Nordberg, D. 2007. Review and commentary: News and corporate governance: what Dow Jones and Reuters teach us about stewardship. Journalism: theory, practice & criticism. 8 (6), pp. 718-735. https://doi.org/10.1177/1464884907008448
| Title | Review and commentary: News and corporate governance: what Dow Jones and Reuters teach us about stewardship |
|---|---|
| Authors | Nordberg, D. |
| Abstract | The outcomes of near simultaneous bids for the news organizations Reuters Group plc and Dow Jones & Co. Inc. in 2007 hinged on mechanisms of corporate governance put in place at each company to protect the integrity and independence of the editorial operations. Neither company is a particularly good model of good governance, since the restrictions — super-voting shares at Dow Jones, veto-power by the trustees of the Founders Share Company at Reuters — almost completely rule out an open market for corporate control. This article looks at Reuters — and in even greater detail at Dow Jones, where the private actions of the board and shareholders came into rare public view. It suggests that stewardship theory plays a large role in protecting a perceived social value of the integrity of the news, figuring more heavily in crucial board decision-making than shareholder value. But the outcome of both cases means that the tension between the two is not easily resolved. |
| Journal | Journalism: theory, practice & criticism |
| Journal citation | 8 (6), pp. 718-735 |
| ISSN | 1464-8849 |
| Year | Dec 2007 |
| Publisher | Sage |
| Digital Object Identifier (DOI) | https://doi.org/10.1177/1464884907008448 |
| Publication dates | |
| Published | Dec 2007 |