Doctoral Dissertations

Date of Award

8-1992

Degree Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy

Major

Communication

Major Professor

Norman R. Swan

Committee Members

Herb Howard, Tom Ladd

Abstract

This study examined leadership style and effectiveness of local television news directors and how those characteristics are perceived by the news directors themselves as well as by those who work with and for them. The sample included news directors, general managers, sales managers, and members of the news department of 14 selected television stations from various market ranking categories. Questionnaires included the same two instruments for all respondents. News directors answered an additional section of demographic questions and participated in an interview. An adaptation of Likert's Profile of Organizational Characteristics was used to assess leadership style based on a continuum of leadership systems that range from authoritative to participative. To assess effectiveness, an adaptation of Kouzes and Posner's Leadership Practices Inventory was used to measure the extent to which news directors engage in effective actions and behaviors in managing the personnel of the news department. Results indicated a positive relationship between news directors' leadership style and effectiveness. The more participative a news director's leadership is, the more effective the individual. News directors perceived their leadership style to be more participative than the people who work for them. News directors also found themselves more effective than those they supervise judged them to be. General managers and news directors perceived the leadership style and effectiveness of the news directors similarly. Sales managers viewed news directors as more participative than the news directors perceived themselves, but as less effective than the self-perception of the news directors. No relationships of significance could be identified between either style or effectiveness and the size of a station's television market, the size of its news department, the ranking of its newscasts, the education or the age of the news director. Research in other areas of business and industry has, for a number of years, suggested that the more participative a leader's style is, the more effective the leader. In its examination of television news directors, this study agrees, concluding that the more participative a news director's leadership style is, the more effective that news director.

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