Media Tone Research Articles

Achilles Tendon Surgery From The Perspective Of Patients: an Instagram Study

Aim: The use of social media, especially Instagram, has become widespread in the medical field. The aim of this study was to evaluate Achilles tendon surgery from patients' perspectives by examining public posts on Instagram.
 Material and Methods: A retrospective analysis was made of the Instagram posts of patients with the hashtags #achillestendonsurgery and #achillestendonrepair between December 2018 and October 2021. In total, 234 posts (181 photographs, 53 videos) were evaluated and compared in terms of gender, sharing format (video, photo), sharing tone (negative, positive, neutral), content (activities of daily living, rehabilitation, cast/brace, hospital room, surgical site), country and popularity (the number of views for videos, the number of likes for photographs).
 Results: Posts in video format and a positive tone, posts on the rehabilitation process, and posts about male patients were found to have higher numbers of likes and views than other posts. The content of the shares were respectively; activity of daily living 36.8%(n=86), physical therapy 29.9%(n=70), cast/brace 20.1%(n=47), surgical site 7.7%(n=18), and hospital room 5.6%(n=13). The media tone of the posts was 40.2%(n=94) positive, 6.4%(n=15) negative, and 53.4%(n=125) neutral.
 Conclusions: Patients avoided making negative posts on their Instagram after Achilles tendon surgery, and often shared experiences of postoperative rehabilitation processes and daily living activities.

Sulodexide Develops Contraction in Human Saphenous Vein via Endothelium-Dependent Nitric Oxide Pathway.

Chronic venous disease (CVD) is a proqgressive and underestimated condition related to a vicious circle established by venous reflux and endothelial inflammation, leading to vein dilation and histology distortion, including loss of media tone. Sulodexide (SDX) is a drug restoring the glycocalyx that demonstrated endothelial protection and permeability regulation, together with anti-thrombotic and anti-inflammatory roles. In the lab it also exhibited vein contractility function. The aim of the present study was to show the possible role of endothelium and nitric oxide pathway on SDX's veno-contractile effect on human saphenous veins. The remnants of great saphenous vein (GSV) segments (n = 14) were harvested during coronary artery bypass graft surgery. They were dissected as endothelium-intact (n = 8) and denuded rings (n = 6). First, a viability test was carried out in bath with Krebs-Henseleit solution to investigate a control and basal tension value. After this, cumulative doses of SDX were applied to rings and contraction values were studied in endothelium-intact phenylephrine (PheE, 6 × 10-7 M) pre-contracted vein rings. Finally, endothelium-intact PheE pre-contacted vein rings were treated by nitric oxide synthase inhibitor Nω-nitro-L-arginine methyl ester (L-NAME, 10-4 M) for 10 min. Contraction protocol was applied, and contraction values were measured in cumulative doses of SDX. The same protocol was applied to endothelium-denuded vein rings to investigate the effect of SDX. Saphenous vein rings showed an increase in contraction to cumulative doses of SDX. In endothel-intact rings, KCL-induced contraction from 92.6% ± 0.3 to 112.9% ± 0.4 with cumulative SDX doses. However, SDX did not show any veno-contractile effect on endothel-denuded rings. In denuded rings contraction responses measured from 94.9% ± 0.3 to 85.2% ± 0.3 with increasing doses of SDX, indicating no significant change. Nitric oxide synthase inhibitor (L-NAME) prohibited the contraction response of the sulodexide in all dosages, indicating that the contractile function of SDX was mediated by endothelial derived nitric oxide. Results of endothel-intact and denuded rings with L-NAME showed a similar incline with denuded rings with SDX only. The results confirmed SDX's veno-contractile effect in human samples, by means of nitric oxide synthase pathways involvement.

Media coverage and the decision to withdraw an IPO

We examine the impact of pre-initial public offering (IPO) media coverage on the decision to withdraw an IPO. Using a sample of 2592 U.S. completed and withdrawn IPOs between January 1998 and December 2011, we find that media coverage and media tone are significantly negatively related to the probability of withdrawal. We also find that even when media coverage does not supply new information during the IPO process, it plays a significant role in disseminating investors' beliefs about firm valuations, which relate to the final outcome of this process. We examine the price range changes during the filing process as a proxy for changes in investors' initial demand and find that downward price changes are related to the intensity of media coverage.

