where this status remains irrelevant for their career but can increase their popularity with their acquaintances. The suspension of the discipline or rhythm of work is framed by radio as a worker’s right; at the same time, the humorous phrasing of this message alleviates a certain discomfort potentially experienced by the worker when shifting their attention to the radio, ‘stepping away’ from work duties:

At the same time, radio usurps the right to waive (albeit in a way which is clearly illusory) regular working hours:

This illusory suspension also applies to work discipline:

The dividing line between the time of work and the time of radio-provided relaxation is fluid and lies ‘betwixt and between’. Work without radio is not the same as work with or to the sound of the radio. What is the name for work activities during which the worker is actually participating in a radio competition? Is work suspended for the duration of that competition, or does it change its character, or is it at-work leisure time? How can these states be described? The term ‘liminal’ seems apt here, since ‘they are at once no longer classified and not yet classified’ (Turner, 1967: 96). The liminal state arising through the presence of radio in the workplace is also evident in the meshing and melding together of the world of radio and of the workplace penetrated by the sound of a radio programme:

Liminality is both more creative and more destructive than the structural norm. In either case, it raises basic problems for ‘social structural man’, inviting him to speculation and criticism (Weber, 1995: 525–536). Radio at work constructs a specific space of free expression, both on the part of the broadcaster and the listeners:

The issue of work appears in on-air games in different contexts, sometimes humorously, as listeners list their woes or speak of real problems. One such game drew on the then topical end of the Mayan calendar, portrayed by the media as a harbinger of the end of the world: the listeners were asked to complete the phrase, so that they rhyme (in Polish): ‘It’s easier to survive the end of the world than …’

The references to work were frequent: from wishes towards couriers or postmen, through the pay-day expectations up to the bitter reference to Poland’s Fiat Automotive Company’s recent layoffs.

The suspension of work rules can occasionally become the suspension of rules in general. Although this is only an on-air joke, it contains a peculiar instruction on how to temporarily free oneself from the obligation to work:

The humorous subtext of the conversation is deliberately catching a cold in order not to go to work. Such ambiguities are acceptable only in what is an informal conversation with a radio DJ, who is also at work. The listener here is showing substantial flexibility in terms of communication, negotiating meanings with the DJ so as to direct the conversation to highlighting the work/leisure time dyad, at the same time cleverly manipulating the humour. The collaboration between the interlocutors results in an interesting on-air event.

Radio – a mood regulator

Radio broadcasting not only co-exists with work, it also coordinates it to a certain degree. The ritual of radio programming is in tune with the ritual of work; this is also because radio presenters like to remind listeners that ‘they work too’.

The level of inclusion in the liminal sphere is an issue which varies between individuals. It depends on their personal mood, type of work and mode of listening. Nevertheless, the presence of radio itself influences both the active and the passive listener. The DJ announces the time, refers to daily habits (morning coffee, lunch, etc.), suggests a gossip break or encourages the listeners to prepare for the final minutes of the workday. Therefore, radio acts as a device synchronising the rhythm of work and leisure. There is no laboratory research to confirm this specific claim, but insights from chronopsychology, in particular the research on the nature of chronotypes (Folkard and Monk, 1983: 57–58), would suggest that persons with a morning chronotype show a greater amount of automatic behaviours, both in the physiological and psychological processes (habitual hours of work and rest; Ciarkowska, 2002: 98). So it is not without reason that radio announces different phases of the day, helping listeners overcome the discomfort related to the obligation to work:

Ten minutes later, the DJ’s announcement indicates that he knows exactly where the listener is:

At times, there are incidental references to the functioning of a personal chronotype. A listener calling in says:

Working specific hours necessitates an adjustment of circadian rhythms, both biological and psychological (well-being, intellectual productivity, physical fitness), to an externally imposed structure of social life (Ciarkowska, 2002: 82–83). Radio helps enhance the well-being of those individuals who, because of their chronotype, experience particular discomfort at work. Since the sound of radio in working environment is perceived as natural, possible distractions or slowdowns of work are justified:

This element of liminality influences the character of work. The presence of a radio soundtrack changes the physical space; moreover, it also affects the psychological space. Liminality allows people some relaxation; it even entitles them to it:

This spot might be considered a metaphor of the liminal sphere in the work-space. The radio presents itself as a guardian of employment law. Since it serves to improve the quality of work, its presence is indispensable. This statement may appear an exaggeration, but other announcements stress the fact that both the radio DJs and their audience are working at the same time:

