Corporate News Structure and the Managerial Revolution

Abstract

Critics contend that corporate news organizations are destroying democracy because they place more emphasis on profits than on information diversity and other nonprofit goals considered crucial for creating or maintaining a political democracy. Research shows that corporate news organizations tend to be more profitable than entrepreneurial news organizations; however, they actually place less emphasis on profits and more on product quality and other nonprofit goals. More importantly, the "critical corporate model" appears to contain a logical flaw, the "approved contradiction, " which claims that professional managers should maximize profits more than the owners. This claim contradicts the managerial revolution hypothesis that expects corporate organizations to place less emphasis on profits as power and control in modern organizations shifts from the owners to professional managers and technocrats. This article reviews the managerial revolution hypothesis and concludes that attempts to dismiss it outright are premature.