Media use and trust during the COVID-19 pandemic: evidence from eight cross-sectional surveys in Sweden.

While a lot has been written about Sweden's COVID-19 control strategy, less is known about Swedish residents' media use during the pandemic and trust in and perceived agreement among key stakeholders commenting in the media. Eight online, nationwide surveys were fielded between March and August 2020, during the first wave of the coronavirus pandemic in Sweden, with 8146 responses. Questions were asked on media usage, perceived tone of media, trust in key pandemic stakeholder groups commenting in the media (politicians, journalists, government officials, doctors/healthcare professionals and researchers) and perceived agreement among these key stakeholders about how the pandemic was handled in Sweden. Using five or more information sources was associated with increased perceived alarmism in the media. Women and those with tertiary education were more likely to trust key pandemic actors. Trust in doctors/healthcare professionals and researchers remained high over the course of the study, trust in politicians and journalists was relatively low throughout the study period, with a slight increase in April 2020. Trust in key stakeholders was strongly associated with perceived agreement among the key stakeholders. Our results show that trust in stakeholders was strongly associated with perceived consistency of messages from those stakeholders. The inverse also holds: perceived conflicting messages among stakeholders was associated with low trust in them. Taken together, this could point to the importance of building trust before a crisis. Trust-building efforts could be targeted to men and those with lower educational attainment, as they had lower trust in key stakeholders.

Corporate misconduct, media coverage, and stock returns

This study examines the impact of increased investor attention to corporate misconduct (CM) on stock returns. We show that media coverage provides an important channel through which investor awareness of corporate wrongdoings can be enhanced. Using a unique research setting in Korea based on text analysis during the 2008–2020 period, we find that investors exhibit short-term adverse reactions to CM events. More importantly, the increased social awareness of CM issues through media coverage leads investors to penalize firms more severely. We also find that the adverse reaction to CM events is more prominent for firms with a greater negative media tone and surprise. The combined evidence supports the investor attention theory. Furthermore, the negative effects of CM on stock returns are smaller for firms with positive Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) and Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) reputations, consistent with the insurance theory.

Measuring news media sentiment using big data for Chinese stock markets

We construct and assess new time series measures of news media sentiment based on Global Data on Events, Location, and Tone (GDELT) using Data Science techniques. Five sentiment measures representing the news media Tone, Optimism, Attention, Tone Dispersion, and Emotional Polarity of Chinese stock markets are constructed based on article tone scores and media coverages from GDELT. All these news media sentiment measures are shown to have significant predictive power for Chinese stock market returns and volatilities. We also document substantial asymmetric sentiment effects on the Chinese stock market returns and volatilities. Sentiment extended EGARCH models are shown to improve market return and volatility forecasting accuracy significantly.

CEO turnover and audit pricing: the role of media tone

PurposePrior research documents that chief executive officer (CEO) characteristics and succession planning affect audit fees. However, whether new CEOs’ media coverage influences audit fees remains unexplored. This study aims to fill this gap by examining whether auditors price media coverage of the new CEO.Design/methodology/approachThe sample comprises 89 US listed firms with CEO turnover over the period 2012–2016, resulting in a total of 445 firm-year observations. Panel data models are used in the analyses.FindingsThe results show that audit fees are higher for firms that hire a new CEO covered with more negative media tone. This study further documents that CEO media tone is determined independently of audit pricing, but that the extent of audit fees is positively related to a new CEO covered with more negative media tone, consistent with a sequential media-tone-then-audit-pricing process.Research limitations/implicationsThe results of this study should motivate future auditing research to consider the media as an important source of external information. The findings are also relevant to stakeholders who are interested in understanding the relationship between auditors and their clients’ CEOs.Originality/valueThis study contributes to the audit fee literature by providing new evidence that auditors view their clients’ CEO with a negative media tone as requiring greater audit effort and leading to higher risks, due to greater public and regulators’ attention conveyed in news coverage. Moreover, the finding of this study that audit fees are higher for firms that hire a new CEO covered with more negative media tone is novel, and extends Joe’s (2003) empirical finding that negative press coverage increases auditors’ perception of risk.

