Value Systems and Decision-Making Styles of Newspaper Front-Line Editors

Abstract

As American newspapers face declining readership, quality concerns, and changing technology and public tastes, newspaper decision-making style remains relatively unexamined. This study re-examines national survey data on U.S. editors charged with choosing, justifying, editing, and publishing the news. In a search for values that underlie decision-making styles, the study uncovers five style predictors: gender, experience, social values, journalistic values, and organizational values. Audience-related values were not significant predictors.