It is significant that the elements mentioned in this jingle co-exist on equal terms in the world constructed by the radio liminal sphere. ‘Information’ points to the ‘real’ world, of whose existence the listeners are aware, while ‘fun’ separates them from the ‘real world’ problems; so does ‘music’, which fills most of the airtime. The boundaries between the seriousness of radio news and the lightness of the DJ’s chatter are softened, as are the boundaries between the working duties and the non-committed participation in radio programme. The repetitive nature of the jingle confirms the audience in the belief that there is no conflict between employers’ demands and the DJ’s suggestions. The meticulously composed jingle tune and its matching prosody are welcomed as attractive when repeated often, as proved by psychological studies (Murphy and Zajonc, 2000: 462–466). Thus, their persuasive power is more substantial than that of a radio announcer’s ordinary banter.

The interference of radio with the work-space of listeners is deliberate. Nevertheless, it manifests itself in a delicate way – the suspension of working duties cannot cross the line between mere presence and intrusion. In the latter case, the radio would simply be switched off. Therefore, the liminal activity of radio has a variable intensity. Music and humour provide mental comfort and a relaxing background; these are strengthened through the rhetoric manner of communicative formulae (Thompson, 1997: 4). As the mood influences the perception of social interactions (Forgas, 1995: 39–66), it is all the more important to build and sustain high spirits among the listeners. Here is where the expectations of the broadcaster and the employer meet: they both prefer contented audience/employees.

The common ritual of radio at work

For listeners, radio in the workplace is an element of a repeatable ritual of everyday working life; radio with its repetitiveness provides a certain framework for the activities they undertake. Like press or television, radio is a medium ‘instituted and reinstituted as the place where we look for the reality’ (Couldry, 2000: 42–44); on the other hand, as mentioned before, it shields listeners from reality, providing relaxation instead. Radio-liminality is where a ‘meeting’ takes place between people separated by their different physical locations but united by work. An important element of solidarity comes into play here, or, as Turner has it, a ‘communion of equal individuals who submit together to the general authority of the ritual elders’ (Turner, 1969: 96). Radio itself is also a unique workplace. Activities commonly associated with leisure time (listening to music, reading a book, chatting) fill most of the broadcasting time; simultaneously, they comprise the duties of radio workers. In radio, the spheres of work and leisure appear fluid, with leisure time acquiring an ergic character (Turner, 2005: 60) graduating into work. Radio deploys the strategy of making contact with listeners at work by accentuating the obviousness of the presence of radio in the workplace. Radio jingles appeal to the audience at work:

Classy music at work [20]

Radio Złote Przeboje to listen to … at work [21]

At the end of our working week we’ll broadcast the programme ‘Szymorning’. That’s quite something! [22]

The message from radio is: ‘We are working, just like you, so we are working together. We provide the soundtrack to your effective work’. This element of being ‘united in and at work’ is mutually advantageous to listeners and to radio: radio obtains listeners whom it needs to achieve its mainly market-oriented objectives, while listeners experience a unique state of transition, functioning in the sphere of semi-work.

Turner writes that a property of liminality is that it accentuates the community (Turner, 1974: 74). Liminality constructs communitas, or a community permeated with togetherness, without which society would cease to exist. The distinction between Turner’s communitas and societas is based on the role of reciprocity in social interactions and highlights the nature of interpersonal relations. The reciprocity principle obliges an individual to act to the advantage of others due to previous actions of others towards that individual, and not because of social features or positions of those persons (Bierówka, 2009: 18–19). Reciprocal interpersonal ties resulting from the application of this principle are communitas-type bonds, while the actions of an individual to the advantage of others undertaken due to their social features and positions form non-reciprocal societas-type bonds. ‘Communitas allows people to satisfy their psycho-social needs by forming reciprocal bonds beyond time and space’. In this way, people ‘escape’ the fallout of industrialisation and the domination of associative communities (Gesellschaft-type, Tönnies, 2001). Radio communication shows certain features of a reciprocal relation; when the broadcaster gains more interest (e.g. through a quiz-show), the listener also reaps some benefits:

Sometimes, radio offers both a public reward and intimacy, as the following dialogue illustrates:

Even if this is an imitation of closeness imposed by the communicative convention, the element of solidarity is salient here. The ambiguous nature of communitas can be claimed to underscore the ambiguity of the sphere of transition constructed by the presence of radio in the workplace, especially when the consumption of radio is related to the worker undertaking an activity (participating in an on-air game).