New business models have splintered journalists' once-monolithic professional culture. Where the organization once had little sway in the newsroom, in today's journalism ecosystem, owners and management influence newsgathering more than ever. Using rich interviews and participant observation, Patrick Ferrucci examines institutions with funding mechanisms that range from traditional mogul ownership and online-only nonprofits to staff-owned cooperatives and hedge fund control. The variations in market models have frayed the tenets of professionalization, with unique work cultures emerging from each organization's focus on its mission and the implantation of its own processes and ethical guidelines. As a result, the field of American journalism no longer shares uniform newsgathering practices and a common identity, a break with the past that affects what information we consume today and what the press will become tomorrow. An inside look at a fracturing profession, The Organization of Journalism illuminates the institution's expanding impact on newsgathering and the people who practice it.
Patrick Ferrucci is an associate professor and chair of the Department of Journalism at the University of Colorado Boulder. He is the author of Making Nonprofit News: Market Models, Influence, and Journalism Practice, coauthor of Reviving Rural News: Transforming the Business Model of Community Journalism in the US and Beyond, and coeditor of The Institutions Changing Journalism: Barbarians Inside the Gate.
Acknowledgments Introduction: Recentering the Organization in Journalism Studies Chapter 1. The St. Louis Beacon-The Digitally Native News Nonprofit Chapter 2. Defector Media-The Cooperative Chapter 3. The Colorado Sun-The Public Benefit Corporation Chapter 4. The Boston Globe-The Mogul-Owned Newsroom Chapter 5. The Athletic-The Venture-Capital-Funded Newsroom Chapter 6. The Denver Post-The Hedge-Fund-Owned Newspaper Conclusion: The Organization and the Deprofessionalization of American Journalism Notes Bibliography Index
"At a time characterized by profound changes and challenges to journalism as an institution and a business, The Organization of Journalism is an essential resource for anyone seeking to make sense of these forces. Through engaging and nuanced case studies of six different news organizations, the book compellingly demonstrates how market models shape organizational cultures, journalistic practices and, ultimately, the news we get."--Karin Wahl-Jorgensen, author of Emotions, Media and Politics
