The effects of media slant on public perception of an organization in crisis

Abstract

This study investigates the effects of mainstream media coverage on public perception of an organizational program in crisis. A survey was administered via Qualtrics using a web-based network sampling approach. The survey contained two mainstream media clips, one slanted negatively and the other slanted positively regarding an incident within the organizational program. Participants viewed both clips and answered questions regarding their perceptions of the program immediately after viewing each clip. Order of clip presentation was counterbalanced. Results of a mixed-model ANOVA revealed main effects for both media slant and presentation order on perceptions of the program; no statistically significant interaction was found between presentation order and media slant. Recommendations for practice, limitations and directions for future research are provided.

Keywords

• media slant
• framing
• organizational crisis
• primacy effects
• reputation