Corporate Newspaper Structure, Editorial Page Vigor, and Social Change

Abstract

Many critics contend that corporate newspapers are less vigorous editorially than entrepreneurial newspapers because they are more concerned about the bottom line than about information diversity. This study, which involves a national probability survey of L i l y newspapers, fails to support that belief. Corporate newspapers publish more local editorials and letters to the editor, and a larger number and proportion of editorials and letters that are critical of mainstream groups and institutions. From a broader perspective, these findings may be interpreted as supporting theories which hold that the pace of social change quickens as social systems become more structurally pluralistic.Many mass communication scholars and professionals believe the growth of the corporate form of organization in the U.S. daily newspaper industry during the twentieth century' has reduced diversity in the marketplace of ideas? Critics have charged, among other things, that corporate newspapers publish fewer editorials about local issues, publish fewer editorials that are critical of mainstream groups and ideas, and exercise greater control over their editorial editors and the editorials they write. Corporate newspapers are less vigorous editorially, the critics contend, because they are afraid of offending advertisers, sources, or readers, who may pull their advertising, buy fewer newspapers, or complain about content.Despite the popularity of the critical model, only three empirical studies that have examined the effects of corporate structure on editorialpage content support it. Most studies have found few differences between corporate and entrepreneurial newspapers, and a fair number even suggest that corporate newspapers are more, not less, vigorous editorially (see review below)? Additional research is necessary to clarify the effects. But even if that research shows that corporate newspapers are less vigorous editorially, the critical model would still suffer from an important theoretical deficiency: It fails to account for social change. Taken to its logical extreme, the critical model implies that the content of corporate newspapers inhibits or impedes social change, a supposition that runs contrary to other empirical research which shows that mass media often play an important role in David Demers is assistant professor of communication at Washington State University.

The Discourse of Globalization: Framing and Sensemaking of an Emerging Concept

“…What is the lag time of editorial coverage in respect to these sections, and how do different framings enter and interact with coverage in other discursive fields? Furthermore, how is this process embedded in organizational constraints (e.g., Demers 1996), resulting in differences both within and across newspapers? How does newspaper discourse of globalization differ in smaller versus larger cities, and how do such differences relate to editorial attention cycles and the intensity or uniqueness of events covered (Myers and Caniglia 2004)?…”

Market Competition and Media Performance: Reexamining the Media Performance of the Cable Television Industry in Taiwan

“…According to the managerial revolution theory, corporate media organizations have a greater scale of economy, better management, and more human resources than non-corporate media organizations have; thus, the former will be able to achieve better quality in their products and superior growth of their organizations than will the latter (Demers, 1996;Demers & Merskin, 2000). Furthermore, all MSOs in Taiwan were interested in providing various telecommunication services by utilizing their cable television infrastructure, were thus offering good-quality cable television service to their subscribers and were hoping therein that this service would attract subscribers to advanced services (Liu et al, 2003).…”

The influence of community structure on crime news coverage: structural pluralism, ethnic diversity, and local crime news

“…On the contrary, newspapers in more pluralistic communities were more likely to focus on debatable aspects of environmental risks and to lay blame (Dunwoody & Griffin, 1999). In addition, Demers (1996Demers ( , 1998 found that corporate newspapers were highly critical of mainstream groups in their editorial sections. He concluded that corporate newspapers located in more pluralistic communities experienced higher levels of social conflict and increased criticism from the dominant social groups and value systems within the community.…”

“…Many scholars have made an effort to understand the role of media in terms of structural perspectives (e.g., Demers, 1994Demers, , 1996Dreier, 1982;Hirsch & Thompson, 1994;McManus, 1995;. Although many ways exist for interpreting mass media performance from diverse structural perspectives, this study focuses on local newspaper performance within the framework of community structure: that is, how different types of community structures tend to lead the flow of information regarding a certain issue or event into local, community newspapers.…”