Chapter 3: Organizational Analysis Flashcards
What are the 2 basic dimensions of organizations?
- Structure* describes the underlying framework that shapes an organization over time, and includes three key elements: hierarchy, differentiation and specialization, and formalization
- Process* the actual substance erected upon the framework of the organization (the structure)
container = structure and the contents of the container can vary greatly and is somewhat constrained by the container
Def hierarchy
Hierarchy: the specific arrangement of job roles and positions based upon authority within an organization
Def differentiation and specialization
Differentiation and specialization: accounts for the division of companies into units, departments, and positions, each of which performs specific tasks
Def professionals
Professionals are individuals who possess expertise in a particular area or field that allows them to accomplish the distinctive tasks of their position
Def formalization
Formalization: the degree to which specific practices must conform to accepted organizational and professional conventions
How does a media critic with an organizational approach think?
is interested in the precise ways that structure and process mutually influence one another within a media organization
Analyze the communicative practices that occur within organizations and how it creates and maintains a particular type of organizational culture
Def Organizational culture
o Organizational culture: the set(s) of norms and customs, artifacts and events, and values and assumptions that emerge as a consequence of organizational members’ communicative practices
List the 5 ways to study an organization’s culture
performance, narrative, textual, management, and technology
Explain performance
Performance: expressive (productive and purposeful) displays (both process and product) that carry symbolic significance (meaning and implication) in a particular context
4 kinds of performance:
Ritual, sociality, politics, and enculturation
What is ritual performance?
- Ritual: personal or organizational behaviors that members engage in on a regular or routine basis (ex. Personal ritual= drinking coffee every morning; organizational ritual = attending weekly faculty meetings)
The “sacred” character of some organizational rituals can reveal an organization’s culture
What is Sociality performance?
Sociality: to the codes of etiquette that are enacted with regard to friendliness, small talk, joking, and privacy within an organization
What is politics performance?
Politics are performed differently in every organization and influence the type and degree of independence, negotiating, and coalition building that are acceptable
What is enculturation performance?
• Enculturation, emphasizes those “communicative performances wherein the newcomer learns the social knowledge and skills of the culture.”
Explain narratives
Narratives: stories members tell about their workplace experiences are another way to evaluate the endless (re)creation of an organization’s culture
3 classifications of narratives:
- Personal: covey indiv subjective experiences
- Collegial: told about other organizational members
- Corporate stories: told about the organization itself
Explain textual
Textual: written or electronic documents such as company bylaws, policy manuals, procedure handbooks, training manuals, office memos, newsletters, mission statements, reports, etc.
formal texts = the managerial or company “line,” informal texts = the views of those in the “trenches.”
Purpose: explicitly identify what are considered to be acceptable and unacceptable actions and activities within an organization
Explain management
Management: how “organizational culture is developed and directed by managers for the purpose of improving operating efficiencies, enhancing the bottom line, or creating satisfied customers.”
to evaluate the political consequences of managerial practices
Explain Technology in terms of studying organization culture
Technology: examine the ways in which technology structures work activities, as well as “influences organizational members’ work roles and work relationships.”
as it is the very environment in which one does one’s job
Difference between organizational culture and professional culture
Organizational cutlure is unique to a specific organization and its practices
professional culture may extend across many orgnizations
Professional culture, then, refers to sets of norms and customs, artifacts and events, and values and assumptions that emerge as a consequence of formal training (i.e. education, apprenticeships, internships, etc.), membership and participation (i.e. professional associations, conferences, workshops, licenses, etc.), and recognition (i.e. industry awards and honors) within a profession
Def conventions
Conventions describe the norms that govern the technical and creative choices made by workers in the execution of their duties, art, or craft
Conventions are motivated, shared, naturalized, resilient, and directive
Def professionalization
• Professionalization or the socialization of workers to do their work in certain ways and to produce certain kinds of products
the internalization of professional conventions as common sense
Def broadsides
first newspaper printed ➔ overtly political and critical of the British crown
challenges British authority
Stamp Act to repeal the stamp tax all newspapers had to have to British gov revenue ➔ US constitution for free press: free from gov regulation and interference: the Fourth Estate
Def partisan press
newspapers that were political and funded by partical political parties and interests
Def muckraking
digging up “muck” for the journals ➔ content in scandal, corruption, and sensational headlines
Def yellow journalism
yellow journalism: a style of news that lacked any sense of social responsibility and privileged sensation and even fabricated stories and photos
def professionalization of journalism
Professionalization of journalism: a process that “included the founding of journalism schools and professional organizations as well as the formulation of several codes of ethics, such as the one drawn up by the American Society of Newspaper Editors in 1923.”
