Newspaper Adaptation to a Changing Social Environment: A Case Study of Organizational Drift as a Response to Resource Dependence

Abstract

This article is based on a longitudinal study of a Swedish Social Democratic newspaper and examines its `organizational drift' over time in response to changing patterns of resource dependence. The early goals of the newspaper as a means of political communication were subsequently overtaken by such criteria as economic performance and journalistic professionalism. This, in turn, had implications for the organizational and reward structures of the company.