The Value of Corporate Public Relations – An Examination of the Interplay
between the Media and Public Relations in the Automotive Field
Lisa Klingert, 10700897
Master’s Thesis
Graduate School of Communication
Master’s Program Communication Science – Corporate Communication Supervised by: Dr. Pytrik Schafraad
Abstract
In a society equipped with a plurality of media, conflicts between them are inevitable. This is especially true for traditional and new media. Print newspapers and magazines for instance fight for their circulation numbers, since they have to share their audience with the Web 2.0 achievements like blogs or online newspapers and magazines. The research underlying this study revolves around automotive journalism. To narrow down the scope, the main research question was created: To what extent do a company’s press releases influence the work of journalists – which information sources do journalists rely on when writing their articles? How do German and English language online and print media articles relate to the press release of the recent Mercedes-Benz C-Class? Furthermore, agenda building and framing theory was discussed and implemented in the research, which’s dataset contained 48 articles and the English and German Mercedes-Benz C-Class press release. The articles contained the following characteristics: online or print, magazines or newspapers, German or English language. An in depth content analysis, comprising of a quantitative and two qualitative parts, was implemented to investigate the data. Two patterns were created based on the findings. The first pattern revealed that journalists display a large dependency on public relations material. However, they mostly utilize these materials without mentioning their sources. Furthermore, the second pattern showed that journalists reframed the material to fit the reader’s interest. The study gives therefore a considerable inside into the practices of the automotive media field.
Keywords: Agenda Building, Framing, Media and Public Relations Interplay, Automotive Field
Introduction
In today’s fast moving society, changes are on top of the agenda. This is true for all kind of different spheres. One field experiencing major movement in the last couple of years is the media environment. After the introduction of Web 2.0 many parameters differ. Among other developments, the public’s dependency on mass media is declining and Web 2.0 enables the upcoming and growth of new media. This offers many new possibilities that were not given in the media environment before. Likewise, these changes cause a large amount of alteration for traditional media.
The new circumstances bring fundamental change to traditional media with print media leading the way. As a consequence of these alterations, many issues are discussed differently today. For instance, with new media the gatekeeper function of journalists is not given like it was before. Furthermore, there is a migration from traditional to new media taking place, which has a large impact on the sales figures of newspapers. This shift has major consequences for the print media: newspapers undergo serious job cuts and the remaining journalists need to manage the additional workload. These job cuts lead likewise to an overall knowledge reduction of journalists in the editorial offices (Seletzky & Lehman-Wilzig, 2010) and to a change in the journalists reporting and news gathering practices (Lewis, Williams, & Franklin, 2008b). Many newspapers already cut jobs or announced reductions for the
upcoming years. For example, a major German newspaper “Die Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung” announced in September 2014 the downsizing of approximately 200 jobs in the next two to three years. However, this affects not exclusively Germany, “the New York Times” recently declared the reduction of 100 jobs in their news room. Job eliminations are likewise scheduled at the “Wall Street Journal” and the “USA Today”.
As a consequence of this conversion, society is flooded with different media. The various news sources compete with one another to deliver new, useful, and desired information to the audience. For the consumer it is therefore important to detect, which medium to trust concerning the accuracy of issues. Moreover, considering the alterations in newspaper publishing houses, the question evolves if journalists at print newspapers and magazines still meet the criteria of gatekeepers that check and critically investigate the materials implemented in their work or if copy and paste practices take over.
Correlating with this interrogation, the journalists’ implementation of materials and information has to be questioned. A source that journalist use quite frequently in their daily work, are press releases and press information of organizations. According to Pander Maat
and de Jong (2012), the print media journalists’ dependency on this kind of sources is of concern. The pressure that develops with the ongoing conversions leads to an increased reliance on the materials form press departments and news agencies (Lewis, Williams, & Franklin, 2008a). Pander Maat and de Jong (2012) investigate the frequency of copy and paste practices in relation with press releases and articles. This leads them to question if journalists are only passive processors (Pander Maat & de Jong, 2012) rather than critically thinking writers. Likewise, Lewis et al. (2008b) suspect that „journalists become processors rather than generators of news” (Lewis et al., 2008b, p. 27). According to Seletzky and Lehman-Wilzig (2010), particularly the material of public relations professionals in the medicine, science, engineering, and finance fields have a great influence on journalists. This is owed to the sometimes given knowledge gap of journalists assigned (Seletzky & Lehman-Wilzig, 2010). Moreover, Reich (2012) concludes that there are different practices in political, financial, and territorial news reporting. As a consequence of the job cuts and the decreased hiring, the knowledge gap is further increasing, which leads to an even larger influence of public relations professionals over newspaper content (Seletzky & Lehman-Wilzig, 2010).
In addition to these concerns, a transition in the media outlets ownership is taking place. Large media groups like Bertelsmann, Springer, Gannett Company, and the CBS Corporation are taking over the media market. The trend leads to an environment where only a few large organizations own the established media. As a result, the displayed variety of opinions decreases. Moreover, these organizations are supposedly rather interested in their economic status, profitability, and stakeholder alignment than the variety of subjects and opinions.
These ongoing developments are not uniquely true for newspapers, but likewise include special interest media like magazines. According to Statista (2014), the circulation numbers of magazines in the German market are declining. Special interest media like automobile magazines fall in this category and are of particular interest for this research. A statistic concerning the money invested in magazine advertisements by car companies for instance shows a striking reduction taking place in the last years (Statista, 2014). The amount of money spent is almost cut in half between 2001 (451 million Euros) and 2010 (297 million Euros) (Statista, 2014). These budget losses could therefore reinforce the symptoms
mentioned above. Furthermore, the automotive journalism is very unique in the media field. Automotive companies invest a large amount of resources in their press activities. The press departments responsible are often large scale domains with a multitude of communication specialists. This is the case since it is very important for the reputation and sale numbers of
the automobile manufactures how they are portrayed in the media. At this point, there is little to no research that examines the consequences of the changing media environment for the magazine and newspaper automobile segment. The objective of this thesis is therefore to examine this research gap.
Theoretical Background
The attention is now devoted to the theories that will be applied throughout the master thesis. First of all, reputation and its value for corporations will be reviewed. Moreover, the theories of agenda building and framing will be examined.
Reputation
The reputation of an organization is a central aspect of the organizations corporate value. Organizations strive for a positive reputation, because this factor determines the conception costumers and stakeholders have about the organization. Furthermore, the consumer’s receptions determine their actions in association with an organization, which in turn are able to increase the organization’s performance (Deephouse, 2000). According to Giardini, Di Tosto, and Conte (2008), reputation is sometimes even crucial for the survival of an organization. It provides a resource that is capable of gaining an advantage towards competitors (Deephouse, 2000) and moreover “is arguably the single most valued organizational asset” (Gibson, Gonzales, & Castanon, 2006, p. 15).
