Publishing companies--newspapers, journalists?

Authors write the books and often have a contract with a publisher, and then the books are printed by a printing agency...





With newspapers however does the publishing company/publisher work the same way? They find authors to write in the newspaper?



Or is that what journalists are? They are in-house writers who put the copy into the newspaper?Publishing companies--newspapers, journalists?
I've written two books, and I've worked as an independent contractor with a publishing house. I give them a manuscript, they pay me back according to sales (except in one case, when the publisher went under and I lost thousands of dollars).



But usually, I'm a journalist. The newspaper buys my time, and I produce stories for it. They keep the rights to all of my work. I'm not a free-lance writer for the paper, in which the paper might give a writer a set amount for a particular story.