Sexual Scandals in Organizations: Is There a Difference in How the Media Frames For-Profit and Non-Governmental Organizations?
Cristiana Sofia Moreira dos Santos 12048739
Master thesis
Graduate School of Communication Master’s program Communication Science Dr. Piet Verhoeven
Abstract
This study aims to research how the media framed the sexual scandals in which Oxfam or Cristiano Ronaldo and Juventus were involved and if there is a difference due to the fact that one organization is non-governmental (NGO) and the other is a for-profit organization. A sample of 225 articles, from nine different newspapers, was content analyzed. The results showed that when it came to Oxfam, the media used the moral and the economic consequence frames more often than when it came to Ronaldo and Juventus. Moreover, this research showed that the media articles have a more negative tone when they mention the NGO than when they mention the for-profit organization. Lastly, this study discovered that the used international and Dutch news articles were more negative than the Portuguese articles. With this research, it is expected that crisis communication professionals will understand public opinion better on such scandals. This way, they can better prepare for the consequences that come with future scandals and adjust their strategy accordingly.
Keywords: framing, sexual scandals, non-governmental organizations, for-profit organizations, tone, media systems.
Introduction
The #MeToo Era started overnight, a lot of articles and news media coverage focused on the accusations, victims, and perpetrators of sexual scandals. The reckoning around sexual misconduct is still going on today e.g., Kevin Spacey, Harvey Weinstein and Cristiano Ronaldo. This was an issue that started to gather attention from all types of different
stakeholders. Luoma-aho and Vos (2010) talk about issue arenas, and how it has an effect on how organizations should perceive what’s around them. Issue arenas are defined as areas where organizations and stakeholders meet to talk about a problem (Luoma-aho & Vo, 2010). Plus, they also suggest that it is imperative for organizations to react to what is around them when an issue arises.
When a topic is brought into existence it starts to be picked up by the media. This was the starting point for this research. The reckoning of a situation by the different stakeholders that take part in an issue arena does not only affect the individual that is accused, but it also affects the organizations that are associated with the accused. The #MeToo movement raised public awareness and informed the general public that there were a vast number of cases of sexual misconduct and abuse (Bennett, 2017).
The way in which information is presented to an audience, i.e., the frame, influences the way people process and perceive this piece of information. Framing is a technique often used by the news media to not only tell people what to think about but also to steer their opinion about a certain issue (Luoma-aho & Vo, 2010).
Every time an article related to #MeToo was available, it is especially interesting how the case is presented. Would it be possible that there is a difference in the way
non-governmental (NGO) and for-profit organizations are framed by the media?
A for-profit organization is an organization whose main concern is to profit from its business (Leete, 2002; McNamara, n.d.). Moreover, the organization can choose to keep the
money or to share it with their employees (McNamara, n.d.). For-profit organizations are, for example, stores like H&M, Albert Heijn, Philips, among others. Most organizations are for-profit (McNamara, n.d.).
A non-governmental organization (NGO) is here seen as an organization that works separately from the government and has, as a purpose, to help with social causes and does not take advantage of its customers to obtain financial benefits (Leete, 2002; McNamara, n.d.). Plus, they exist to help citizens with different social, political or environmental issues, among others (Folger, 2018). According to Investopedia, non-governmental organizations are
nonprofit organizations (Folger, 2018). Examples of non-governmental organizations are Doctors Without Borders, Save the Children, Amnesty International, Red Cross, among others.
An employee is someone that is some way works for and represents the organization. News framing is seen as to select certain aspects of a perceived reality and make them more salient in a communicating text over other aspects (Frosh, 2011; Lecheler, Keer, Schuck, & Hänggli, 2015; Lecheler, Bos, & Vliegenthart, 2015).
This study sets out to find if there is a difference between an organization’s nature, NGO or for-profit, and the frame used by the media influence the sentiment of a newspaper article regarding the organization associated with an individual that is accused of sexual misconduct. Therefore the following overall research question has been formulated:
RQ: What is the relationship between a non-governmental organization and a for-profit organization and the media framing of the sexual scandal of an employee and how does this relate to the sentiment amongst newspaper articles regarding the organization associated with the individual?