Reputation is the perception stakeholders have of an organization regardless of what the organization thinks of themselve (Bronn, 2010; Gibson et al., 2006). It is moreover a highly dynamic process, containing social exchanges, and it has consequences for everyone involved (Giardini, Di Tosto, & Conte, 2008). Therefore, it can be described as a
phenomenon that is of “subject to change, especially as an effect of corruption, errors,
deception, etc. and it emerges as an effect of a multi-level bidirectional process” (Giardini, Di Tosto, & Conte, 2008, p. 233). Reputation is consequently defined as the stakeholder’s authentic view towards an organization. This includes for instance the attributes that the people involved assign an organization. Likewise, reputation is important to build a
relationship and trust with the stakeholder (Bronn, 2010). The quality of this relationship with the public is crucial (as cited in DiStaso, 2012, p. 124) for the reputation of an organization. A positive reputation contributes toward the success of an organization; on the contrary a
A useful instrument to spread a corporative message analog to the organizational believes and therefore capable to contribute to the reputation, is the press release.
Organizations use press releases for instance to affect the reputation and as an attempt to set the media’s agenda (DiStaso, 2012). A press release is defined as “an official statement issued by companies to print media” (Catanet & Radu, 2007, p. 112). It often serves as the
information base where journalists obtain their material and sometimes journalists replicate from press releases of organizations (Lewis et al., 2008a). According to DiStaso (2012), the media’s interpretation of information and materials like press releases is very influential.
Press releases, and other materials assembled by organizations to approach media outlets are called information subsidies (Turk, 1986). These are not only important in the context of an organizations reputation, but additionally play an essential role in the production of media and news reporting (Curtin, 1999; Lee & Basnyat, 2013; Sweetser & Brown, 2008).
Agenda Building
For an organization it is crucial to stay in the mind of their stakeholders and accordingly to remain a topic of conversation in society. Considering the quantity of different topics from varying fields an organization has to compete with, it is hard to get on the public agenda in the first place. The process that organizations apply to get on the media agenda and therefore on the agenda of their stakeholders and the public is agenda building. In the following paragraphs, the relevant parts of agenda building in reference to the case are discussed.
Agenda building theory looks into where issues originally come from and how a topic becomes an item on the media agenda (Weaver & Elliott, 1985). Likewise, Carroll and McCombs (2003) state that the objective of agenda building is the transfer of salience
between different agendas. This perspective focuses therefore on “who sets the media agenda in the first place” (Kim & Kiousis, 2012, p. 658; Cameron, Sallot, & Curtin, 1997; Kiousis, Mitrook, Wu, & Seltzer, 2010; Turk, 1986) and “the process of shaping the media agenda” (Castelló & Montagut, 2010, p. 506). Curtin (1999) defines the term agenda building as a process that involves a public relations professional’s subsidies placement in the media agenda to influence it and to consequently affect the public agenda as well. As a result, an expanding influential role of public relations offices and news agencies is observed in this context (Lewis et al., 2008b). The materials and activities of public relations departments, which are for instance press releases and events, are important components shaping the process of agenda building (Kim & Kiousis, 2012). These processes are referred to as indicators (Castelló & Montagut, 2010).
First and second level of agenda building. Like in the theory of agenda setting,
agenda building has to be split in two levels (McCombs, 2014). The first level comprises the salience of objects and actors, this refers to what issues and figures are of concern for a certain topic (Kim & Kiousis, 2012). Moreover, the first level of agenda building observes which objects or actors are highlighted in contrast to others when presenting a specific topic. The second level of agenda building in contrast involves the salience of attributes and
therefore how the objects or actors are portrayed (Kim & Kiousis, 2012). These attributes can be furthermore split into two dimensions - substantive and affective (Carroll & McCombs, 2003; Kim, Kiousis, & Xiang, 2015). Substantive attributes refer to “the cognitive
characteristic of an object” (Kim et al., 2015, p. 27) and therefore to tangible features. In comparison, affective attributes relate to emotional characteristics of the description (Kim et al., 2015). Especially the tone of the presented issue is essential for this concept (Kim et al., 2015). Considering these two levels with respect to an organization, the first level of agenda building refers to the objects or actors that an organization attempts to highlight, whereas the second level relates to the attributes an organization aims to connect with the introduced objects or actors (Kim & Kiousis, 2012).
According to Berkowitz and Adams (1990), sources like public relations professionals try to gain influence in the agenda building process. This is accomplished by providing the journalists with information shaped to their specific needs (Berkowitz & Adams, 1990). These materials are furthermore distinguished as information subsidies and are central in the agenda building process (Kiousis et al., 2010). Cameron et al. (1997) even claim that public relations sets the media agenda, since journalists do not have enough time to get familiar with all issues and events. With reference to the time pressure journalists have to deal with, Lewis et al. (2008a) suggest that desk-bound journalists rely more on public relations and news agency material. The changes in the media environment have therefore an effect on the journalists’ output. However, researchers do not agree on the strength of this relationship. Moreover, public relations professional’s effort, like providing information to journalists, improves the chances of their topic to arrive on the news agenda (Cameron et al., 1997). Likewise, Turk (1986) states that the expense and the speed of the information play a role, in relation with the appearance of an issue in the news source. The information that is delivered “quickly and inexpensively” (Turk, 1986, p. 3) has the best chances to be published. Like already
mentioned above, materials that are assembled by organizations to approach media outlets are called information subsidies (Turk, 1986). Press releases, news conferences, interviews, briefings, or official organizational documents and phone calls are examples for information
subsidies (Turk, 1986). When composing these materials to the need of the journalists, they provide a perfect tool to get the organizational concept into the news agenda.
Even when considering that the agenda of public relations professionals and
journalists are different, they are interdependent (Cornelissen, Carroll, & Elving, 2009). The public relations professionals need the media to generate coverage for their topics and
journalists on the other hand also need the public relations professionals to provide them with information (Cornelissen et al., 2009). In the context of the process between public relations professionals and journalists, many authors like Berkowitz and Adams (1990), Kiousis et al. (2010), Turk (1986), and Weaver and Elliott (1985) relate to the concept of Gans (1979). He states that „although it takes two to tango, either source or journalists can lead, but more often than not, sources do the leading“ (Gans, 1979, p. 116). This is caused by different reasons, with time and staff resources leading the way (Gans, 1979). Like already discussed in the introduction section, with the ongoing changes in the media environment, the resources of time and staff have been further reduced, especially in traditional media. This consequently leads to the assumption that the practices of source leading the way have further increased.
