Labouring the news: Management control strategies and work intensification in the digital newsroom

Abstract

Using a labour process lens, this research focuses on the structured antagonism that characterises the employment relationship. This article seeks to further our understanding of how news organisations employ control strategies to extract the labour power of journalists and achieve organisational objectives, and we pay particular attention to the role of editors in this regard. We also explore the responses of journalists as workers to managerial control which can include accommodation, resistance, compliance, or consent. The findings are based on an empirical case study of a local newspaper incorporating interviews with editors and journalists. The case study reveals how journalists’ work intensified with the turn to digital content, and because of reduced staffing since COVID-19, but editors ensured high levels of productivity through distribution of digital analytics and constant monitoring.