The competitive ethos in television newswork

This article seeks a broad‐based critical understanding of competition in the television news business. It views competition not only in terms of a corporate drive for profit but also as a way in which television newsworkers make sense of their jobs and socially construct their world. Yet through these competitive norms and practices, newsworkers inadvertently help legitimate the societal status quo and perpetuate corporate control of the media. Furthermore, this “competitive ethos”; pervades American culture and may have destructive consequences.