The discussion above leads to the following hypotheses:
Hypothesis 1: The objects that are presented in the press release are also the main objects that are presented in the media output. (First-level)
Hypothesis 2a: The attributes that are connected with the objects in the press release are mainly the same as the ones in the responding articles. (Second-level)
Hypothesis 2b: The attributes used in the articles are predominantly positive, like the ones used in the press release. (Second-level)
Frames and Framing
Next to the theory of agenda building, framing and frames are important mechanisms in communication. This is true for journalism as well as for public relations practices. The manner something is presented or shown is very essential for the way it is perceived. Consequently, while examining the relation between press releases and journalistic outputs, the concepts of framing and frames are very essential to consider.
According to Hallahan (1999), framing influences the way people see the world. It is therefore a crucial action for the construction of social reality (Hallahan, 1999). Frames are used by communication professionals to organize their work and perceived reality, this is implemented by building for instance a story were specific features are highlighted to foster a
particular way of interpretation (Entman, 1993; Entman, 2010; Lee & Basnyat, 2013;
Scheufele, 1999). Framing can be likewise characterized as involving “processes of inclusion and exclusion as well as emphasis” (Hallahan, 1999, p. 207). Various researchers who discuss frames and framing, like Cornelissen et al. (2009), Hallahan (1999), Scheufele (1999), and Schultz, Kleinnijenhuis, Oegema, Utz, & Van Atteveldt (2012) base their definitions on Entman’s (1993) remarks. He states that the fundamental concept of frames and framing is about selection and salience (Entman, 1993). The concept of frames and framing are interlinked. A frame can be described as a messages’ property, which defines the issue in terms of putting emphasis on a certain aspect or ignoring a specific point of view (Hallahan, 1999). According to Entman (1993), frames define a specific problem, diagnose causes, make moral judgments, and suggest remedies. Furthermore, frames give the communicator as well as the receiver a message guidance (Entman, 1993), which can be seen as directions for the interpretation of a message about an issue. Moreover, framing can be characterized as a “schemata of interpretation” that “organizes experiences and guide action” for the individuals or the public (Snow, Rochford, Worden, & Benford, 1986, p. 464).
The relation between the perspectives of agenda building and framing is not clearly distinguished in literature. Some research nevertheless looks at the relationship between agenda setting and framing. McCombs (2014) observes the second level of agenda setting as interlinked with framing theory. He suggests furthermore that occasionally these concepts are synonymous and sometimes they are distinct (McCombs, 2014). This perspective is
challenged by Price and Tewksbury, who identify agenda setting as „story selection as a determination of public perceptions of issue importance“ (as sited in Scheufele & Tewksbury, 2007, p. 15) and framing in contrast, focuses on the way issues are presented (as sited in Scheufele & Tewksbury, 2007, p.15). When developing this thought further, one could hypothesize that since agenda setting and agenda building follow the same logic, the above framework can furthermore be used to explore the relationship between agenda building and framing. Both theories are involved with highlighting certain issues and objects of a topic. However, agenda building rather focuses on what issues, objects, and attributes are presented by an organization and framing concentrates on how an overall concept is depicted.
Frame schemata. Next to the definitions of frames and framing, various researchers
developed additionally different kind of schemata to sort frames (Entman, 1993; Hallahan, 1999; Scheufele, 1999; Valkenburg, Semetko, & Vresse, 1999). Hallahan (1999) identifies seven types of frames that are applicable in the field of public relations: these are framing of situations, attributes, choices, actions, issues, responsibility, and news. In comparison,
Valkenburg et al. (1999) introduce four commonly used news frames: they are the conflict frame, human interest frame, responsibility frame, and economic consequences frame. In addition, they state that there are many ways journalists frame issues but that these four are the most common ones (Valkenburg et al., 1999). In the daily work of journalists, frames are beneficial to identify and classify information in a short period of time (Scheufele, 1999). Beside the frames used in media, framing also takes place in connection with press releases.
Press release framing. Besides the frame schemata presented above, a connection
between frames and press releases has to be drawn for this particular research. On one side the frames in a press release have to be considered and on the other side the frames utilized by the journalist when using the information of the press release are relevant in this matter. A press release, as an information subsidy, is a framed product (Lee & Basnyat, 2013). When looking at the framing of press releases, Pander Maat and de Jong (2012) suggest an advertising frame, since they assume that a press release has a rather commercial background. Likewise Van Hout, Pander Maat, and De Preter (2011) introduce the marketing frame that refers to the commercial background of a press release as well. The marketing and advertising frames are very similar and will therefore be considered as varying terms for the same meaning in this research. Furthermore, Van Hout et al. (2011) suggest that reframing takes place, in the circumstance of a journalist taking a press release as information for an article. Reframing refers to the process of framing the information provided in a press release different in an article than the frame that is used in the press release (Pander Maat & de Jong, 2012). This can be executed in different strength and therefore with more or less textual prominence (Pander Maat & de Jong, 2012). Reframing can be seen as another term to describe the practice of using different frames to describe one issue. Common frames utilized to reframe a press release’s information in an article of a news source are the following: innovation frame, user-evaluation frame, and company frame (Van Hout et al., 2011). The innovation frame describes for instance a product presented in a press release as new creation that did not exist before (Van Hout et al., 2011). In comparison, the user-evaluation frame judges the product in the press release for usability; this frame can involve positive as well as negative assessments (Van Hout et al., 2011). The company frame, in contrast evaluates the product related to the company strategy (Van Hout et al., 2011).
Frame building. The frames implemented by the media and public relations
professionals are the result of a process, which is influenced by many circumstances
(Vliegenthart & Van Zoonen, 2011), (Van Gorp, 2007). These could be for instance outcomes of social interactions of political and media actors (Vliegenthart & Van Zoonen, 2011). The
process described here, is known as frame building. According to Vliegenthart and Van Zoonen (2011), news frames are affected by national media systems and news cultures. Consequently, frames are built through interaction processes in the media arena (Van Gorp, 2007). Furthermore, power relations on macro and micro levels are influential in the frame building process (Vliegenthart & Van Zoonen, 2011). In this relation, the macro level refers to the influence of market and target group features and the micro level involves source relations (Vliegenthart & Van Zoonen, 2011). Additional materials provided and happenings arranged by public relations offices have therefore an effect. When considering the case presented, source relations could be for example the relationship between the public relations professional (Mercedes-Benz press department representative) and the journalist or the journalist’s source. If the relationship between the two parties is particular good the information flow will probably benefit from this fact. Furthermore, if the news source is especially important for the organization, the public relations representative is possibly more willing to release more or extra information. Next to the materials like press releases and product information kits, invitations to occurrences like events, fairs, and press conferences are offered by organizations public relations departments. All of these materials and shared experiences contribute to the frame building process. The chosen frame has a large influence of the meaning of an issue or event (Van Gorp, 2010), this is true for a press release, media output, and any other form of communication.
