Hugh J. Martin

Sample Size for Newspaper Content Analysis in Multi-Year Studies

This study examines the most efficient method of sampling content from five years of daily newspaper editions. Selecting nine constructed weeks (nine issues from a Monday, nine from a Tuesday, etc.) from five years is more efficient than the ten constructed weeks—two from each year—suggested by previous research on populations of a years newspaper content. This rule holds provided the variables being measured do not have large variances.

Competition, Circulation and Advertising

This article reviews academic literature about the impact of competition on newspaper circulation and advertising. It suggests some principles about competition and the long-run performance of daily circulation newspapers.

Dimensions of News Media Brand Personality

This study explores the structure of news media brand personality across multiple media outlets including television network news, newspapers, and news magazines. Through a series of exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis procedures with an initial set of 229 personality traits that were reduced to the final set of forty-eight items, we found five brand personality dimensions that can be applicable to news media: Trustworthiness, Dynamism, Sincerity, Sophistication, and Toughness. Practical implications for media brand management are discussed.

Interdependence in Media Economics: Ethical Implications of the Economic Characteristics of News

Citizens need accurate news to govern themselves effectively in a democratic society. Journalists argue editorial independence is necessary to ensure that the integrity of news is not compromised. However, the economic characteristics of news create conflicts between the ideal of independence and the need to pay production costs. This study analyzes those conflicts and the economic tools for resolving them. The analysis suggests ways to balance independence and economic necessity without violating mutual ethical obligations shared by journalists, audiences, and advertisers. Independence, along with a good budget, tends to make for quality journalism. —Michael Wolff, The Man Who Owns the News (p. 225)

An Industry in Transition: Entry and Exit in Daily Newspaper Markets, 1987–2003

Contrary to the general impression of the daily newspaper industry as a dying industry, data from 1987 to 2003 showed an industry in transition. Although 305 newspapers ceased daily publication during this period, 64% of these newspapers continued to serve their markets as weeklies, merged dailies, or zoned editions. The 111 dailies that went out of business were offset by sixty-three dailies that started publication. In effect, the newspaper industry lost service in forty-eight markets during seventeen years.

Ownership and Barriers to Entry in Non-Metropolitan Daily Newspaper Markets

This exploratory study examines the relationship between private ownership of dailies and the number of weekly newspapers and weekly penetration in non-metropolitan counties. These data indicate private ownership is associated with fewer weeklies in a county, a result consistent with economic theory that suggests private dailies may create barriers to entry for weeklies through nonaggressive pricing strategies and investment in newsroom quality.

Profits up, Circulation down for Thomson Papers in 80s

This comparison of Thomson papers with comparable newspapers indicates they lost more revenue and circulation during 1980s when high profit goals were set.

Change and Stability in the Newspaper Industry's Journalistic Labor Market

Among the common assumptions made about the U.S. journalistic labor market is that it is hierarchical, with entry-level hiring done almost exclusively by smaller organizations. Individuals are thought to be able to gain employment at larger media organizations only after they have served time in smaller ones. The assumed normal career progression for a newspaper journalist is from a small newspaper, perhaps even a weekly, to a larger one and on up the chain, with employment at larger organizations open only to those who have served their time at the lower levels of the employment chain. It generally is assumed that these patterns of employment have remained relatively stable across time. This article draws on an unusual data source consisting of surveys of daily newspaper editors in 1986 and every 5 years after, with the most recent survey conducted in 2001. Questions on each of the instruments provide basic data on hiring in the newspaper industry the year before. Analysis of these data shows that most entry-level hiring is done by smaller daily newspapers. There are exceptions, however, with some larger organizations also hiring journalists with no prior journalistic experience. The analysis shows that this pattern has not changed markedly over the last 20 years, although the levels have varied based on market forces. It also shows that membership in a newspaper group impacts hiring. The explanation offered is that group newspapers have created an extended internal labor market.

The Impact of Internal Labor Markets on Newspaper Industry Personnel Practices

Media industries in the United States have consolidated significantly in the second half of the last century. One consequence of the consolidation is a restructuring of the way the industries construct and access their labor markets. As the media group integrates or even coordinates the hiring of personnel, the Internal Labor Market can be expanded to cover all or major parts of the media company. Creation of what is termed here an Extended Internal Labor Market has the potential to alter personnel practices in the group. This article tested this expectation in one specific area, the hiring of and investment in journalists, for one type of media, the daily newspaper industry. One indicant of quality hiring is the location and employment of journalists who are members of racial or ethnic minority groups. It was predicted in this article that daily newspapers that are part of an optimally configured Extended Internal Labor Market would be more likely to hire minority journalists than other newspapers. These newspapers also were expected to be more likely to value professional development of their journalists, and to provide encouragement for their journalists to engage in both internal and external training activities. The data are generally consistent with the hypotheses. The size of the company plays an important role in understanding the relationships.