TRANSFORMING MEDIA: reviewing the issues and contexts of change in media management research

ABSTRACT

This article examines how change as a media management phenomenon is approached and understood in the research fields of media management, media business and media economics. By means of a systematic literature review and problematising methodology, the article unpacks the ways in which change as a phenomenon is comprehended in the extant research and elaborates on the implications of various schools of thought on the development of the research area. The findings of the study illustrate how different paradigmatic, contextual and pragmatic ways of understanding change are reflecting the current thinking and discussion about transformation in the media industry. As a contribution, the article adds to media management research by reviewing, identifying and critically reflecting on the dominant views of change in the area.

KEYWORDS:

• Media industry
• media management
• media business
• transformation
• change

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1. In addition to the three groups of articles discussed, the empirical material included three articles that could not be contained in the contexts. One of these articles studied how technological changes in newspaper publishing moving to online platforms affect the workflow of visual journalists (Zavoina & Reichert, 2000). The other article focused on changes in technology and global economy affecting the higher education and curriculum design in the field of telecommunications (Gershon, 2006) and the third focused on the effects of news media coverage of discrimination testing on hiring practices (Carlsson & Rooth, 2012).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Nando Malmelin

Nando Malmelin is a Professor of Practice at VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland and an Adjunct Professor of media and communication studies at the University of Helsinki, Finland.

Sari Virta

Sari Virta is a Lecturer at Metropolia University of Applied Sciences (Business School), Finland. She is also an Affiliated Researcher at Jönköping International Business School (MMTC) in Sweden. Her research focuses on management of creative organisations.

Ari Kuismin

Ari Kuismin is a Postdoctoral Researcher at the Department of Management Studies at Aalto University School of Business, Finland. His research focuses on changing forms of work and organizing.