Media portrayal of mental health at the 2020 Tokyo Olympic and Paralympic Games

Abstract. Introduction: The media coverage of high-profile sporting events can bring increased pressure to athletes’ psychological wellbeing. There may be speculation regarding athletes’ mental state before, during and after competition potentially impacting on both the athlete’s wellbeing and public perception of the individual if a negative tone is attached to an article. As mental health understanding and literacy develop, media reporting of elite athlete mental health may contribute to shaping of opinions and help seeking behaviour. Thus, we have aimed to understand and analyse the tone and content of media reporting on a high-profile sporting event using qualitative methods to explore key aspects of the articles sampled. Methods: We selected two UK broadsheet newspapers available online (The Guardian and The Telegraph) and identified all text articles including the terms “Mental Health” and “Olympics” or “Paralympics” published between 23rd July 2019 and 30th November 2021. We selected articles relevant to the Tokyo 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Games and including mental health as a subject. Relevant articles were read in full, and we conducted a thematic analysis to explore how mental health was portrayed. Results: 581 results were generated from our initial search. Following screening and removal of irrelevant articles, we had 95 articles for analysis. We identified four themes relating to portrayal of mental health: Pressure, impact of COVID, Lack of specific diagnostic terms, and athletes as humans. Conclusion: Media portrayal of mental health at the Tokyo Games was generally positive and portrayed athletes as relatable, inspiring, and “human” rather than superhuman. Reporting particularly focused on athlete-specific factors in mental health conditions and the pressures of high-level competition.

Media framing of political protests – reporting bias and the discrediting of political activism

ABSTRACT Recently several European countries shifted to illiberalism and made attempts to dominate the media and political narratives. The question we raise is how media populism in Hungary contributes to the buttressing of the regime by discrediting protests. We offer a four-level media analysis. First, we ask whether the pro-government media is characterized by so-called selection bias. Second, we focus on framingbias relying on ideas presented by the protest paradigm. Third, we highlight the tone of disdain that characterizes numerous pro-governmental utterances. Finally, we point out the significance of iconic frames. Contrary to our expectations, we found no selection bias, but there was a clear framing bias in pro-governmental media, which was made harsher by the derogatory tone of pro-governmental media and the dog-whistling produced by iconic frames. By identifying how media populism operates, our aim is to offer a way to grasp democratic backsliding by concentrating on the media.

Roma Cultural Influencers: Social Media for Identity Formation

In the ‘Societies and Lifestyles’ project, 2006-2009, 10 post-communist countries analysed values of so-called fringers: small ethnic groups living on the fringes of society. One of them, the Hungarian Roma appeared to have a rich cultural heritage that had been exploited without its integration into an authentic and empowering cultural presence. (Forray & Beck, 2008). Roma heritage, representing about 10 % of Hungarian population, is not exhibited permanently, rarely appear in social media and isn’t recognised even by the socially challenged Roma community. Stakeholder meetings indicate that educational poverty is more threatening for youth than financial needs: it is cultural immersion is needed to build healthy identity. As part of the HORIZON2020 AMASS - Acting on the margins – Arts as social sculpture research project, we developed a training and mentoring program for aspiring Roma cultural influencers. We assumed that social media can be an agent to fight educational poverty and can be used as an arts-based intervention to promote the development of socially challenged youth. Influencers of the Roma community, predominantly male, focus on celebrities and scandals or raise their voice against negative prejudices. Their attitudes do not encourage majority youth to read their messages. Our young Roma girl influencers show cultural values of Roma heritage in witty, youthful voice that is convincing and popular. This paper presents their emergence and shows their unique voices. After two semesters of training in Roma culture, media skills, legal regulations, and online journalism, nineteen girls have successfully established themselves in social media. When disadvantaged minorities try to raise their voices, the response is often characterised as hostile and biased (Glucksman, 2017). We identified psychological traits needed for successful cultural media presence through pre- and post-course measurement. Our training program enhanced skills in all areas with digital competence showing the greatest improvement. The process-folios (documentation of growth during training, cf. Gardner, 1999) showed increased self-assurance and commitment to Roma roots. Those who opted out of the course were threatened by the aggressive tone of social media and / or found regular presence irreconcilable with daily duties (Kárpáti and Somogyi-Rohonczy, 2021). We analysed the social media iconography (Drainville, 2018) of the Roma on Instagram and TikTok in Hungary and on the international scene and identified the scarcity of authentic cultural content. Through cultural immersion, they appropriated ancient motives and symbols that often-assumed new meaning. Not hiding gloomy reality, their intention was to show beauty in their environment and highlight cultural achievements and personal growth against all the odds. The Hungarian Roma Cultural Influencers are not only content providers – they are role models also for their communities.

