Readership Institute: Impact Study: Culture & Management Practices

From the outset of the Impact study, the Readership Institute felt that if the newspaper industry were going to grow readership, it first had to overcome the internal barriers that keep it from taking action. So in addition to the studies on consumers and newspaper content, we studied the internal operating cultures of the newspapers in the study. We found that culture is, in fact, linked to readership.

There are two basic types of organizational culture, constructive and defensive. Impact research shows that newspapers with constructive cultures tend also to have higher readership (RBS). The finding echoes results from hundreds of studies in other businesses that link the culture of the workplace to business outcomes.

Yet, the Impact study found that the overwhelming majority of newspapers have defensive cultures.

Newspaper Culture: Overview Page
Learn more about the organizational culture at newspapers and its important relationship to readership.

Audience Orientation: Overview Page
Learn what being "reader oriented" means and how to foster it at your newspaper.

People Management Practices: Overview Page
How newspapers hire, promote, train and compensate employees shapes culture and performance. Read more about best practices and their potential to increase readership.