The Organization of Journalism

Market Models and Practice in a Fraying Profession

Patrick Ferrucci

• Publisher: University of Illinois Press
• Year: 2024
• Print ISBN: 9780252088292, 9780252046216
• eBook ISBN: 9780252047480
• Topic: Business
• Subtopic: Business General
• Index: Business

New business models have splintered journalists' once-monolithic professional culture. Where the organization once had little sway in the newsroom, in today's journalism ecosystem, owners and management influence newsgathering more than ever.

Using rich interviews and participant observation, Patrick Ferrucci examines institutions with funding mechanisms that range from traditional mogul ownership and online-only nonprofits to staff-owned cooperatives and hedge fund control. The variations in market models have frayed the tenets of professionalization, with unique work cultures emerging from each organization's focus on its mission and the implantation of its own processes and ethical guidelines. As a result, the field of American journalism no longer shares uniform newsgathering practices and a common identity, a break with the past that affects what information we consume today and what the press will become tomorrow.

An inside look at a fracturing profession, The Organization of Journalism illuminates the institution's expanding impact on newsgathering and the people who practice it.

Table of contents

• Cover Page
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Dedication
• Contents
• Acknowledgments
• Introduction: Recentering the Organization in Journalism Studies
• 1 The St. Louis Beacon—The Digitally Native News Nonprofit
• 2 Defector Media—The Cooperative
• 3 The Colorado Sun—The Public Benefit Corporation
• 4 The Boston Globe—The Mogul-Owned Newsroom
• 5 The Athletic—The Venture-Capital-Funded Newsroom
• 6 The Denver Post—The Hedge-Fund-Owned Newspaper
• Conclusion: The Organization and the Deprofessionalization of American Journalism
• Notes
• Bibliography
• Index