Marketplace public radio and news routines reconsidered: Between structures and agents

This article is based on a five-month in-depth ethnographic study of Marketplace, a US public radio business news show. While older news ethnographies have tended to focus more on organizational explanations for newswork, this article adds to a growing body of literature that shows the nuanced relationship between individuals and organizations. Using Giddens' structuration as a framework, this article argues that structures such as time and organizational identity limit agency, but that journalists are more purposive actors than they are given credit. Agency can most clearly shape structure when new technology is introduced.