The concepts of frames and framing are especially relevant in this study. Public relations professionals as well as journalists apply these processes in their daily work. How much the later dependent on the former and if especially the frames are aligned as well, will be of great relevance in this research.
The case. This study will examine one particular case concerning the discussed issues
above. The selected case is the press release of a specific event that the Mercedes-Benz press department offers to a certain group of journalists while the release of a new car model is on the company’s agenda. For the scope of this study, the press test drive of the Mercedes-Benz C-Class Limousine that took place from end of February till the end of March 2014 in Marseille, France was chosen. The press release of this particularly event is compared with the journalist output in form of articles created in reference to this specific event.
When considering the case presented above and the previous literature discussion, the following main research question and sub research questions are elaborated.
Main Research Question: To what extent do a company’s press releases influence the work of journalists – which information sources do journalists rely on when writing their articles? How do German and English language online and print media articles relate to the press release of the recent Mercedes-Benz C-Class?
Sub-Research Question 1: Do the articles copy headlines or specific textual parts from the press release?
Sub-Research Question 2: Is the structure in the article and the press release the same?
Sub-Research Question 3: Are the sources used in the articles cited by the author?
Sub-Research Question 4: What kind of news frames are used in the articles produced by the journalists?
Sub-Research Question 5: What is the most prominent frame in the articles?
Sub-Research Question 6: Does the frame usage in the articles and the press release differ?
Sub-Research Question 7: What is the overall tone of the articles; are they rather positive or negative about the subject?
Sub-Research Question 8: Are any specific words or phrases particular prominent in the articles?
Method
The focal idea of the implemented case study was an in depth comparison between the
journalist’s articles with the press release of the public relations professionals. In this context, it is especially interesting which sources, other than the press release, were used for the article. Moreover, the theories of agenda building and framing were utilized to analyze the material. The approach of an in depth content analysis was used to closer review and compare the material of the Mercedes-Benz C-Class Limousine press release with the English and German print and online coverage after the press test drive in Marseille. The concept of a case study was selected since it offers the possibility to examine a particularly case presented in depth.
While looking for a relevant case in the car industry, one of the deciding reasons for Mercedes-Benz was the brands degree of familiarity. Furthermore, Mercedes-Benz is an automobile company with a large turnover and invests many resources in their media relation activities. The Mercedes-Benz C-Class Limousine was selected as it is one of the most important and bestselling car models in the Mercedes-Benz fleet. Furthermore, the case chosen is representative for the automobile industry. The C-Class lies in the middle car range that is offered by many other automobile brands like Audi, BMW, and Lexus. It was therefore assumed that this particular case is representative for middle car range.
Research Unit
The dataset includes media articles as well as the press release of the Mercedes-Benz C-Class Limousine. The press release was downloaded in English and German from the Daimler global media site. The data of the media was selected according to the following criteria:
All articles selected were produced in reference to the press test drive of the new Mercedes-Benz C-Class Limousine in 2014.
The articles were published in the timeframe from February till April 2014.
The selection comprises the most important automotive media articles print or online in German and English language. This selection was made due to the fact that
Mercedes-Benz is a German company, the headquarter of the organization is located in Stuttgart, Germany and the German market is very important for them. Furthermore some articles from Switzerland and Austria were added since the official language in these countries is German as well and both countries are also important markets for the company. English language was additionally chosen because the English speaking countries like the US, UK, and Canada are an important market for Mercedes-Benz sales. The articles selected are from media well known in this particular interest field and have a wide reach in their interest group.
The articles collected needed to be available either via LexisNexis, via internet search, by writing and asking the magazines or newspapers for access, through newspapers archives or through the press clipping of the Mercedes-Benz press departments in Germany or United Kingdom.
The articles collected via LexisNexis were selected according to the following additional criteria: the language of the article had to be English; the articles had to be either newspaper articles from the UK, USA or Canada; the article had to be produced
upon the C-Class press test drive in Marseille, France. For the search the term Mercedes-Benz C-Class was used.
When selecting the data, with the criteria mentioned above, 50 articles were found. From these articles, 48 were coded since it was noticed that three articles were almost identical, as the author was the same. The selection was examined by the means of the investigation instrument of a codebook. The codebook was created based on the Mercedes-Benz C-Class press release and elements of agenda building and framing theory.
Research Design
A content analysis was executed to investigate the data selected. This implemented research practice contained qualitative as well as quantitative elements. Therefore the analysis was split into three different parts. The first part involved a qualitative analysis of approximately 10% of the articles and the English and German press release. The articles were dissected for further frames special to this case. The press releases were studied to define the objects and attributes used in the press release and to determine the usage of frames. The results obtained in these analyses were used to prepare the codebook for the second part of the analysis.
A quantitative analysis of all the articles in the research unit was executed in the second section. To implement this step, a codebook was created with the results of the first analysis and agenda building and framing theory. After the codebook was tested and improved, a final test coding took place. Once the last revisions were made, the final codebook was transferred into an online Qualtrics questionnaire to facilitate the coding process. Following the coding procedure, the data were downloaded and analyzed with the statistic software SPSS.
While examining the data of the second analyzes, the third part, a qualitative analysis, was executed. At this point the textual and visual appearance of the articles was compared with the press releases and with each other. Moreover, it was especially looked for congruities of specific terms, phrases or facts in the articles.
Observed Variable
The codebook comprised 29 variables, which were split into two parts. The first part was called physical appearance of the article because it contained variables that asked for the external appearance of the article, like the name of the coder, the article ID, the language of the article, the country of appearance, the type of the news source, the release date, the name of the news source, size of the article, picture, graph and table usage as well as their source and frequency, and the mentioning of the press release as a source. Next to these variables the
textual layout of the article was the topic of the second part of the codebook. The corresponding variables are presented as follows:
Main objects of the press release. This variable listed the main objects mentioned in
the press release. The according objects were the engines, exterior design, assistance systems, weight, aerodynamic, suspension, and interior features and design. It was possible to choose multiple categories and the option of no object mentioned was given as well.
If the article connected attributes with the objects listed above the following two variables had to be coded or left out if that was not the case.
Attributes with reference to the press release used in the article. This variable
looked for the attributes assigned to the objects. The answering category was split into five parts. The categories spread from attributes assigned to the objects by the press release, to more attributes assigned by the press release than other attributes, to an equal use of the attributes. The fourth category looked for more attributes other than the ones mentioned in the press release but also attributes assigned in the press release and the last option only allowed usage of attributes other than in the press release.
Kind of attributes used for description of objects. This variable was composed in
reference to the affective attributes of the second level of agenda building theory. The answering categories asked therefore for orientation of the attributes used in the article. The answering scale ranges from strongly positive, positive, balanced positive and negative, negative to strongly negative. Next to these ranks the coder could additionally choose the option that none of the above applies.
