Date of Award
5-10-2026
Date Published
June 2026
Degree Type
Dissertation
Degree Name
Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)
Department
Mass Communications
Advisor(s)
Keren Henderson
Keywords
journalism;labor;Marxism;nonprofit;rural;technology
Subject Categories
Communication | Social and Behavioral Sciences
Abstract
This research focuses on the working conditions of nonprofit newsworkers in producing rural journalism. From a labor process theory perspective (Braverman, 1974), this work examines the ways in which financial structures, like nonprofit funding models for news organizations, impact the product and production environment. The researcher crafted the findings from five months of ethnographic fieldwork at two, rural, U.S. news organizations during a time of leadership transition. First, this research identifies connections between the economic realities of rural towns and the affordances of newsworkers to spend time doing journalism. This highlights the ways in which newswork is tied to place and the economic stability of the rural communities. Second, this research explores the impacts of expected degradations under capitalism in the workplace brought about by technology implemented by scientific management. This research moves forward the understanding of technology use by management by introducing a discussion on innovative technology automations as part of the craft of journalism production. The findings from this research overall suggest that working at these nonprofits, while supporting the moral values of journalists, did not protect the newsworkers from the degradation of their work under capitalism. Practically, this research suggests that although nonprofit funding models may be precariously sustainable for some locations, including those in rural areas in less resourced communities, nonprofit funding models alone are not enough to stop journalism in these locations from degrading.
Access
Open Access
Recommended Citation
McKinnon-Crowley, Jocelyn, "Rural Nonprofit Newswork and Newsworkers" (2026). Dissertations - ALL. 2296.
https://surface.syr.edu/etd/2296