Reputational risks in banks: A review of research themes, frameworks, methods, and future research directions

AbstractThis study examined the research trends on reputational risk in banks using a systematic literature review and network analysis (SLRNA) approach on 35 research articles published between 2010 and 2020. It was found that only developed countries (i.e., the United States and Europe) have been actively contributing to research on reputational risks in banks, suggesting that reputational risks management of banks has not gained the global attention it deserves. Moreover, we identified five broad research themes from the thematic network analysis, namely, reputational risk of operational losses, reputational effects of media tone, performance implications of reputational risk management, management of reputational risk in banks, sustainability practices and reputational risk of banks in the project finance market. Nonetheless, there still a number of areas that require further attention. These include conceptualization of reputational risk management in banks that explore the dynamic and interdependencies in a system thinking framework, the role of corporate governance, environmental and social issues on reputational risk, how sustainability practices shape reputational risk management, the role of political connections in mitigating reputational effect of operational loss events, and how information and communication technology (ICT) mechanisms impact reputational risk management in banks.

How the tone of mass media news affects pledge amounts in reward crowdfunding campaigns

ABSTRACT We study whether the tone of daily news in mass media as a proxy for market sentiment affects the typical daily pledge amount in reward crowdfunding campaigns. Based on unique data for over 350,000 pledges in reward crowdfunding campaigns from over 2,600 cities in Brazil, we find that market sentiment affects the willingness of backers to make larger pledges. Our unprecedented results reveal that good news induces larger pledges. The effect of tone on pledge amounts is inhibited by the geographic distance between the backer and entrepreneur and is reinforced by income inequality in the backer’s city.

Could State-Controlled Media Stabilize the Market during the U.S.-China Trade Frictions?

The China-U.S. trade frictions brought about many uncertainties to the Chinese economy. This research investigates whether China’s state-controlled media played a role in stabilizing investors’ expectations by examining the relations between media tone and Chinese stock market reactions in the context of China-U.S. trade frictions. Firstly, even though the media tone of news on trade frictions did not elicit significant reactions at the market level, those firms heavily exposed to export business with the U.S. produced significant positive reactions to a high media tone of the state media. Secondly, investors, especially SME investors, perceived more uncertainties to the high tones of Chinese media in the early days of Trump’s presidency and reacted negatively to the media’s high stance, as shown in the volatility. Thirdly, after the war was initiated, higher-tone news released from the state-controlled press eased people’s anxieties and stabilized the market, especially for the large caps, leading to lower volatilities in most subsequent stages. Generally, the official media’s tone manipulation is partially effective in preventing a market meltdown and easing investors’ worries.

Media Framing and Agenda Setting (Tone) in News Coverage of Hurricane Harvey: A Content Analysis of the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, and Houston Chronicle from 2017 to 2018

Abstract Media organizations can quickly disseminate information from official sources to the general population. The media play a vital role before, during, and after a hazard incident or natural disaster by broadcasting early warnings, coordinating emergency management strategies, providing timely updates, and offering advice on protective actions. Therefore, it is important to examine how news media use various framing devices such as story selection, placement, length, and quotations from officials and citizens in their crisis news coverage. We investigate print media coverage of Hurricane Harvey utilizing data from three newspapers: the New York Times (online), the Wall Street Journal (online), and the Houston Chronicle. By examining the use of descriptors, quotes, and wording about Hurricane Harvey, our research explores how media coverage framed and created a tone for the government and private sectors for their roles in response and recovery processes. Findings reveal that the human-interest frame received the most media attention, whereas the morality frame received less attention. For tone, we find that the overall tone for the government response was balanced and less negative. However, the media tone varies among three levels of government: the tone for the federal government was more negative, whereas the tone for the city and state levels of government was slightly positive. For private sectors, we found that the for-profit sector coverage had a strong negative tone, whereas the nonprofit sector received a strong positive tone. By offering a descriptive analysis of framing and tone, our study reveals how print media sources portray actors involved in recovery and rebuilding efforts for Hurricane Harvey.