Answering this research question is both scientifically and socially relevant. Mostly, previous studies focus on sexual scandals in the Catholic Church (Maier, 2005; DeCosse, 2007; Mancini & Shields, 2014; Maher, Sever & Pichler, 2017). More information regarding sexual scandals that happen in for-profit and non-governmental organizations needs to be provided. In addition, it should also be researched if this type of crisis also has an impact on the different media systems that exist around the world and what is the media tone around the world.
Furthermore, it is of the utmost importance to extend the knowledge of how the media frames sexual scandals. Therefore, it is necessary to provide the Academy with insights into a quite recent type of scandal and crisis. Moreover, it is also relevant for society since it will provide professionals, and even common citizens, information regarding how media frames this type of crisis. Professionals will be able to understand if the media from different countries will frame sexual scandals in different ways and, therefore, prepare when a crisis this type hits.
Theoretical framework
Sexual scandals are not something new. However, since 2017, there has been a rise in awareness of them. There are agents that are actively looking into situations that happen around the world and they decide which topics should be given more attention (Luoma-aho & Vos, 2010). Plus, each agent will give a certain importance to the issue and, therefore, use the framing strategy that he or she thinks it's the most fitting according to their opinion
(Meriläinen & Vos, 2011; Meriläinen & Vos, 2015). However, most issues are ephemeral (Meriläinen & Vos, 2015). Therefore, often some issues are no longer talked about while others seem to always be a hot topic (Hilgartner & Bosk, 1988; Meriläinen & Vos, 2015)
Nowadays, it is so easy to spread the conversation about a certain issue because it is now very easy to reach thousands of people in the online world. Tsugawa and Ohsaki (2015)
stated that many messages posted online are shared by word-of-mouth and this, according to them, inevitably will affect what people talk about in their day to day lives. In their study, they have also concluded that online messages that have a negative tone spread more easily that messages that are positive or neutral. Sexual scandals have been also famous for the negativity that they bring to our daily lives. Newmark and Vaughan (2014), in their study, talk about how when a scandal involves a topic that is considered forbidden by many, as a sexual scandal, it will most likely be more covered by the media. However, most literature talks either about sexual scandals in the Catholic Church (Lisak, 2012; Conway, 2014; Spaulding, 2018) or about political sexual scandals (Downey & Stanyer, 2013; Wiid, Pitt, & Engstrom, 2011; Mandell, 2015; Berinsky, Hutchings, Mendelberg, Shaker, & Valentino, 2011; Grover, & Hasel, 2015).
Previous research, like the one from Lin (2018), has pointed out the important role of traditional media when it comes to news awareness. Traditional media, like newspapers, are expected to inform people and deliver impartial and objective news (Schudson, 1978). This way, people can be, in general, well informed. However, with the growth of social media, the easiness to share messages online and the perception of distrust toward traditional media, the popularity of newspapers has decreased (Ardèvol-Abreu & Gil De Zúñiga, 2017).
Nonetheless, traditional media, for example, newspapers, are still sending out information about what is happening in the world. Furthermore, media dictates what is shared and how it is shared, building its own agenda (McCombs & Shaw, 1972). One way that agenda-setting can be seen is in the way the media frames the news. In order to set an agenda and to give more importance to a certain topic or news, the media selects certain aspects of social reality that are emphasized over others (Semetko, & Valkenburg, 2000; Zhou, 2008, Frosh, 2011; Lechler et al, 2015; Lecheler et al, 2015; Guggenheim, Jang, Bae, & Neuman, 2015; Jakopović, 2017; Valenzuela, Piña, & Ramírez, 2017). Those who emit messages to the
public decide what to share with it and how to share it (Entman, 1993). Often, it is possible to categorize text in frames, meaning that there is a distinction between certain words used or photos that make something stand out (Entman, 1993). For example, if, in a newspaper article is written that “the organization was incapable of fixing the problem in a timely manner,'' the use of a word like “incapable” highlights the incompetence of the organization.
Media Frames
In their research, Semetko and Valkenburg (2000), identified the frames that were most used by the media in The Netherlands. Their results showed that theses frames were the economic consequences frame, the human interest frame, the morality frame, and the conflict frame.
Because of the economic distinction between for-profit and not-for-profit organizations, this research will be focussing on the economic consequences frame. An article, for example, can be classified as having an economic consequences frame when the media reports about an event or issue in regards to its economic consequences for an individual and/or an organization (Semetko & Valkenburg, 2000). A question that can help identify if an economic frame is present is: “does the media emphasize the economic consequences for the individual and/or the organization?”
