Management and resistance in the digital newsroom

Bibliographic Data

ID7478741
AuthorsMel Bunce (0000-0002-4924-8993, City, University of London, corresponding author)
Year2017
Volume20
Issue7
Pages890-905
Publication date2017-02-03
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueJournalism (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1464-8849 • E-ISSN: 1741-3001
PublisherSAGE Publishing (PUBLISHER • US)
DOI10.1177/1464884916688963
OpenAlexW2583796670
LanguageEN
Citations received73
References cited40

What happens when there is conflict between the profit motivations of a news outlet and the professional values of its journalists? Questions of managerial influence and journalistic autonomy have interested media scholars from the seminal work of Warren Breed onwards. However, there have only been a handful of studies since the introduction of audience metrics which, this research suggests, allow managers to more efficiently monitor and discipline their journalists. This article presents an ethnographic case study of a Reuters newswire bureau during a time of conflict between the management and journalists. The article outlines the strategies that management used to incentivize their journalists to change their reporting priorities. These included the strategic dissemination of audience metrics and praise, and the hiring and promotion of ‘appropriate’ journalists to positions of influence. These interventions changed who was considered a ‘good journalist’ at the newswire, disrupting existing hierarchies, and eventually changing the culture of the newsroom. The article draws on the insights of Pierre Bourdieu’s field theory to help explain how managerial power operates, and the role that individual journalists play producing and reinforcing newsroom norms

Autonomy · Media studies · Negotiation · Political science · Politics · Power (physics · Praise · Promotion (chess · Public relations · Resistance (ecology · Social science · Sociology · Media Studies and Communication · Psychology · Public Relations and Crisis Communication · Social Media and Politics

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