Key qualities of leaders of media organisations

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Victoria V. Massan

PhD student at the Chair of New Media and Communication Theory, Faculty of Journalism, Lomonosov Moscow State University, Moscow, Russia

e-mail: vicktoriamassan@yandex.ru

Section: Sociology of Journalism

The article is devoted to the study of understanding of leadership in Russian media organisations. The main qualities of a modern media leader are highlighted, as well as the conditions and factors that influence the emergence of a leader’s leadership status and its maintenance. The novelty of the article lies in the fact that the phenomenon of leadership is studied in the context of large-scale transformation of the media industry based on digitalisation and «platformisation» of the media system. The study revealed that the radical changes in the media system have not had a direct impact on the set of qualities of leaders of media organisations — there is virtually no «digital footprint» in them. Nevertheless, due to the uncertain context and the transformations caused by the development of the industry — in particular, changes in working conditions and the expansion of employee functionality — a leader needs to possess not only the «classic» set of leadership qualities, but also a number of qualities unique to specific segments of the media system in order to work effectively. In addition, for the formation of leadership status in the media, in addition to the usual factors associated with the characteristics of the leader’s personality and the presence of his team, it is critically necessary to develop a personal brand, as well as the brand of his enterprise.

Keywords: media management, leadership, media, qualities of media leaders
DOI: 10.55959/msu.vestnik.journ.5.2024.5478

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To cite this article: Massan V. V. (2024) Osnovnye kachestva liderov mediaorganizatsiy [Key qualities of leaders of media organisations]. Vestnik Moskovskogo Universiteta. Seriya 10. Zhurnalistika 5: 54–78. DOI: 10.55959/msu.vestnik.journ.5.2024.5478