Sara Inkeri Vardar from Journalism at the University of Southern Denmark received support from our DDC thesis grant where she examines how innovation in traditional media organizations is often shaped—and sometimes constrained—by internal structures, leadership models, and professional norms. Through a comparative case study of two Nordic media houses, she explores how organizational culture and governance influence the capacity for meaningful, lasting innovation.
She thanks for the great support and for making it possible to talk to so many interesting people. During the thesis writing, the support from DDC made it possible to travel to both Sweden and Norway to collect data and conduct interviews, as well as to participate in the MediaTech Festival in Odense in March 2025.
You can read more about her interesting project and findings in the abstract below.
Abstract:
This thesis explores why innovation in traditional media organizations is often shaped—and at times limited—by internal dynamics that influence everyday decision-making and professional practice. Through a comparative case study of two Nordic media organizations, the thesis investigates how institutional structures, leadership models, and professional norms influence innovation capacity in legacy media organizations. The focus lies on understanding how organizational culture, governance frameworks, and professional identity intersect with strategic change efforts.
Based on qualitative interviews and comparative organizational analysis, the findings suggest that innovation challenges are not primarily due to a lack of ideas or intent. Instead, they are often connected to how organizations are structured, how responsibility is distributed, and how cultural norms shape what kinds of change are perceived as legitimate. The thesis points to a tendency for strategic decisions to develop within relatively homogeneous environments, where alignment and consensus are valued—sometimes at the expense of broader cross-functional input or experimentation.
Even in organizations that prioritize innovation, change efforts may focus more on visible outputs than on underlying assumptions—particularly when these touch on long-standing routines or professional values. The thesis argues that meaningful innovation requires more than structural reform: it calls for a leadership culture that facilitates cross-disciplinary collaboration, invites constructive friction, and fosters openness to diverse perspectives. From this standpoint, innovation is not solely a managerial or technical process, but also an organizational and cultural undertaking—one that includes rethinking how roles are defined, how challenges are framed, and how future priorities are shaped.
This thesis contributes to the field of media innovation studies by showing that internal alignment and cultural clarity are crucial—but that genuine adaptability also depends on organizations’ capacity to question inherited structures and expand who gets to contribute to innovation work.