Challenges of News Organisations in Capitalism: Rethinking with Sociology of Journalism

Abstract

                As one of the branches of political-economy theories, sociology of journalism approach studies news organizations operated in capitalist. Since sociology of journalism adopts a methodological approach from sociology, the scholars have observed work routine of news organization. The development of this approach allows researchers to identify particular limitations of a news production process, namely, scarce resources, time constrain, and highly competitive news market. Professional norms which are newsworthiness, objectivity, balance reporting, news sources accessibility are the necessary tools for the journalist to overcome time limit in news production. These professional norms can enhance credibility of news organization to the public. However, the professional norms are not rigid standard. Their flexibility allows the journalists to adapt and interpret these professional norms to suit particular occasions. In this sense, the role of journalism as the fourth estate ideology is questionable. Due to the necessity to survive harsh competitive market, news production process tends to favor the powerful institution and established sources, while lay people usually left out. In terms of news organisations in Thailand, I suggest that employing sociology of journalism for conceptual framework building is fruitful for the researchers. Despite from the debate revolves around the issue of ethical standard, sociology of journalism includes further insights in business model limitation of news organisations.