Another frame that is also used by the media is the morality frame; this frame emphasizes the religious context of an event or issue (Semetko & Valkenburg, 2000). Moreover, it can also emphasize moral principles. It can be that the media might not use this frame directly but indirectly with a citation or by letting someone else bring attention to it (Neuman, Just, & Crigler, 1992).
The conflict frame highlights the disagreement in the news article between two or more sides, being them individuals or groups so that the attention of the public is captured (Semetko & Valkenburg, 2000).
The human interest frame contains a human example and emotion (Semetko & Valkenburg, 2000). It personalizes the crisis. Questions that can help identify if a human interest frame is present is: “does the media personify the crisis or does it give it a human face?”; “are the victims of the scandal mentioned?” or “does it provoke emotion?”.
The first sub-research question is, therefore:
Is there a difference in frames present in a news article about a sex scandal if the article mentions a for-profit or a non-governmental organization?
Tone
Another way that agenda-setting can be perceived is through the tone that the media uses in a news article. The tone of a text can be as influential as the content of the message. The tone indicates how the article was written: in a positive, neutral or negative way (Kim, Thrasher, Kang, Cho, & Kim, 2017; Young, & Soroka, 2012; Soo, 2018; Barakat, Ashby, Fenn, & Bryce, 2019; Nijkrake, Gosselt, & Gutteling, 2015). A message can have a positive, negative or neutral tone. A text with a positive tone expresses a positive opinion towards the organization (Young & Soroka, 2012; Soo, 2018; Barakat, Ashby, Fenn, & Bryce, 2019) What the media reports is positive for the organization or the media uses positive words when mentioning the organization - e.g. good, nice; hope; the organization is doing its best to mend the situation. The negative tone indicates that the text carries a negative opinion towards the organization (Young & Soroka, 2012; Soo, 2018; Barakat, Ashby, Fenn, & Bryce, 2019). The media uses negative words when mentioning the organization - e.g. the organization could have prevented this situation; the organization didn’t stop this situation; the organization could’ve done more. The media presents a neutral sentiment regarding the organization when there is no negative nor positive opinion towards the organization.
Does media content about a sex scandal that mentions a non-governmental organization has a more negative tone than an article that mentions a for-profit organization?
Media systems
As highlighted before, the media has a major role in setting up the public agenda and, as a result, shaping public opinion (McCombs & Shaw, 1972). It can be said that the media does bring public attention to the topics they choose to advertise the most. But, it can be questioned if there is a difference in the way that different media from various countries portray certain issues. Moreover, in their study, Valentini and Romenti (2011), claim that the media system of a country will define how the media frames certain issues.
In 2004, Hallin and Mancini wrote a book where they analyzed media outlets in eighteen countries, from North America to Western Europe and developed a framework that identified three different types of systems that shaped the current media influence,
Furthermore, they also explained that historical content influences how certain media in certain countries act and how they frame certain news. The greatest outcome of their research (Hallin & Mancini, 2004) were the three models they came up with: the Polarized Pluralist, the Democratic Corporatist, and the Liberal models. The polarized pluralist model focussed on media from Mediterranean countries, like Portugal, Spain, Greece, Italy, and France. Because of the late transition of the countries to democracy, the authors (Hallin & Mancini, 2004) indicate that there are “distinct patterns” in how the media behaves in these countries. This model is the most distinct from all three - it is considered that its tone is less neutral and more negative (Hallin & Mancini, 2004; Hardy, 2008). Valentini and Romenti (2011)
concluded that, in general, the Italian media presented a more negative tone when compared to international media (The Financial Times and The Wall Street Journal - both media belong to the liberal model, which will be explained later on).
The democratic corporatist model focused on media from Northern/Central European countries, like the Netherlands, Belgium, Nordic and German-speaking countries (Hallin & Mancini, 2004). In these countries, the media grew to become an example to other systems. Social groups, like parties and unions (Hallin & Mancini, 2004), contributed to the
development of the media in the groups of countries mentioned before. This led to the media being seen as a tool for the public opinion to use and abuse when it came to discussing issues that interested everyone (Hallin & Mancini, 2004). In this system, the end goal is to reach the “common good” (Hallin & Mancini, 2004; Hardy, 2008).