2 factors in growing professionalization of journalism: concern over possibility of gov reg and advocacy of social responsibility theory
What is objectivity?
Journalistic standard of objectivity: reporting of facts in a fair and impartial manner
What 5 basic services did the paper “A Free and Responsible Press” advocate for?
o A truthful, comprehensive, and intelligent account of the day’s events in a context which gives them meaning,
o A forum for the exchange of comment and criticism,
o The projection of a representative picture of the constituent groups in society,
o The presentation and clarification of the goals and values of the society,
o Full access to the day’s intelligence.
Def news
News ought to provide the public with accurate and reliable information that assists them in better participating in civic life in a responsible and informed manner
Def news hole
The news hole, or the necessity to deliver the news every day at the same time (i.e. to “fill the hole”), is one of the most powerful institutional forces in journal- ism and it has resulted in a series of concrete organizational practices and routines
Def journalistic beats
Journalistic beats are the places and institutions where news is expected to occur on any given day, such as police stations and courthouses
Def news agency
News agencies: produce and sell stories to other news providers or non-profit cooperatives like the Associated Press that work with large media companies to generate news centrally and distribute it locally.
Def punditry
Punditry describes news that is pre-packaged by politicians and their communication consultants (i.e. press advisors and public relations managers) to promote a favorable image of a politician and her or his specific policy initiatives.
- image mangement w/ pseudo events
- sound bites ➔ political spin, way to package message as clear, concise slogans
- press releases
Def news whole
news whole is our phrase to describe the specific amount of time or space allotted for reporting the news each day
Def newsworthiness
newsworthiness: their social and informational value to the public
Def informational bias and list the 4 types of bias
Informational bias refers to how a story is structured and told, and as Lance Bennett notes, most news stories display four informational biases.
4 bias: personalization, dramatization, fragmentation, and authority disorder
Def personalization informational bias
news stories focus on individuals rather than institutions, and emphasize human-interest angles and emotional impact over and often at the expense of broader social contexts and political perspectives
Def dramatization informational bias
The news is overwhelmingly biased toward the narrative presentation of information
The sensational, scandalous, and shocking details of the story
Def fragmentation informational bias
the tendency to treat stories in isolation, ignoring their connection to other stories and the larger con- texts in which they occur
- things look like a series of random unrelated events
Def authority-disorder informational bias
the way that personalized news becomes dramatized. ➔ it is common to depict the individuals and parties involved in a story as in conflict or tension
Def news as mystery
“investigative reporting” because it often involves journalists with hidden cameras, who uncover wrongdoings by playing detective and surprising or ambushing interviewees
Def news as therapy
the reporter in the position of analyst or therapist, rather than detective
- social commentor, intimate confidant, champion of heroic characters, an inquisitor
Def news as adventure
the story is played like a Western and the reporter as tourist or a well-informed traveler in search of drama and adventure
Def news as arbitration
positions the reporter as referee or arbitrator
Def gatekeeping
the ability to control access to the public ➔ deciding who and what gets covered
Def agenda-setting
the belief that the news media do not influence what people think so much as they influence what people think about.
Set agenda for public dialogue
Def homogenization
Just as news-gathering conventions limit the diversity of what is covered, news-reporting conventions limit the diversity of how it is covered ➔ reproduction of both visual style and approach to content
Def soft news
describes news that is high in entertainment value, but low in educational value; this type of news is sometimes referred to as “infotainment” because it is packaged so as to make it look important and informational despite the fact that it has no intrinsic social significance
Def mayhem index
The degree to which the news is dominated by soft news stories
Def hard news
Hard news is characterized by sustained reporting on issues important to people’s lives, and in a manner that equips citizens to make informed decisions on public policy and social issues
The two ways news is framed
Episodic news frame: the form of a case study or event-oriented report and depicts public issues in terms of concrete instance.”
Thematic news frame: more likely to situate social issues in a broader, abstract context and involve a “‘takeout,’ or ‘backgrounder,’ report directed at general outcomes or conditions.
