ABSTRACT

Today’s media companies seem to be more intertwined than ever. But are they? Do these “interlocks” affect editors and the content journalists produce? This study uses a three-method design to examine the connections among newspaper organizations and corporations. The network analysis examined the interlocks among newspaper companies’ directors. The second phase surveyed editors of newspapers owned by these companies to assess the influence on the newsroom from the board and parent company. In the third phase, news coverage of directors and their affiliated organizations was content analyzed for newspapers whose editors perceived pressure “from above.” The network analysis results suggest a monolithic interlocking structure that previous scholars feared. For one-third of survey respondents, corporate parents and the boardroom were seen as influencing the newsroom. These “pressured editors” perceived significantly stronger pressures from the boardroom, “ownership/upper management,” and business interests than editors who did not indicate pressure from above. So, how did pressured newsrooms cover ownership and directors? Routine coverage of directors and their affiliated organizations was lacking. Disclosure of a relationship between a director or affiliated organization and the newspaper was disclosed half of the time and traditional journalistic scrutiny was applied less than half of the time.

摘要

当今的媒体公司似乎比以往更加相互交织。但是，是吗？这些“连锁关系”是否会影响编辑人员和新闻工作者产生的内容？这项研究使用三种方法设计来检查报纸组织和公司之间的联系。网络分析检查了报纸公司董事之间的联系。第二阶段对这些公司拥有的报纸的编辑进行了调查，以评估董事会和母公司对新闻编辑室的影响。在第三阶段，针对其编辑感到“来自上方”压力的报纸，对董事及其所属组织的新闻报道进行了分析。网络分析结果表明了以前学者担心的整体连锁结构。对于三分之一的调查受访者，公司的父母和董事会被认为对新闻编辑室产生了影响。与未表示来自上方的压力的编辑相比，这些“受压力的编辑”认为会议室，“所有权/高层管理人员”和商业利益所承受的压力要大得多。那么，压力很大的新闻编辑部是如何涵盖所有权和董事的呢？缺乏对董事及其下属组织的常规报道。一半的时间披露了董事或附属组织与报纸之间的关系，而传统的新闻审查不到一半的时间得到了披露。受压的新闻编辑室如何覆盖所有权和董事？缺乏对董事及其下属组织的常规报道。一半的时间披露了董事或附属组织与报纸之间的关系，而传统的新闻审查不到一半的时间得到了披露。受压的新闻编辑室如何覆盖所有权和董事？缺乏对董事及其下属组织的常规报道。一半的时间披露了董事或附属组织与报纸之间的关系，而传统的新闻审查不到一半的时间得到了披露。