Finally, the liberal model concerned media from countries like the United States of America, Canada, the United Kingdom, and Ireland. In these Anglo-Saxon countries, there was an early development of the journalism professionalization and the strongest
characteristic of this system is the importance of factual information (Hallin & Mancini, 2004; Hardy, 2008).
In their 2011 study, Valentini and Romenti concluded that the media that came from a polarized pluralist media system focused more on “sensationalist” (p. 364) details, while the same didn’t happen for the media that followed the liberal model.
Therefore, a third sub-research question was formulated:
Is there a difference in the sentiment of the articles if the articles come from newspapers from different media systems?
Methodology
The present study is a quantitative content analysis that analyses two different cases, one for non-governmental organizations and one for for-profit organizations.
Two cases were selected to represent sexual crises in the different types of
organizations, non-governmental and for-profit organizations. It was of interest to research cases that were highly discussed by the media worldwide.
For the for-profit organization, the sexual scandal of Cristiano Ronaldo was chosen (The Woman Who Accuses Ronaldo of Rape, 2018). In 2018, an American woman came forward accusing Ronaldo of raping her, in 2009, in Las Vegas and paying her to keep her quiet. Then, she decided to file a complaint against him. At the time, September 2018, Ronaldo had just started playing for the Italian football club, Juventus.
For non-governmental organizations, Oxfam’s sexual scandal was selected. In 2018, in an article published by the New York Times (Pérez-Peña, 2018), the author writes about sexual misconduct that was committed by members of Oxfam, a British NGO, in a mission Haiti, in 2011. Later on, it was discovered that some of the same members, including Roland van Hauwermeiren, had also behaved the same way in other humanitarian missions in other countries, including missions that took place after the 2011’s mission (Pérez-Peña, 2018). Sample
This research was conducted by collecting data from news articles collected from different newspaper websites (a list of all newspapers and their respective websites can be found in Appendix A). The following newspapers were chosen because they are seen as elite newspapers and they are the most sold papers in the countries where they are produced, except for the global newspapers that are read in the whole world. The international newspapers chosen were The New York Times, The Guardian and The Washington Post (Glader, 2017). Due to the familiarity of the author with Portuguese and Dutch, the following newspapers were chosen: Público, Jornal de Notícias, Expresso (Associação Portuguesa para o Controlo de Tiragem e Circulação, 2019), De Telegraaf, De Volkskrant, and NRC(The media in the Netherlands, n.d.). For the sampling process, the units were considered if the
article mentioned the cases presented above during the established period. The articles were selected by using the search engine of each newspaper and the keywords used were Ronaldo and Juventus for one case and Roland van Hauwermeiren and Oxfam.
For the for-profit organization case, the sample was collected from September 29th, 2018 until June 20th, 2019.
For the non-governmental organization case, the sample was collected from February 9th, 2018 until June 20th, 2019.
The total sample collected (N = 225) consisted of articles related to the two cases: 58% Ronaldo and Juventus (n = 130) and 42% Oxfam (n = 95).
Operationalization
In the present study, articles from newspapers that mention one of the crises
mentioned above are the units of analysis. The variables analyzed are different frames, such as human interest, economic, moral and conflict and the sentiment of the article, positive, negative and neutral. In order to be able to analyze the content of the newspaper articles, a codebook was developed based on the definition of the variables from earlier studies. The codebook can be found in Appendix B.
Human interest frame
In order to determine if the media personified the crisis (Semetko & Valkenburg, 2000), the codebook contained four indicators that helped the coder identify if the said frame was present in the newspaper’s article. To do so, the coder has to indicate if the indicator was positive or negative. Later on, the indicators were then computed into one variable, human interest frame variable. This was done by taking into account the average score of the four indicators. The indicators are: “does the media personify the crisis?”; “do they give it a human face?”; “are the victims of the scandal mentioned?”; and “does the article provoke emotion?”.
