A study of attitudes toward mentoring and its perceived benefits among Tennessee newspaper editors

Mentoring, as a means of organizational communication and professional development, is frequently implemented and studied within the business and academic settings. But this means of organi�ational communication has received relatively little implementation and no empirical studies within mass communication organizations. 'fhis study examines the major themes in the recent literature concerning mentoring within the business world and academe and studies virtually all the available literature on mentoring within mass communication organizations. The review also addresses the principal problems within the mentoring literature and the need for mentoring research within mass communication organizations. A survey of Tennessee newspaper editors revealed that they generally support mentoring in their newsrooms, and the vast majority indicated they have or have had one or more proteges during their careers. While only a small number currently have formal mentoring programs, the majority indicated a willingness to implement a formal program if the right conditions existed. Finally, the editors surveyed gave generally high marks to the benefits of mentoring, particularly for the proteges.