TY - JOUR
T1 - From idealist-entrepreneur to corporate executive
T2 - Provincial newspaper editors' and publishers' ways-of-thinking from the mid-1800s to the present
AU - Djerf-Pierre, Monika
AU - Weibull, Lennart
PY - 2011/6
Y1 - 2011/6
N2 - This article describes the changes in the management of provincial newspapers in Sweden from the mid-nineteenth century to the present. Five Swedish newspapers form the focus of the study: Barometern (Kalmar), Boras Tidning (Boras), Jonkopings-Posten (Jonkoping), Nya Wermlands-Tidningen (Karlstad) and Sundsvalls Tidning (Sundsvall). The article traces the development of the organizational cultures of the newspapers and the ways-of-thinking that have guided editors and publishers, in particular their ideas of the paper as a business or editorial venture, respectively. The findings indicate that changes in managerial thinking hardly follow a linear development, but are instead characterized by what is known in institutional theory as critical junctures (formative phases) and path dependency. At certain crucial points in a paper's history choices are made that continue to influence the paper's development for many years thereafter. Typically, it is the ways-of-thinking regarding the business aspects of newspaper publishing, the ideas about the newspaper's role in society and the newspapers approach to other political, cultural and social institutions that linger on.
AB - This article describes the changes in the management of provincial newspapers in Sweden from the mid-nineteenth century to the present. Five Swedish newspapers form the focus of the study: Barometern (Kalmar), Boras Tidning (Boras), Jonkopings-Posten (Jonkoping), Nya Wermlands-Tidningen (Karlstad) and Sundsvalls Tidning (Sundsvall). The article traces the development of the organizational cultures of the newspapers and the ways-of-thinking that have guided editors and publishers, in particular their ideas of the paper as a business or editorial venture, respectively. The findings indicate that changes in managerial thinking hardly follow a linear development, but are instead characterized by what is known in institutional theory as critical junctures (formative phases) and path dependency. At certain crucial points in a paper's history choices are made that continue to influence the paper's development for many years thereafter. Typically, it is the ways-of-thinking regarding the business aspects of newspaper publishing, the ideas about the newspaper's role in society and the newspapers approach to other political, cultural and social institutions that linger on.
KW - Critical junctures
KW - Institutional theory
KW - Media history
KW - Newspaper business
KW - Newspapers in Sweden
KW - Organizational culture
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=79957792168&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1080/1461670X.2010.490655
DO - 10.1080/1461670X.2010.490655
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:79957792168
SN - 1461-670X
VL - 12
SP - 294
EP - 310
JO - Journalism Studies
JF - Journalism Studies
IS - 3
ER -