Putting the Work (back) into Newswork

Abstract

This case study pivots away from the technocentrism of much contemporary scholarship in journalism studies and looks at the intersections of journalism's normative functions and labor processes. Interviews with journalists at local and metropolitan newspapers in the United States reveal a deep commitment to the normative functions of journalism but a growing realization that external pressures are contributing to “normative failure”—the fear of inability to execute these functions. Findings indicate a need for further research on the role of normative functions in how journalists make sense of industry change.

KEYWORDS:

• labor
• labor process theory
• newsrooms
• newswork
• normative failure
• nostalgia for the future
• political economy

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

The authors gratefully acknowledge the detailed and constructive comments and suggestions provided by the anonymous reviewers and editor. We also wish to thank Yong Volz, Victoria Johnson, and Clyde Bentley for their advice on an earlier version of this study.

DISCLOSURE STATEMENT

There are no conflict of interests.

Notes

1. Two of these are corporately owned newspapers with daily circulations around 200,000; the third is a privately owned local newspaper with a daily circulation of approximately 20,000. Eleven newsworkers were recruited from the two corporately owned publications, while four were interviewed from the privately owned newspaper.