Abstract
ABSTRACTThis article presents the findings of a theoretically driven content analysis of the coverage of corporate social responsibility by Expansión, the leading Spanish business journal, in a 1-year time frame. The goal of the article is to help companies understand how they can take advantage of media coverage of CSR by identifying the major stakeholder groups and CSR issues discussed in business news, the positive/negative/mixed tone of the coverage, and the differences that exist in media CSR discourse depending on the industry under scrutiny. The findings are explained under the salience framework of stakeholder theory.
Highlights
Scholars have argued that the disclosure of corporate social responsibility (CSR) information is part of the dialogue between an ethical company and its stakeholders that helps legitimise corporate behaviour and contributes to generating a positive corporate reputation (Michelon, 2011)
This study examines the content of Expansión, the leading business newspaper in Spain, based on its audience and diffusion volumes (OJD, 2016), to assess its journalistic discourse on CSR in 2015
The findings show that finance was the most visible industry in the Spanish media’s coverage of CSR, which is explained by the high profile of this industry in the country, derived from its high involvement in the latest international recession (Pérez et al, 2015)
Summary
Scholars have argued that the disclosure of corporate social responsibility (CSR) information is part of the dialogue between an ethical company and its stakeholders that helps legitimise corporate behaviour and contributes to generating a positive corporate reputation (Michelon, 2011). PR executives in particular, and companies in general, are unsure as to the ways and means by which they can best engage with media organisations about CSR (Jones et al, 2009) In this context, a systematic study of the content of media coverage of CSR can potentially facilitate researchers’ and practitioners’ understanding of the CSR media discourse, which will allow companies to take advantage of this knowledge and adapt their CSR strategies (Tang, 2012). A systematic study of the content of media coverage of CSR can potentially facilitate researchers’ and practitioners’ understanding of the CSR media discourse, which will allow companies to take advantage of this knowledge and adapt their CSR strategies (Tang, 2012) Based on this idea, this paper seeks to examine how business media report CSR and analyse the news context in which CSR is embedded. The authors summarise the most relevant contributions, managerial implications, limitations and future lines of research derived from the study
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