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This article proposes the first model to show how markets—not just for consumers, but also for advertisers, investors and sources—shape commercial news production. By applying to news what we know of how markets work with other commodities, the model clarifies the logic of news selection in an era of increasing economic rationalism in print and broadcast journalism. Most importantly, the article also explores how news fails to meet the minimum conditions economists have established as necessary for markets to benefit society.
John McManus (Wed,) studied this question.