Economic consequences frame
As mentioned before, because of the special distinction between the two types of organizations that this study looks at, the economic consequences frame is of special interest. If the media reports the financial consequences of a crisis (Semetko & Valkenburg, 2000), then the coder should consider that this frame is present. In order to ascertain the economic frame variable, two indicators were coded and, later, the average of these two indicators was computed. The indicators are: “does the media connect the problem to economic
consequences for the individual?” and “does the media connect the problem to economic consequences for the organization?”. The coders had to indicate whether the indicators were yes or no.
Morality frame
To determine if the media told the story through an ethical lens (Semetko &
Valkenburg, 2000), two indicators were coded and after an average of the two was computed into a new variable - morality frame variable. The indicators are “does the media connect the problem to a religious context?” and “does the media connect the problem to moral
principles?”.
Conflict frame
To define whether the media highlights conflicts between individuals and/or organizations (Semetko & Valkenburg, 2000), a new variable was computed based on the average of three indicators. The indicators are: “does the media try to capture the audience's attention by highlighting the disagreement between individuals?”; “does the media try to capture the audience’s attention by highlighting the disagreement between organizations?”; and “does the media try to capture the audience’s attention by highlighting the disagreement between groups?”.
In order to identify the tone of the article, several indicators were added to the codebook to help the coder ascertain the sentiment of the article. Several indicators were constructed to help identify if the article had a positive sentiment if the media spoke of the organization in a positive light; a negative sentiment, if the media spoke of the organization in a negative tone; or neutral, if the media abstained from making judgments and simply
reported the news. The three tones, positive, negative and neutral were computed to three new variables and the average of the different indicators (depending on if they questioned the positive, negative or neutral light) was taken into account. The coders had to indicate if the indicator was yes or no. The indicators for positive sentiment are: “is the tone used by the media positive?”; “is the organization portrayed in a positive light?”; “is the organization portrayed in a generally sympathetic point of view?”; “are the actions of the organization supported or/and defended by the author?”; and “does the media use positive words when mentioning the organization - e.g. good, nice; hope; the organization is doing its best to mend the situation?”. The indicator for negative sentiment variable are: “is the tone used by the media negative?”; “is the organization portrayed in a negative light?”; “is the organization portrayed in a generally unsympathetic point of view?”; “are the actions of the organization criticized by the author?”; and “does the media use negative words when mentioning the organization - e.g. the organization could have prevented this situation; the organization didn’t stop this situation; the organization could’ve done more; the organization is responsible?”. The indicators for neutral sentiment are: “is the tone used by the media neutral?”; “does the media present a neutral sentiment towards the organization?”; “does the media present pure facts about the situation?”; “does the media evaluate the organization’s actions?”
A new variable was recoded from the variables that identified which newspaper housed the news article. This way, it was possible to create three different categories, Portuguese, Dutch and international newspapers.
Methods
In order to answer the main research question and subsequent sub-research questions, different types of analysis were conducted. To answer the first and second sub-research questions, an independent t-test was conducted. To answer the third sub-research question, a one-way ANOVA analysis was conducted.
Intercoder reliability
A Krippendorff’s alpha test was conducted to determine intercoder reliability. The subsample for the reliability test consisted of 15% of the 225 newspaper articles randomly selected from the nine outlets used in the current research. This subsample consisted of 34 articles and was coded by an independent coder familiar with the current study’s codebook. Krippendorff’s alpha test was conducted on sentiment and frames present in the newspaper articles. This is a robust measure and suitable for small sample sizes. Krippendorff’s alpha values go from 0, no agreement among the coders, to 1, the coders are completely in
agreement (Krippendorff, 2013). Generally, and values above .70 are considered acceptable (Krippendorff, 2013). In this study, all variables scores (table 1) range from .87 to 1, which means that both coders were in agreement and, therefore, the intercoder reliability is very good.
Table 1. Intercoder reliability measurement of the variables
Variable Krippendorf’s α
Human interest frame .994
Economic frame .987
Conflict frame .878 Positive sentiment 1 Negative sentiment 1 Neutral sentiment .994 Results Descriptives
The sample consisted of 225 articles that were collected from international
newspapers (n = 63), Portuguese newspapers (n = 102), and Dutch newspapers (n = 60). In other words, 45% of the articles come from Portuguese newspapers. Furthermore, 57% of the articles (n = 128) mention the for-profit organization and 43% mention the non-governmental organization (n = 97).
