A quality management model for community newspapers: the case of developing countries

Abstract

Managers’ ability to effectively and efficiently obtain, manage and utilise organisational resources plays an important role in the quality of the product their organisations present audiences with. A literature review reveals that a lack of effective and efficient media management is a core variable that influences the quality of journalism worldwide. This paper proposes that traditional commercial community newspaper organisations can proactively manage quality by comprehensively following a systems- and process-based approach. For this purpose and using a case study design, a comprehensive quality management model was developed for community newspapers, particularly in developing and rural settings. This context-sensitive model could be a useful tool for owners, managers and editors at community newspapers in developing countries to manage and improve quality in and across all functions and production processes in their organisations.