Comparison to another car. The correlation to another car was the matter of this
variable. The answering categories listed besides a car model of Mercedes-Benz (other than the C-Class) also competitors like BMW, Audi, Lexus, Volkswagen, Renault, Toyota, Nissan, Saab, Ford, Opel, Lincoln, Cadillac, and Infiniti. Additionally, the answering category another car brand not listed above was also added.
Usage of main headline of press release. This variable looked for usage of the main
headline of the press release in the articles.
Usage of sub-headlines of press release. This variable measured the utilization of the
sub-headlines of the press release in the articles.
Structure of article. In this variable it was examined, if the article was structured the
same way as the press release. The order of the objects in the press release was compared with the one in the articles. The answer categories for this variable were to a very high degree, to a high degree, to a moderate degree, to a small degree or not at all.
The next variable investigated the usage of quotations in the text. If this was answered with yes, the coder had to continue with the next question.
Usage of textual quotations. The actual set up of the article in reference to quotations
and information of the press release and information from other sources was investigated in this variable. Of special interest was the textual composure of the article, therefore how much of the text was copied or rewritten. The following categories could be chosen: the whole text is copied, part of the text is copied and some is rewritten, the information presented in the press release is rewritten, information of the press release is used and also other information and information and quotes of the press release as well as other information is used.
Usage of Mercedes-Benz employee quotes. This variable questioned the use of direct
quotes from Benz employees. This could refer to anyone working for Mercedes-Benz, a public relations professional, the CEO as well as a product manager qualifies for an employee in this category.
Frame usage. The usage of frames and framing was of concern in this variable. It was
created in two steps; first the literature was consulted about common frames used in the connection with press releases and articles. Initially the advertising/marketing frame by Pander Maat and de Jong (2012) and Van Hout et al. (2011) was chosen. The next three frames were based on Van Hout et al. (2011) as well. These are the innovation, user-evaluation, and company frame Van Hout et al. (2011). Additionally to these frames, the following four frames were discovered during the first part of the analysis. The first one was the comparison to competitor frame, it refers to the linkage of the C-Class to another
automobile brand, like BMW or Audi. Likewise the second frame discovered the comparison to other Mercedes-Benz model frame, linked the C-Class to other Mercedes-Benz model like the S-Class or the E-Class. The last two frames developed were the historic relation frame and the future relation frame. These two frames relate on one side to the C-Class models of the past and on the other side to the future of the C-Class, like new features that will arrive to the market. When answering this category as many frames as needed could be chosen, additionally the answering category no frame was used and other frame was used were also available.
Overall tone of article. The general tone used in the article was evaluated with the
help of this variable. The answer categories spread from negative, to positive, as well as balanced and neutral.
Driving experience usage in article. This variable refers to the press test drive that
this experience was referred to in the article. While attending the test drive, the journalists had the chance to drive the new C-Class for two days around the area of Marseille. This variable gave the following answer categories: to a very high degree, to a high degree, to a moderate degree, to a small degree, and not at all.
For a more detailed coverage of the variables and the whole codebook please see Appendix A.
Intracoder Reliability
For the intracoder reliability the Krippendorf’s Alpha for the main variables of the analyses were calculated. The scores for all variables but three were perfect and therefore an alpha of 1.00. The scores of the remaining three variables were still good with the following alphas: .76 (attributes connected to press release), .71 (form of the attribute) and .67 (structure of article in relation to press release). A table with all the computed numbers can be found in Appendix B.
Findings and Results
Like already discussed in the method section, the analysis was split into three parts: A quantitative analysis for the second part and a qualitative analysis for the first and third part.
First Analysis
In the first part, a qualitative analysis of the English and German Mercedes-Benz press release and of approximately 10 % of the articles was conducted.
Press releases. The press releases were examined to find out the main objects and
attributes used in the press release as well as to examine the order of the presented objects and the structure of the press release. Furthermore, it was evaluated which frames the press
releases contained. In this matter it was concluded that they featured the
advertising/marketing frame and the historic relation frame. More results of this analysis can be found in Appendix D.
Articles. The articles that were chosen for this part of the analysis were composed of
one article from a printed German magazine, one article from a German online newspaper, two articles from German online magazines, one article form an online magazine in English language, and one article from a printed English magazine. It was especially looked for patterns of framing other than the frames already introduced in the presented literature. After the analysis was executed, the following four frames were elaborated: comparison to
competitor frame, comparison to other Mercedes-Benz model frame, historic relation frame, and future relation frame. These carved out frames were subsequently added to the codebook.
Second Analysis
Descriptive statistics of dataset. First of all, the descriptive setup of the data analyzed
needs to be discussed. Table 1 shows the different countries represented in the analysis and the distribution of the articles between the different media and news sources. Germany leads the table with 27 contributions with UK (8), USA (5), Canada (5), Switzerland (2), and Austria (1) following. Other facts of the data were that 30 articles (65%) were in German language and 18 articles (36%) were written in English. Concerning the size of the selected articles, two (4%) were the size medium/large, three (6%) were considered large, and 43 (90%) of the articles were very large and therefore exceeded a DinA4 page. Furthermore, 18 (38%) of the articles in the data were from printed outlets and 30 (63%) were published online. 17 (35%) of the articles were published in newspapers and 31 (65%) were magazines articles.
Germany UK USA Austria Switzerland Canada Total Printed Newspaper 5 1 0 0 1 5 12 (25%) Printed Magazine 2 4 0 0 0 0 6 (13%) Online Newspaper 5 0 0 0 0 0 5 (10%) Online Magazine 15 3 5 1 1 0 25 (52%) Total 27 (56%) 8 (17%) 5 (10%) 1 (2%) 2 (4%) 5 (10%) 48 (100%)
The next part was devoted to the quantitative analysis of the coded data. This part was
executed with the statistic software SPSS. The data was examined comparing print and online articles as well as magazines and newspapers output for the different variables.
To analyze the various hypotheses and sub-research question, cross-tabulation analyzes and chi square tests were implemented for the different variables. These analyzes were performed throughout for the groups of print and online media as well as newspapers and magazines, to examine if there was a significant difference between the groups. The two groups were therefore recoded out of the news source variable. Since there was very little significance found when comparing the whole groups, the variables showing a larger difference, were recoded and tested for significant differences in the relationship. In the
Table 1
following section only the significant relationships were reported, for further results please review Appendix C.
Hypothesis 1. The first hypothesis deals with the first level of agenda building, which
was presented explicitly in the theoretical framework of this research. As a result of the theoretical discussion, the following hypothesis was formulated: The objects that are presented in the press release are also the main objects that are presented in the media output. The variable asking for the objects used in the article was applied to examine this assumption. The results presented in table 2 and 3 showed that all given objects but aerodynamic scored very high percentages in terms of appearance in the different media outputs. This was true for the total percentages, for print and online media as well as newspapers and magazines.
