The Newsroom Personality: A Psychographic Analysis of Ohio Television Newsrooms

by Muse, Katherine C.

The present study adds to the definition of broadcast journalists by analyzing the personality types of 138 journalists in 29 Ohio broadcast newsrooms. Respondent’s personalities were assessed using the four personality preferences that constitute the Myers-Briggs Personality Indicator (MBTI) – Extroversion/Introversion (E/I), Sensing/Intuition (S/N), Thinking/Feeling (T/F), and Judging/Perceiving (J/P) – through a Web-accessible survey distributed electronically by newsroom directors. Challenging popular images of the narcissistic, egotistical, power-hungry journalist, the results showed a dominance of service-oriented personality types, ESFJs, followed by ENFPs, ENFJs, ISFJs, and ISTJs. Reporters/anchors were found to be the most extroverted group in the broadcast newsroom compared with producers, editors, meteorologists, and news directors/management. The majority of newsroom personnel indicated an extroverted personality preference.