Revisiting Corporate Newspaper Structure and Profit Making

Abstract

A national probability survey of newspapers conducted in 1993 found that the more a newspaper exhibits the characteristics of the corporate form of organization, the less emphasis it places on profits as an organizational goal and the more emphasis it places on product quality and other nonprofit goals. However, another survey conducted in the fall of 1996 failed to support the profit findings. The study detailed in this article was conducted in 1997 in an attempt to resolve the discrepancy. Corporate newspapers, I argue, are structurally organized to maximize profits, but they place less emphasis on profits because they (a) have a greater division of labor and role specialization, (b) are more financially stable and secure, and (c) are more likely to be controlled by professional managers. The findings from the most recent survey support the original 1993 data: Corporate newspapers place less emphasis on profits and much more emphasis on product quality and other nonprofit goals.