Toward Hybridity? Nationality, Ownership, and Governance of News Agencies in Europe. (March 2021)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Rantanen, Terhi
• Is Part Of: Journalism & mass communication quarterly. Volume 98:Number 1(2021)
• Page Start: 263
• Page End: 282
• Publication Date: 2021-03
• Subjects: news agencies -- nationality -- ownership -- governance -- hybridity -- cooperative -- private -- state -- public -- Europe -- organizations; Journalism -- Periodicals; Mass media -- Periodicals; Communication -- Periodicals; Journalism -- United States -- Periodicals; Journalism -- Bibliography -- Periodicals; 070
• DOI: 10.1177/1077699020923605
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1077-6990

Abstract

This article explores the nationality, ownership, and governance of news agencies in Europe, and suggests that we need to rethink and problematize the categories previously used when studying these. Drawing on recent data from a pan-European study, the article suggests that the concept of hybridity could be applied to analyzing news agencies' nationality, ownership, and governance. It reviews the concept through different fields: (a) cultural studies, (b) organizational studies, and (c) political-regime and media-system studies, each of these contributing to a complementary understanding of the concept of hybridity. It concludes that (a) the previously fixed categories of national and international news agencies have become more integrated, (b) the different ownership forms of national news agencies have been partly amalgamated in terms of both owners and clients, and (c) ownership category alone cannot determine whether governance is democratic or nondemocratic, so we also need to look at governance. The article suggests that, by using the concept of hybridity when analyzing news agencies, we are able to see crossing boundaries of earlier ideal types and even developing possible alternative approaches to studying news agencies in future.