Addressing important issues that design news content such as gatekeepers, agenda setting and diversity is part of the daily routine in professional newsrooms. Although there has been evidence of a recent increase in the number of females in management positions in the broadcast journalism industry and the majority of college broadcast students are female, men, overwhelmingly, hold the positions of power when addressing these issues. This dissertation sought to explore the development of leadership before a student enters the professional arena – in a broadcast journalism college lab. Observation analysis, interviews, and an online survey that was distributed at the beginning of the lab and at the end were used in this case study to analyze issues of gender, self esteem, diversity, power, and leadership construction.

It was found that women's self esteem scores were average to low average while men carried above average to high averages of self esteem. Transactional and resonant leadership styles were prevalent in this culture and almost no representations of transformational styles of leadership were witnessed. This phenomenon was especially apparent when it came to how the students addressed issues of diversity. The results revealed that students did not like to follow leaders who were challenging or had transformational leadership skills. Based on the findings, it is the position of the researcher, the lack of civic journalism that extended itself outside of the classroom and off-campus grounds, the lack of transformational leadership due to working in a peer-controlled environment, and low levels of self esteem resulted in the development and sustainment of a culture that was non-confrontational, codependent, and egalitarian. The resulting type of organizational behavior and culture did not appear to foster leadership development that transcends the daily routine of producing a newscast.