Making Sense of Innovation

“Innovation” is a ubiquitous and value-laden term in many journalism organizations, and one that is often ill-defined or unquestioned. This study examines the management and meaning of innovation within public radio organizations. The question I address is, how do employees and managers make sense of innovation within their organizations in relation to a rapidly evolving digital media environment? I apply an interdisciplinary body of literature on innovation stemming from strategic management and journalism research to data from interviews with 56 employees and experts from 11 different public radio stations. Results show how people in public media organizations make sense of innovation by relying primarily on process-oriented, rather than product-oriented frames. I also introduce the terms “autodisruption,” or how organizations attempt to disrupt themselves, and “storytelling innovation,” a hybrid way of operationalizing process and product innovation in this industry context. The findings provide insight into the meaning and practice of innovation within the understudied environment of public service broadcasting, and contribute to innovation research in journalism institutions more broadly.