The human interest frame can be found in the articles that mention both scandals. For the for-profit organization, 76% of the articles mention, to some extent, the victims of the crisis. Furthermore, 70% of the articles that mention the non-governmental crisis also highlight, in some way, this human interest frame. In order to calculate the presence of each frame, it was taken into account that if the article was positive to any of the indicators, we considered this article to contain the frame.
In regards to the economic consequences frame, the results show that only 42% of the articles that mention Juventus and Ronaldo focus in financial losses while, for Oxfam, 77% of the articles, to some extent, do mention financial losses that have or will affect the
non-governmental organization.
The morality frame has the least impact on Juventus and Ronaldo’s crisis. Only 39% mention, in some way, the moral impact of the individual’s actions. On the other hand, the
same can’t be said about Oxfam: 92% of the articles do look at the crisis through a moral/ethical lens.
Regarding the last frame tasted, the conflict frame, 67% of the articles that mentioned the Ronaldo case emphasized the conflict frame whilst only 32% of Oxfam’s articles
highlighted conflicts between individuals and/or organizations.
Most of the articles did not transpose a positive sentiment (M = 0.004, SD = 0.04, Mo = 0). Most articles presented a neutral view of both crises (M = 0.62, SD = 0.22). However, some articles did portray the cases, organizations and individuals in a negative light (M = 0.15, SD = 0.31).
Sub-research question 1: type of organization and types of frames
In order to test if there was a difference between the emphasis of a human frame in the media content of the two crises, an independent t-test was conducted. The test showed that there was no significant difference between the articles that mentioned Juventus and Ronaldo (M = 0.40, SD = 0.34) and Oxfam (M = 0.40, SD = 0.37), t (223) = - 0.05, p = .960, 95% CI [- 0.10, 0.09] (see table 2). The media made use of the human interest frame in both types of crises.
Table 2. Frames descriptives
Variable M SD
Human interest frame 0.40 0.35
Economic consequences frame 0.35 0.34
Morality frame 0.32 0.26
Conflict frame 0.21 0.26
The same test was conducted to check if there was a difference between the average mention of economic losses or gains in both groups, the for-profit (M = 0.25, SD = 0.32) and
the NGO (M = 0.47, SD = 0.32), t (207.60) = - 5.23, p < .001, 95% CI [- 0.31, -0.14], d = 0.69 (see table 2). The test showed that there was a significant difference between the average mention of economic losses and gains. The media highlighted the economic consequences for the organization more in the Oxfam case than in the Ronaldo and Juventus case.
With the purpose of analyzing if there was a difference between articles that look at both crises, Ronaldo (M = 0.21, SD = 0.28) and Roland van Hauwermeiren (M = 0.46, SD = 0.15), through a moral lens, the same independent samples t-test was conducted. The results showed that there is a significant difference between both groups, t (202.84) = - 8.78, p < .001, 95% CI [- 0.31, -0.20], d = 1.11. Results show that the media made more use of the morality frame in the case of Oxfam than it did in Ronaldo’s case.
Last, but not least, the same test was carried out to determine if there was a difference in how the media highlighted conflicts in the articles concerning the for-profit organization (M = 0.24, SD = 0.19) and the NGO (M = 0.17, SD = 0.27). The test showed that there was a significant difference, t (161.01) = 2.32, p = .022, 95% CI [0.01, -0.14], d = 0.30. The conflict frame was used more by the media in the Ronaldo case than it was used in Oxfam’s.
Sub-research question 2: type of organization and sentiment of the article
In order to test the second sub-research question, an independent samples t-test was conducted. This type of analysis was chosen in order to compare the scores of the same variable, negative sentiment, within the two different cases. Do articles that mention Oxfam have a more negative tone than articles that mention Ronaldo and Juventus? In general, the sample (N = 225) does not contain very negative articles (M = 0.16, SD = 0.31), see table 3.
An independent samples t-test showed that there was a significant statistical
difference between the average negativity score of a newspaper’s article concerning an non-governmental organization (M = 0.32, SD = 0.38) and a for-profit organization (M = 0.03, SD = 0.15), t (118) = - 7.16, p < .001, 95% CI [- 0.38, - 0.21], d = 1.01. The articles that
mentioned Oxfam were much more negative that the articles that mentioned Ronaldo and the for-profit organization.