Appearance Print Appearance Online Total
Engine 100% (18) 93% (28) 96% (46) Design-Exterior 89% (16) 97% (29) 94% (45) Assistance systems 78% (14) 57% (17) 65% (31) Weight 72% (13) 73% (22) 73% (35) Aerodynamic 28% (5) 33% (10) 31% (15) Suspension 100% (18) 97% (29) 98% (47) Interior Design+Features 100% (18) 90% (27) 94% (45)
Suspension was the most discussed topic followed by the engine, design-exterior and interior design and features, when consulting the total column. Moreover, the results showed a high consensus of object used (see table 2 and 3) between the print and online as well as magazines and newspapers. The only object that did not appear as frequent as the others was
aerodynamic, it was a topic in 31% of the total articles. 28% of the print media mentioned aerodynamic and it appeared in 33% of the online media. When looking at the object
appearances in magazines and newspapers, aerodynamic was found in 36% of magazines and in 24% of the newspapers. Hypothesis 1 was accepted, the objects presented in the press release were likewise frequently found in the articles.
Moreover, it can be stated that no objects showed a significant difference between print media and online media (table 2). This fact was likewise true for newspapers and magazines (table 3), no significant relationship was found. Overall, it can therefore be stated that the main objects presented in the press releases were also the main objects that were utilized in the articles. There was however, no significant difference between the compared news sources.
Table 2
Appearance Magazine Appearance Newspapers Engine 94% (29) 100% (17) Design-Exterior 94% (29) 94% (16) Assistance systems 55% (17) 82% (14) Weight 71% (22) 77% (13) Aerodynamic 36% (11) 24% (4) Suspension 97% (30) 100% (17)
Interior Design Features 90% (28) 100% (17)
Hypothesis 2a. In consequence of the discussion about the second level of agenda
building the first part of the second hypothesis was elaborated: The attributes that are connected with the objects in the press release are mainly the same as the ones in the responding articles. The variable asking for the attributes used in the article was examined. This variable especially looked for a relation between the attributes from the press release and the article. Considering the overall distribution, 33% of all articles either used attributes equally from the press release and other sources or more attributes other than the press release (table 4). More attributes of the press release were used in 17% of the articles, the same percentage of articles used only attributes other than the one’s of the press release. To complete the total overview: no article assigned only attributes of the press release. When considering the results of the analyzes for online and print as well as magazines and
newspapers, the greatest amount of attributes were either equally spread or more attributes other than the press release were assigned (table 4).
Appearance Print Appearance Online Appearance Magazines Appearance Newspapers Total Only attributes of PR no no no no 0
More attributes from PR
than others used 17% (3) 17% (5) 16% (5) 18% (3) 17% (8) Equal use of attributes of PR
and others 44% (8) 27% (8) 26% (8) 47% (8) 33% (16)
More attributes other than
from PR used 33% (6) 33% (10) 32% (10) 35% (6) 33% (16)
Only attributes other than
PR * 6% (1) 23% (7) 26% (8) 0 17% (8)
* significant difference between magazines and newspapers
There was furthermore no article that only made use of the attributes in the press release. This was especially true for online and magazines articles, over 50% of the attributes used
Table 3
– magazines vs. newspapers appearance of objects
Table 4
were either not at all mentioned in the press release or the larger half is not mentioned in the press release (see table 4 for exact numbers). According to these results, the first part of the second hypothesis was rejected. When conducting the chi-square tests for the variables the only significant difference was found between magazines and newspapers for the variable only attributes other than press release were used, X2 (1, N = 48) = 5.27, p=.02.
Hypothesis 2b. The second part of the second hypothesis, suspected a usage of
positive attributes in the articles, since the attributes in the press release were positive: The attributes used in the articles are predominantly positive, like the ones used in the press release. The variable testing this assumption examined if the attributes utilized in the articles were rather positive or negative. Comparing the results for the total of articles, 44% of the attributes were positive and 35% were strongly positive, these percentages point in a clear direction. Only 4% of the attributes of the total articles were negative and 17% were balance. These findings are presented in table 5.While looking at the results of the analyses for the different groups, these showed that the larger amount of attributes used in the articles were moreover either strongly positive or positive, the percentages lay at approximately 80% in the positive section for the various news sources. Please see table 5 for all exact numbers.
Consequently, it can be stated that hypothesis 2b was accepted, the attributes used in the articles were predominately positive.
Appearance Print Appearance Online Appearance Magazines Appearance Newspapers Total Strongly positive 28% (5) 40% (12) 45% (14) 18% (3) 35% (17) Positive * 50% (9) 40% (12) 32% (10) 65% (11) 44% (21) Balanced pos.&neg. 22% (4) 13% (4) 19% (6) 12% (2) 17% (8) Negative 0 7% (2) 3% (1) 6% (1) 4% (2) Strongly negative 0 0 0 0 0
* significant difference between magazines and newspapers
The significant difference of print and online news sources and magazines and newspapers was moreover investigated with conducting a chi-square test. There was one significant difference found (X2 (1, N = 48) = 4.70, p=.03). This concerned the relationship between magazines and newspapers in case of the positive attributes orientation.
Sub-Research Question 1. This sub-research question investigated the usage of the
press releases headlines and its textual composure: Do the articles copy headlines or specific textual parts from the press release? While the frequency scores of the variable measuring the appearance of the main headline of the press release were examined, it was discovered that no
Table 5
article used the main headline of the press release. Therefore no cross-tabulation analysis or chi-square test of the groups print and online as well as magazines and newspapers were performed. When considering the frequencies of the variable that looked for mentioning’s of the sub-headlines of the press release, the results reported only one usage of a sub-headline. The analysis showed that the article mentioning a sub-headline of the press release was an online magazine article. Since there was only one article that made use of a sub-headline, there was no cross-tabulation analysis or chi-square test performed.
Next to the analysis above, to answer this sub-research question, the variable investigating the composure of the article was additionally evaluated. Out of the five
categories that could be chosen, only three were reported at this point, since these where the ones used in the coding process (see table 6). Therefore it can already be stated that no article copied the whole press release. Additionally, no article copied part of the article and rewrote other parts without using other information.
