“It’s complicated” : cognitive dissonance and the evolving relationship between editorial and advertising in US newsrooms
Editorial and commercial functions in news organizations operate under conflicting values which dictate their separation lest commercial interests influence editorial decision-making. Yet this historic partition is challenged by the deterioration of the old advertiser-sponsored business model. The r...
| Main Authors: | , |
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| Other Authors: | |
| Format: | Journal Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
2022
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://hdl.handle.net/10356/155227 |
| _version_ | 1824455570868928512 |
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| author | Duffy, Andrew Cheng, Lydia |
| author2 | Wee Kim Wee School of Communication and Information |
| author_facet | Wee Kim Wee School of Communication and Information Duffy, Andrew Cheng, Lydia |
| author_sort | Duffy, Andrew |
| collection | NTU |
| description | Editorial and commercial functions in news organizations operate under conflicting values which dictate their separation lest commercial interests influence editorial decision-making. Yet this historic partition is challenged by the deterioration of the old advertiser-sponsored business model. The relationship is growing closer, at the risk of causing psychological discomfort to those involved. This study assesses what happens when senior editors encounter cognitive dissonance as they reconstruct the editorial-commercial relationship. It finds reluctance to embrace this evolving relationship, revealed in the fragmented and contradictory syntax editors use to talk about it as they are torn between the old (ethically driven) norm of how things should be, and the emerging (economically driven) norm of how things are. Yet, the paper suggests that cognitive dissonance may be the preferred state for any newsworker in an organization tasked with delivering news to a community which is not prepared to pay the full price for it, requiring some form of external subsidy. Rather than being dissonance that requires resolution, it becomes a vital, desirable tension whose perpetuation gives value to work. |
| first_indexed | 2025-02-19T03:40:19Z |
| format | Journal Article |
| id | ntu-10356/155227 |
| institution | Nanyang Technological University |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2025-02-19T03:40:19Z |
| publishDate | 2022 |
| record_format | dspace |
| spelling | ntu-10356/1552272022-02-28T05:31:46Z “It’s complicated” : cognitive dissonance and the evolving relationship between editorial and advertising in US newsrooms Duffy, Andrew Cheng, Lydia Wee Kim Wee School of Communication and Information Social sciences::Communication Journalism Advertising Editorial and commercial functions in news organizations operate under conflicting values which dictate their separation lest commercial interests influence editorial decision-making. Yet this historic partition is challenged by the deterioration of the old advertiser-sponsored business model. The relationship is growing closer, at the risk of causing psychological discomfort to those involved. This study assesses what happens when senior editors encounter cognitive dissonance as they reconstruct the editorial-commercial relationship. It finds reluctance to embrace this evolving relationship, revealed in the fragmented and contradictory syntax editors use to talk about it as they are torn between the old (ethically driven) norm of how things should be, and the emerging (economically driven) norm of how things are. Yet, the paper suggests that cognitive dissonance may be the preferred state for any newsworker in an organization tasked with delivering news to a community which is not prepared to pay the full price for it, requiring some form of external subsidy. Rather than being dissonance that requires resolution, it becomes a vital, desirable tension whose perpetuation gives value to work. 2022-02-28T05:31:44Z 2022-02-28T05:31:44Z 2022 Journal Article Duffy, A. & Cheng, L. (2022). “It’s complicated” : cognitive dissonance and the evolving relationship between editorial and advertising in US newsrooms. Journalism Practice, 16(1), 87-102. https://dx.doi.org/10.1080/17512786.2020.1804986 1751-2786 https://hdl.handle.net/10356/155227 10.1080/17512786.2020.1804986 2-s2.0-85089554186 1 16 87 102 en Journalism Practice © 2020 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group. All rights reserved. |
| spellingShingle | Social sciences::Communication Journalism Advertising Duffy, Andrew Cheng, Lydia “It’s complicated” : cognitive dissonance and the evolving relationship between editorial and advertising in US newsrooms |
| title | “It’s complicated” : cognitive dissonance and the evolving relationship between editorial and advertising in US newsrooms |
| title_full | “It’s complicated” : cognitive dissonance and the evolving relationship between editorial and advertising in US newsrooms |
| title_fullStr | “It’s complicated” : cognitive dissonance and the evolving relationship between editorial and advertising in US newsrooms |
| title_full_unstemmed | “It’s complicated” : cognitive dissonance and the evolving relationship between editorial and advertising in US newsrooms |
| title_short | “It’s complicated” : cognitive dissonance and the evolving relationship between editorial and advertising in US newsrooms |
| title_sort | it s complicated cognitive dissonance and the evolving relationship between editorial and advertising in us newsrooms |
| topic | Social sciences::Communication Journalism Advertising |
| url | https://hdl.handle.net/10356/155227 |
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