Table 3. Sentiment descriptives
Variable M SD
Positive 0.00 0.04
Negative 0.16 0.31
Neutral 0.62 0.22
Moreover, an independent samples t-test was conducted to see whether the media content was as neutral in the two different crises. The test showed that there was no
significant statistical difference between the average neutrality score of a newspaper’s article concerning both organizations. In general, the sample (N = 225) contains articles that are quite neutral (M = 0.16, SD = 0.31), see table 3. The results show that it didn’t matter if the articles were regarding the NGO or the for-profit organization, the articles were equally neutral.
Sub-research question 3: Sentiment of the articles and the origin of the newspapers A one-way ANOVA was conducted to examine if there is a statistically significant difference between the means of the three different groups of newspapers (Portuguese, Dutch or International) on the positive sentiment of a newspaper article. This analysis of variance showed that there was no statistical difference between the mean differences of the positive tone of the articles between the three groups, F(2) = 0.38, p = .685. To be noted that Levene’s test was also not significant.
In order to determine if there was a statistically significant difference between the three groups and the negative toned newspaper articles from each group of countries, a one-way ANOVA test was conducted. Levene’s test was conducted and the significance level was
smaller than .001, therefore it can be concluded that there were differences between the groups, Levene's F (2, 222) = 46.19, p < .001.
The analysis of variance showed a medium effect on the negative sentiment of the newspaper articles, F(2) = 14.48, p < .001, ƞ2 = .11. A Bonferroni post hoc test revealed that articles that belong to international newspapers (M = 0,24, SD = 0.38) are more negative than articles that belong to Portuguese newspapers (M = 0.04, SD = 1.76, p < .001). A significant difference was also found between the negativity of Dutch articles (M = 0,26, SD = 0.33, p < .001) and Portuguese articles. However, there was no difference between the negativity of the dutch articles and international articles (see table 4).
Table 4. Mean differences and p-values for the different groups of newspapers Groups n (2nd column) M difference P-values Negative Sentiment International Portuguese 63 0.20 < .001 Portuguese Dutch 102 -0.22 < .001 Dutch International 60 0.02 1 Neutral Sentiment International Portuguese 63 -0.12 .001 Portuguese Dutch 102 0.17 <.001 Dutch International 60 -0.05 .629
Lastly, a one-way ANOVA was conducted to examine if there is a statistically significant difference between the means of the three different groups of newspapers (Portuguese, Dutch or International) and the neutral sentiment of a newspaper article. The Levene’s test concluded that the significance level was smaller than .001, therefore there were differences between the groups, Levene's F (2, 222) = 12.91, p < .001.
The analysis of variance showed a medium effect on the neutral sentiment of the newspaper articles, F(2) = 15.35, p < .001, ƞ2 = .12. A Bonferroni post hoc test revealed that articles that belong to international newspapers (M = 0,58, SD = 0.23) are less neutral than articles that belong to Portuguese newspapers (M = 0.70, SD = 0.17, p = .001). A significant difference was also found between the neutrality of Dutch articles (M = 0,53, SD = 0.22, p < .001) and Portuguese articles. However, there wasn’t a statistically significant difference between the neutrality of the Dutch and international articles.
Discussion
The present study aimed to answer the following research question: what is the relationship between a non-governmental organization and a for-profit organization and the media framing of the sexual scandal of an employee and how does this relate to the sentiment amongst newspaper articles regarding the organization associated with the individual?
The first sub-research question questioned if the media framed the sexual scandals in different ways when it came to a different type of organization. It was concluded that the media made use of the human interest frame equally in both cases. However, the same didn’t happen with the three other researched frames. When it came to Oxfam, the media
emphasized the economic loses frame much more than it did for Juventus. Plus, they also emphasized the moral issues of such a crisis for Oxfam more than they did for Ronaldo or Juventus. Furthermore, when it came to the for-profit organization, the media emphasized the conflict that was happening much more than it did for the non-governmental organization. This partially answers to the first sub-research question - only the human interest frame does not differ from scandals that happen in an NGO and in a for-profit.
The results also showed that, in fact, the media portrayed the non-governmental organization in a much more negative way that it portrayed the for-profit organizations. This
answers to the second sub-research question that if the article mentions an NGO and a sex scandal, the tone of the media will be more negative.
