Browsing by Author "Lee, Hsin-Han"

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    Effects of Non-Profit and Commercial Business Models and Community Power Structure on Local News
    (University of Alabama Libraries, 2024) Lee, Hsin-Han; Lowrey, Wilson
    This study examines the effects of news outlets' profit goals and community structural influences on local news content, comparing non-profit and commercial digital news sites across U.S. communities that have varying levels of pluralism. Drawing from critical political economy of media and from the sociology of local community structure perspective, the research addresses the decline in local news quality and quantity, driven by digital transformation and shifting advertising dynamics. The study employs content analysis to compare 672 news stories from 16 digital news sites, selected from high and low pluralism communities across four U.S. Census regions. Results indicate that non-profit news organizations enhance local news quality in terms of localness, originality, public interest, conflict reporting, and sourcing depth. These findings are consistent across multiple variables, suggesting a pattern of increased local news quality attributable to the non-profit orientation. A key finding was that structural pluralism of the community and profit orientation of the news outlet interact in shaping local news quality: Local news quality was stronger in high pluralism communities—in larger, more complex cities—than in low pluralism communities. However, findings indicate that non-profit orientation does not lead to increased use of non-elite sources. This unexpected finding may indicate that traditional journalistic routines, such as relying on elite sources, persist regardless of business model. The structure of news sourcing in communities may be more influential than the economics of media organizations. Overall, findings suggest that journalism scholars should consider both community sourcing structures and media industry economics in considering the role of power in shaping local news production.