Appearance Print Appearance Online Appearance Magazines Appearance Newspapers Total Information of PR and other
information is used # * 94% (17) 63% (19) 65% (20) 94% (16) 75% (36) Information and quotes of PR and
other information is used # * 6% (1) 33% (10) 32% (10) 6% (1) 23% (11) Only other information is used 0 3% (1) 3% (1) 0 2% (1)
# significant difference between print and online
* significant difference between magazines and newspapers
Examining the total arrangement of the articles, 75% utilized information of the press release and other information. The remaining article either used information and quotes of the press release as well as other information (23%) or only other information (2%). While reviewing the group results, a clear picture was displayed, in almost all articles information of the press release and other information was utilized. For this category the highest percentages were scored in print media with 94% and in newspapers with 94%. Online media and magazines scored higher on using quotes of the press release next to the information of the press release and other. The third category (only other information is used) was only utilized by online media with 3% and newspapers with 3%. Furthermore, two significant differences for the relationship between print and online media were reported. There was a significant difference for the variable information of the press release and other information, X2 (1, N = 48) = 5.81, p=.02 and for the information and quotes of the press release as well as other information variable, X2 (1, N = 48) = 4.91, p=.03. The results for these two variables and the magazines
Table 6
and newspapers group likewise showed significant relationships. The Information of the press
release and other information variable received the following score, X2 (1, N = 48) = 5.13,
p=.02 and the variable information and quotes of the press release as well as other
information variable indicated, X2 (1, N = 48) = 4.32, p=.04. Considering the research
question it needs to be stated that headline as well as sub-headlines were not copied (with one exception to the rule), moreover the text was additionally not copied from the press release, the information was used but rewritten and other information sources like quotes were likewise used for the composure of the articles.
Sub-Research Question 2. The second sub-research question inspected the structure
of the presented articles in comparison to the Mercedes-Benz press release: Is the structure in the article and the press release the same? To investigate this question, the variable that looked for the structure of the article was examined. The structure variable used answering categories, ranging from to a very high degree to not at all. When analyzing the results presented in table 7, a clear picture could not be observed. The spread in the total category was distributed between the categories, with 33% the structure of the article was to a
moderate degree the same as the press release. 25% of the articles were structured as a high degree like the press release. Almost the same percentage (23%) of article’s structure was to a small degree similar to the press release. Furthermore, in the total category 15% of the articles were not at all structured like the press release and 4% were structured to a very high degree similar to the press release.
Appearance Print Appearance Online Appearance Magazines Appearance Newspapers Total To a very high degree 6% (1) 3% (1) 3% (1) 6% (1) 4% (2) To a high degree 39% (7) 17% (5) 23% (7) 29% (5) 25% (12) To a moderate degree 17% (3) 43% (13) 29% (9) 41% (7) 33% (16) To a small degree 33% (6) 17% (5) 26% (8) 18% (3) 23% (11)
Not at all 6% (1) 20% (6) 19% (6) 6 % (1) 15% (7)
Inspecting the different groups, the highest scores in the sources lay in either the to a high degree category or in the to a moderate degree classification. Online news source articles were in 43% of the cases structured to a moderate degree like the press release, newspapers articles followed that trend with 41% of the cases. However, for online sources as well as newspapers the other articles were spread unequally in the other answering categories. Online media and magazines articles had a worth mentioning amount of cases that did not follow the
Table 7
structure of the press release at all. The only matter that all cases had in common was the fact that all the lowest scores were assigned to a structure that was to a very high degree similar to the one of the press release. When comparing the relationships of the two sources in the groups, no significant differences were found. The test results can be seen in Appendix C. All in all, the structure of most articles had moderate or high similarities to the press release. This was true for the overall category as well as the different news source groups.
Sub-Research Question 3. This research questions explored the recording of used
sources in the prepared articles: Are the sources used in the articles cited by the author? First of all, the variable that asked for the mentioning of the press release as a source in the article was evaluated. Answering categories in this respect were either yes or no. Observing the results, they clearly showed that only a very small percentage of news media mentioned their source for textual content. Only 8% of the total articles cited the press release as a source of information. Print media led the ranking for the groups, with declaring the press release as a source in 11% of all cases; magazines followed with 10%, online media and newspapers were at a small distance with 7% and 6%. The chi-square tests looking for a significant differences, did not report a significant relationship for either group.
Next to the press release, Mercedes-Benz additionally offered a large amount of pictures to the journalists. These images were distributed on a USB-stick with the press release. The journalist were offered to use these pictures in their articles, but while attending the press test drive the journalist likewise had the option to take pictures of the C-Class. To answer research question three properly, the variable asking for the source of the picture was analyzed as well. The choices to answer this question were the following: Yes, the source is Mercedes-Benz; Yes, the source is another PR source; Yes, the source is the medium itself (photographer or journalist of the news source) and No. For this variable only the articles that made use of pictures were considered.
Print Online Magazines Newspapers Total The source is Mercedes-Benz * 27% (4) 41% (12) 27% (8) 57% (8) 33% (16) The source is the medium itself 13% (2) 14% (4) 13% (4) 14% (2) 13% (6) No source mentioned * 60% (9) 45% (13) 60% (18) 29% (4) 46% (22) Total 100% (15) 100% (29) 100% (30) 100% (14) 100% (44)
* significant difference between magazines and newspapers
After analyzing the data, the following results were found: Inspecting the frequencies of the total articles 46% of the articles did not mention their source. 33% of the articles stated to be
Table 8
using the pictures from Mercedes-Benz and 13% of the journalists used their own pictures and mentioned that as a source in their article. When looking at print media, most of the articles (60%) did not mention the source of the pictures. This was not true for online media, 45% did not mention the source. For 41% of pictures published online, Mercedes-Benz was the source and for 14% the medium itself was responsible for the pictures (see table 8). In the case of print media only 27% of the articles cited Mercedes-Benz as the source, 13% of print articles mentioned the medium itself as the source of the pictures. Nevertheless varying sources were used, there was no significant difference found between print and online media. The
declaration of source usages in newspapers and magazines was slightly different than the one of print and online media. In magazines, 60% of the articles that used pictures did not mention the source, 27% mentioned Mercedes-Benz as a source, and 13% cited the medium itself as the source. When looking at newspaper articles another image evolves. Only 29% of newspapers articles did not mention the source of the pictures. Consequently, most of the articles in newspapers mentioned therefore the source: 57% of the articles cited Mercedes-Benz and 14% mentioned the medium itself as the source. Additionally, there were two significant relationships found. The difference between the source is Mercedes-Benz was significant, X2 (1, N = 44) = 3.83, p=.05 and the category no source mentioned was significant as well, X2 (1, N = 44) = 3.77, p=.05.
After examining the results of table 8, the category of no source mentioned stood out. In total a 46% of the articles did not mention their picture source. As part of the qualitative analysis it was therefore investigated if this number was accurate. Consequently, the analysis evaluated if the used pictures came from Mercedes-Benz. This was realized with the help of the press kit, which included the pictures of the C-Class press test drive from the Mercedes-Benz press department. The results showed that 68% of the articles that did not mention a source for their pictures used the pictures from Mercedes-Benz. For 18% the source was not Mercedes-Benz and for 14% of the pictures the source could not be determined.
