(Person) Percentage - Sabanci University Research Database

The Asian Media & Mass Communication Conference 2010 Osaka, Japan
Whereas weak and strong ties have been considered separate from one another, Burt along
with other theorists such as (Lin, Burt & Cook 2001; putnam, R 2001; Woolcock, M 2001),
argue both ties have value. Closure describes how dense networks trust one another and can
be associated with performance. If a team, entrusted with the role of brokering structural
holes, for instance, trusts one another and has close ties, then it should work more effectively
at brokerage. This should be translated and examined in the context of the team entrusted
with brokering information within a regional newspaper network.
A framework to examine the value of social capital for regional newspapers
Given the changing technological landscape across the media industry, returning to the heart
of a newspaper’s function is perhaps a logical starting point before larger questions such as
the future of regional newspapers and the medium in which they are delivered, can be
addressed. A newspaper depends on its social networks to meet both its public and private
interests, yet the importance of these connections as a form of capital within a commercial
newspaper is largely unexamined. Rather than reviewing the plethora of literature on this
topic, this research returns to four founding theorists on social capital to develop an
appropriate theoretical framework in which to research social capital in the regional media
landscape. This research supports Bourdieu’s view that social capital requires a direct and
conscious effort to acquire. It further argues Burt’s idea of structural holes provides a
theoretical lens to consider how commercial regional newspaper acquire social capital and
how broker(s) can build upon bonding, bridging and linking social capital. Parameters to
further investigate social capital and its relationship with the regional media include:
1: A network(s) must be available for social capital to be acquired (Bourdieu, Jacobs,
Coleman, Putnam):
2: Social capital within a newsroom takes time to acquire (Bourdieu, Jacobs, Granovetter)
3: Newpapers must make a conscious investment in the acquisition of social capital
(Bourdieu)
4: The regional newspaper can acquire social capital for both private and public interests.
5: Social capital and its relationship with commercial regional media is rooted in
economics/resources (Bourdieu)
6: Newspapers/ journalists in regional news networks serve as brokers across structural holes,
complemented by bonding, bridging and linking forms of social capital
7: Trust is important within the regional newspaper network if social capital is to be acquired
(Jacobs, Coleman, Putnam, McManamey).
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