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The Asian Media & Mass Communication Conference 2010 Osaka, Japan
A complex connection: Community newspapers and tiers of social capital
By Kristy Hess, Deakin University, Australia
At a time when newspaper circulations across the globe are plummeting, there is
increasing interest in the concept of `local over global' and research linking small
newspapers with the `strength of community'. There has been a myriad of
definitions on social capital including Coleman, Bourdieu and Putnam which focus on
the value of the strength of relationships formed by individuals and groups within
communities. While newspaper circulation has been linked to community social
capital, little attention has been paid to the way social capital works within the news
organisation from those who produce news and information to those who read it.
Given the complexity and multiplicity of the sociology of news production, this paper
examines the role of organisational social capital in this process and argues Ronald
Burt's theory of 'structural holes' (1997) may be an appropriate theoretical lens
through which to consider this.
INTRODUCTION
“… a great number of men who wish or who want to combine cannot accomplish it because
as they are very insignificant and lost amid the crowd. The newspaper (brings) them together
and the newspaper is still necessary to keep them united”
- de Toqueville (1840)
There is nothing more valuable to a journalist than his or her contact book, it is a prized
possession (Fleming 2006, p. 14) A newspaper relies on its social connections to survive.
News is a business. Operations in a commercial news room are designed to maximise profits
(Mencher 2010) yet a newspaper is also celebrated for its ability to serve as a ‘public good’,
disseminating information, bringing people together to facilitate action and serving a vital
Fourth Estate function – which considers the press as part of society yet with its own role to
scrutinise and check power (Simons 2007, p. 47). In outlining the sociology of news
production, (Schudson 1995, p. 15) sees news as a ‘culture’ where the political economy,
geography, social systems, and culture interact over a period of time.
A newspaper depends on its social networks to meet both its public and private interests, yet
the importance and value of these connections as a form of capital within a commercial
newspaper is assumed but largely unexamined. Social capital has a long tradition in
sociology, politics, economics and anthropology. It has also attracted interest more recently
from the knowledge-based economy, with such discussions appearing in academic and
popular business literature. (Lesser 2000). There has been a plethora of interest in this field of
research and although scholars across different disciplines agree on the significance of
relationships as a resource of social action, they lack an agreement on a precise definition on
social capital (Yang 2007).
This research paper considers the available literature for which to build an appropriate
theoretical framework to examine the relationship between social capital and the commercial
regional newspaper network, given its economic (private) and democratic (public) functions.
Small regional newspapers in Australia are either controlled by major media companies such
as Fairfax/Rural Press in Australia or independent media owners who generate considerable
income through advertising and cover charges from these publications.
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