Assessing the Effect of Media Tone on Attitudes Toward Muslims: Evidence From an Online Experiment

AbstractMedia coverage of Muslims has been repeatedly shown to be negative, and attitudes toward Muslims in American society are typically more negative than attitudes toward other social groups. Does the tone of media coverage directly affect public attitudes? This relationship is not well established with respect to Muslims, nor as a proposition about social groups in general. We use an online between-subjects experiment to examine whether exposure to articles of quantifiably different valences about Muslims or Catholics affects reported attitudes toward each of those groups. We find clear support for this proposition. Our additional tests demonstrate that this effect persists but is attenuated when money is at stake. We also identify anxiety as a key mediator between exposure to articles of different valences and attitudes about each group. Our findings suggest that articles of a particular tone can influence views of social groups.

The Psychological Impact of Smog Pollution on Investors.

This research empirically analyzes the psychological impact of smog pollution on investors. Results indicate that smog pollution has negative impact on investor sentiment which is weakened by the positive tone in media reporting. Empirical evidence for the impact of smog pollution on investor sentiment and the related moderating role of media tone is presented in this study.

Is Media Tone Just a Tone? Time-Series and Cross-Sectional Evidence from the Currency Market

Is Media Tone Just a Tone? Time-Series and Cross-Sectional Evidence from the Currency Market

Effect of Media News on Radicalization of Attitudes to Immigration

Recent years have witnessed a growing aversion to immigration worldwide and, at the same time, radicalization of public opinion on the issue. This paper explores the relationship between media news and individual attitudes to immigration. We run an empirical analysis whereby an index capturing individuals’ pro-immigration attitude, measured in 19 countries, is regressed over indexes capturing the coverage and tone of media news about immigration. We find that pro-immigration attitudes are negatively correlated with media coverage and the negative tone of news. However, this correlation is significant only for those with high trust in the media. In the case of low trust, higher coverage of immigration and a negative news slant make previous preferences and beliefs vis-à-vis immigration more extreme, yielding a lower pro-immigration index for those politically on the right, while the opposite applies to those on the left. The pro-immigration index is constructed by means of fuzzy methods to account for the many aspects defining attitudes to immigration.

Industry-level media tone and the cross-section of stock returns

This paper investigates the cross-sectional relation between industry-level media tone and expected stock returns in China. Using a machine learning technique to establish a proxy for industry-level media tone, we find that stocks in industries with more positive media tone earn significantly higher future returns than these with more negative media tone. Specifically, relative to stock-specific media tone, industry media tone plays a dominant role in forecasting stock returns. Moreover, the return premium for higher industry-level media tone continues for two months, and the returns are positive though insignificant within half a year, indicating that the media contains fundamental information.

A Glimpse into Black-Box: How Investors Make Sense on Family Firm Succession Via Media Coverage?

This study explores how investors use family logic to perceive and evaluate “family issues” after intergenerational leadership successions, and reflect it as family firm value. Using media reporting data covering family issues after leadership successions, we wonder whether investors value family information and how they process such information using family logic. Our findings suggest: (1) higher media volume on child-successor-centric family issues is associated with higher firm value, and this main effect is strengthened when media volume on parent-founder-centric and successor-sibling-centric family issues are high as well. These imply family information volume (media volume) plays its role via information asymmetry mechanism. (2) More positive media tone on child-successor-centric family issues is associated with higher firm value, and this main effect is strengthened when media tone on parent-founder-centric family issues is neutral and when media tone on successor-sibling-centric family issue is negative. We contribute to understand: (1) how investors integrate evaluation on individual level to collective level under family logic; (2) how family issues are integrated into investors’ stereotypical cognitions on family firms; (3) how to manage family firms’ external condition during intergenerational successions.