Organizational vs. Professional Culture in the Newsroom: Television News Directors' and Newspaper Editors' Hiring Decisions

Media critics argue that corporate values dominate newsroom decisions. This study tests that argument using national surveys to compare television news directors' and newspaper editors' hiring practices. The study examined whether news executives seek employees with characteristics valued by the organizational culture or those valued by the professional culture of journalism. The data show that news executives emphasize hiring people based on personality and work habits over any professional characteristic except language skills.