Search

The “high performance work organization” (HPWO) concept proposes that greater employee involvement in decision making and greater ability for workers to control their reward structure lead to more efficient workplace procedures, as well as happier workers. Although this sociological model has been studied in a variety of industries and work settings, its examination in the media industries has been limited. In seeking to fill that gap, this study undertook an e-mail survey of workers in television news to determine which, if any, HPWO initiatives stations were using and how effective they were. Findings indicate that profit sharing, in-house training, and suggestion systems were more likely to be offered than cross-training, job rotation, outside training, or merit-based pay, indicating that the HPWO initiatives that require little investment of time or money are the most likely to be offered by television stations. Station ownership patterns were not significantly correlated to presence of HPWO initiatives, and market size was only significantly correlated to 2 HPWO initiatives—outside training and profit-sharing programs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

More than 50 years ago, Siebert, Peterson and Schramm (1956) penned their groundbreaking work, Four Theories of the Press, in which they articulated the ideals of social responsibility. However, the economic model for the media in the United States has changed dramatically since Four Theories was written. Consequently, there is a need for a new model that combines the high ideals and First Amendment considerations of social responsibility theory while recognizing the economic realities of today's mega-corporate environment. Social responsibility is a no less worthy goal today than it was 50 years ago; however, although the paradigm shift has occurred, the theoretical writing has not kept pace with the modern reality. This study proposes a new dual responsibility model that acknowledges the equal weight of the economic responsibility to the stakeholder, as well as the social responsibility to the audience. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The morning news programs provide an excellent forum for television broadcast networks to benefit from “corporate synergy,” but do they simultaneously compromise the intent of the social responsibility theory of the press? This study measured the entertainment content of the three network morning shows and correlated that to the ownership of the programs and the products being promoted. Results show the morning programs fill their daily news hole at least 20% of the time with entertainment and sports topics, that the entertainment products covered are more likely to have been produced by the networks' parent companies, and that the coverage of entertainment topics is almost certain to be favorable. The results are further evidence in support of calls for revision and update of the Social Responsibility Theory of the Press. The authors suggest that the adoption of the concept of stakeholder theory, applied in the business literature, offers a framework for making responsible editorial decisions in an atmosphere of corporate synergy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Through a content analysis of 571 videos posted on the self-generated YouTube channels of five international news channels, this study examines whether user-generated content is a significant part of today’s international journalism. The study includes international news channels Al Jazeera English, France 24 English, Russia Today, CNN International, and Al Arabiya. Exploring the implications for gatekeeping theory, the study looked at how these international news channels incorporate user-generated content in their daily news coverage. Results show that the international news channels are generally not using user-generated content—both work produced by citizen journalists and various measures of ‘interactivity’—to its full potential and that user-generated content is not disruptive to the conventional application of gatekeeping theory. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]