Comparing the Five Measures of Media Reputation Attributes in Local and National Newspapers

Abstract

Researchers have developed multiple measures to assess media reputation as a driving force of corporate reputation. This study compared five measures that have been used to examine the seven attributes of media reputation. These five measures of media reputation have different fundamental assumptions such as linearity, inclusion of neutral tone items, and negative items. A content analysis of 2,817 news articles regarding nine big food corporations revealed significant differences in the media reputation attribute scores between elite national newspapers and local newspapers using the five measures. The findings indicate that these measures cannot substitute for one another, and using elite national newspapers versus local newspapers would lead to significantly different assessments of media reputation.