University of Maryland journalism professor Rob Wells argues in a Business and Society Review article for the “Enforcers Thesis,” which he believes has enabled trade publications to act as industry watchdogs.
The thesis, writes Wells, “describes how business reporters focus on normative ethical practices in industry and tend to report on companies that violate those norms. This process results in accountability reporting, where journalists effectively enforce a code of industry conduct or secular morality by identifying socially harmful business actors.”
Wells writes, “The Enforcers Thesis argues that three central factors support accountability journalism at trade publications: ownership of the media organization, a firm grounding in traditional journalistic values, and the willingness to assert journalistic autonomy from commercial influences. Having a journalist as the owner supported traditional journalistic values and autonomy. With the National Thrift News, Strachan was a co-owner, one steeped in traditional journalistic values and traditions as a reporter for New York newspapers. He was willing to write critically about the industry. Strachan saw his brand of critical journalism as a service to an industry since it exposed corruption.”
Read more here. Wells, a former business journalist, urges journalism researchers to think about trade publications more broadly.
