Translating Ownership into Action: Owner Involvement and Values at Minority- and Non-Minority-Owned Broadcast Stations

Abstract

Research demonstrating a link between minority ownership of broadcast stations and news and public affairs programming diversity also includes the counter-intuitive finding that owner involvement in station activities is not related to that link. This article examines 3 other mechanisms that may mediate the relationship between ownership and programming: staff perceptions of shared values with the owner, the owner's direct communication of values to the staff, and hiring. Results of a telephone survey of people directly responsible for news at minority- and non-minority-owned stations suggest that owner involvement predicts the extent to which the staff perceives an owner's values to be their own, as well as the likelihood that the owner will overtly communicate his or her values to the staff. Owner involvement was not found to be a significant predictor of hiring of staff who are members of minority groups. This study has implications for efforts to increase minority participation in broadcasting specifically and workforce diversity in journalism more generally.