Political Economy of News Media and Journalism

Abstract

The political economy of news media and journalism critically examines the structures, processes, and democratic role of journalism within society. It is focused on the power relations that shape the production, distribution, and consumption of online, print, and broadcast news media. The field originated from classical Western political economy in the 17th century. Western media political economies of journalism can be traced back to the early 20th century, with the Frankfurt School’s culture industry approach and Dallas W. Smythe’s radical media approach. Scholars like Armand Mattelart and Jesús Martín-Barbero developed political economy of communication and culture approaches on the Global South. These traditions were informed by Marxian critiques and mainstream economic perspectives. Since the mid-20th century, radical media political economies of journalism have encompassed three key strands:corporate ownership and control; labor and standpoints of resistance; and platform capital and labor. By comparison, the cultural-industries school has analyzed the distinctiveness of individual sectors within journalism, including their structural and creative-labor characteristics. A subset of this school, the infomediation approach, highlights the impact of digital platforms. Unlike the cultural-industries school, radical media political economists often link their research to industry impact. These approaches draw on theoretical perspectives, including liberal pluralism, Marxism, and conflict theories, to analyze the commodification of journalism and social relations. Methodologically, these approaches typically draw on qualitative social science or humanistic methods to analyze media companies, governmental interventions, media production, labor, and resistance. Some political economists also use industry-level statistics to track media ownership concentration, the financial state of media markets, individual companies, and labor market trends. Future research should examine the financialization of journalism, its impact on funding models, the integration of generative artificial intelligence into the labor process, and a wider range of advocacy and activist organizations and practices.