To answer the third research question the variable indicating textual reference to the press release as well as the variable declaring the source of pictures were considered. The findings of these variables indicated a varying image. The Mercedes-Benz press release that provided a multitude of the information used in the articles, was mentioned only very rarely as a source. In relation with the usage of pictures especially in newspapers and online media a high percentage was cited, this was not the case for magazines and print media were 60% of the sources of pictures were not quoted. Accordingly, when answering the third sub-research question, it was established that for the textual context the use of citations was very low,
therefore sources were very often not mentioned by the author. In terms of citations for pictures, the cases showed that the authors were stricter with mentioning the source of information. However, there was still room for improvement, considering the high rate of Mercedes-Benz pictures that were used, but not cited.
Sub-Research Question 4 and 5. The fourth and fifth sub-research questions devoted
their attention to the frames utilized in the articles: What kinds of news frames are used in the articles produced by the journalists? and what is the most prominent frame in the articles? The variable of frames usage in the articles was implemented to examine these questions. The frames presented as answer categories, could either be led back to the theoretical background or to the first part of the analysis of this research. The frames listed were:
advertising/marketing frame, innovation frame, user-evaluation frame, company frame, comparison to competitor frame, comparison to Mercedes-Benz model frame, historic relation frame and future relation frame.
First of all, the percentages referring to the total variety of frames used in of the articles was examined. It immediately stood out that the advertising/marketing frame was not marked for any article. Overall the user-evaluation frame was applied the most (81%), followed by the comparison to Mercedes-Benz model frame with 79%. The comparison to competitor frame 58% and the company frame 46% followed with a high usage. Frames with reference to the C-Class were not as present in the total column with 33% (historic relation frame) and 29% (future relation frame). The only frame with a small usage of 8% was the innovation frame.
Appearance Print Appearance
Online Total
Advertising/Marketing frame no no no
Innovation frame 6% (1) 10% (3) 8% (4)
User-evaluation frame # 61% (11) 93% (28) 81% (39)
Company frame 44% (8) 47% (14) 46% (22)
Comparison to competitor frame 44% (8) 67% (20) 58% (28)
Comparison to MB model frame 89% (16) 73% (22) 79% (38)
Historic relation frame 39% (7) 30% (9) 33% (16)
Future relation frame 22% (4) 33% (10) 29% (14)
No frame was used no no no
# significant difference between print and online
Secondly, the articles of the print and online media group were compared. The advertising/marketing frame was not used in any of the considered articles. There was
Table 9
likewise no article that featured no frame at all. Print as well as online media had one frame that led the way by far in terms of most frequent usage. For print this was the comparison to Mercedes-Benz model frame with 89% of all printed articles, this frame was used second frequently by online media (73%). However, 93% of all online articles used the user-evaluation frame, which was the second most frequently used frame for print media (61%). The other frames were used quite often as well, which is shown in table 9. Only the
innovation frame was not used as frequently, only 6% of all print articles and 10% of the online articles featured this frame. When looking at the significant relationships between print and online media, only one stood out. The frame that featured a significant relationship between print and online media was the user-evaluation frame, X2 (1, N = 48) = 7.67, p=.01. All results can be found in table 9.
As a third step, the articles in magazines and newspapers were matched. Like for the comparison between print and online media the advertising/marketing frame was not used. Furthermore, the category no frame used was never marked. The most frequent used frames were the user-evaluation frame for articles in magazines with 90% and the comparison to Mercedes-Benz model frame for 82% of the newspaper articles. The user-evaluation and comparison to Mercedes-Benz model frame were likewise the second frequent frames for newspapers (65%) and magazines (77%). The usage of the comparison to competitor frame in magazines articles stood out with its 74%. This was also true for the innovation frame, which was never used in newspapers. All other frames were used often, as shown in table 10.
Appearance Magazines Appearance Newspapers
Advertising/Marketing Frame no no
Innovation frame 13% (4) no
User-evaluation frame * 90% (28) 65% (11)
Company frame 48% (15) 41% (7)
Comparison to competitor frame * 74% (23) 29% (5)
Comparison to MB model frame 77% (24) 82% (14)
Historic relation frame 29% (9) 41% (7)
Future relation frame 26% (8) 35% (6)
No frame was used no no
* significant difference between magazines and newspapers
Analyzing the relationship between magazines and newspapers, only the one’s of the
user-evaluation frame and the comparison to competitor frame were significantly different, X2 (1,
Table 10
N = 48) = 4.73, p=.03 (user-evaluation frame) and X2 (1, N = 48) = 9.06, p=.01 (comparison to competitor frame).
Considering the results above and sub-research question four and five, all frames presented were used in the articles but the adverting/marketing frame. The most prominent frame was the user-evaluation frame, followed by the comparison the Mercedes-Benz model frame and the comparison to competitor frame.
Sub-Research Question 6. The sixth sub-research question compared the frames used
in the articles and in the press release: Does the frame usage in the articles and the press release differ? To answer this research question the findings about the press release, from the first part of the analysis, were consulted. The qualitative analysis indicated the usage of the advertising/marketing frame as well as the historic relation frame in the press release. When comparing these findings with table 9 and 10, it clearly shows that there was no consensus in terms of the advertising/marketing frame. In the press release this frame was frequently used, however, this was not true for the articles in total and when grouped in the news sources; no article utilized the advertising/marketing frame. On the other hand, the historic relation frame was used in the press releases and in the articles. Examining table 9 and 10, it can be observed that in total and in both groups the historic relation frame was used. 33% of the total articles utilized this frame. Of all printed articles 39% applied this particular frame at least once in the textual part. Furthermore, 30% of the online articles practiced the historic relation frame. Newspapers utilized this frame most frequently with 41% of all articles. Magazines in contrast only applied it in 29% of the cases. However, considering the other frames
implemented in the articles, like the user-evaluation frame or the comparison to Mercedes-Benz model frame that were used most frequently, the frames used in the articles were to a large extend different than the ones in the press release.
Sub-Research Question 7. This sub-research question reviewed the overall tone of
the articles. Therefore the following question was evolved: What is the overall tone of the articles; are they rather positive or negative about the subject? The variable examining the overall tone of the article was used for this analysis, the answering categories spread from negative, positive to balance, and neutral.
Print Online Magazines Newspaper Total
Negative overall tone 0 3% (1) 0 6% (1) 2% (1)
Positive overall tone 72% (13) 67% (20) 65% (20) 77% (13) 69% (33) Balanced overall tone 28% (5) 30% (9) 36% (11) 18% (3) 29% (14)
Table 11
