Forandringsledelse og journalistisk kvalitet – aktionsforskning i mediebranchen

Abstract

Danish media organizations are currently confronted with important challenges – not only related to technological convergence, but also more generally concerning issues of strategic change of business models and journalistic practices. In order to study these aspects of media management, a research team supervised by the author conducted semi-structured interviews with managers (editorial and commercial) working for Danish press, radio and television organizations. From this material a sample of middle managers were invited to participate in action research focusing on strategic change in their home organizations 2002-2005. Fifty-nine media executives signed up for the challenge. This action-oriented research shows that media managers are relatively inept and hampered by change resistance from staff and consumers. In order to cope with these challenges research-based inspiration have been found in sociological scholarship concerning quality assessment, diffusion of innovations, and informational journalism.