The polarization of commercial and journalistic values in the newspaper industry: An exploratory study in Greece

Abstract

The intense commercialization that underpins contemporary society has dynamically permeated into the global newspaper industry and converted journalism into a marketable commodity. Nevertheless, the demands of the marketplace, which have their origin in news commodification, may clash with traditional journalistic principles. With the aid of the face-to-face interview method and a sample of 30 press people employed by Greek newspaper companies, the present study aspires to explore the possible conflict between commercial and journalistic values, investigate its sources, and identify management problems that stem from this polarization. The results confirmed an unavoidable conflict, which ends up being an indispensable compromise between a newspaper’s informative role and the vital need to secure financial resources. Self-censorship imposed on journalists by profit-hunting media moguls creates tensions in the internal infrastructure of press firms and deprives newspaper content of veracity and objectivity.