Last, but definitely not least, this study ought to discover if there was a difference in tone in articles from different countries/media systems. It was discovered that actually
international and Dutch newspapers had, in general, a more negative tone than the Portuguese newspapers. Moreover, it was concluded that the Portuguese newspapers portrayed a much more neutral tone than the other two groups.
Discussion of the main findings
This research brings to light some of the issues that organizations suffer, especially non-governmental organizations. Moreover, when such an issue involves a sexual scandal. Previously it was said that when a scandal involves a taboo topic, the more the media will cover it (Newmark & Vaughn, 2014). This study shows that both cases, together, were cover 225 times just in nine newspapers.
The aim of the media is to keep people well informed. In 1978, Schudson stated that the media, like newspapers, are expected to deliver impartial and objective news. However, this research shows that that isn’t always true. Some articles portrayed a negative sentiment and not a neutral one as it should. But, in general, most articles were neutral.
Many studies (Semetko, & Valkenburg, 2000; Zhou, 2008, Frosh, 2011; Lechler et al, 2015; Lecheler et al, 2015; Guggenheim, Jang, Bae, & Neuman, 2015; Jakopović, 2017;
Valenzuela, Piña, & Ramírez, 2017) highlight that the media emphasizes certain aspects of the stories over others. To this, they call framing. This investigation has shown that, in fact, are very few articles that present no frame. Usually, the media always highlights something - the victims, the financial loses, among others. Moreover, it can be said that the media frames sexual scandals in different organizations in different ways. Apart from the human interest frame (Semetko, & Valkenburg, 2000) which was used equally for both scandals, this study
shows that the media emphasized more the conflict frame in the Ronaldo scandal and emphasized the economic consequences and the morality frame in the Oxfam scandal.
When it came to the sentiment of the articles in the different crises, the media portrayed the NGO in a more negative way than it did for-profit organization. The study of the media and NGOs is still in its infancy, especially when it is focused on sexual scandals in NGOs. However, there is one other study that has analyzed the NGOs in general in the media. In his study, Hale (2007) concluded that his results show that, in general, non-governmental organizations are portrayed in a positive light. This research has disproved Hale’s statement. However, it can be that when it comes to this particular type of crisis, a sex scandal, the media is more negative. This is something that future research should investigate more in-depth.
This study set out to discover if the sentiment, also referred to in this research as tone, of the articles differed in different media systems. The results show that international and Dutch newspapers had, in general, a more negative tone than the Portuguese newspapers. This contradicts previous research. According to Hallin and Mancini’s (2004) theory, media that belonged to the polarized pluralist model, which the Portuguese newspapers in question do, are considered to be less neutral and portray articles in a more negative tone. This also contradicts Valentini and Romenti (2011) research. Their results showed that the Italian media (which belongs to the polarized pluralist model as well) presented a more negative tone when compared to international media. Moreover, this study shows that the portuguese
articles were more neutral than the other two groups of newspaper articles. This also
contradicts Hallin and Mancini’s (2004) theory. It is important to note that this result could be explained by the fact that the number of Portuguese articles was much higher than the number of international and Dutch news articles. Since the sample consisted of almost 50% of
portuguese articles, the chance of coding articles with different tones was greater in the Portuguese articles.
Limitations and suggestions for future studies
This study is not without limitations. It was only selected one case per organization type. Therefore, it can’t be said that what has happened to both organizations will happen to others. Future research should select more than just one example per organization in order to make sure that the results can be somewhat generalized. Moreover, it has only been selected nine newspapers and they can’t really represent how the media is around the world. Hence, this study can only support a western point of view. Further studies should be conducted in order to determine what other regions’ media have to say when this type of scandal occurs. Content analysis was chosen in order to analyze the content of each article. This was the best way to ascertain the frames and tones used by the media (Entman, 1993). Even though a thorough codebook was created, it can’t be forgotten that coders might interpret the instructions and the content differently. In diverse studies (Cicourel 1964; Garfinkel 2016), researchers discuss the fact that coders often make use of their personal everyday life and knowledge to interpret content. Since everyone lives different lives and is confronted with very different things, they are bound to give different meanings.
Moreover, many more articles coming from Portuguese sources have been collected, this means that there was much more material to interpret from the Portuguese articles. Next studies should make sure that the groups are of relatively equal size.
It would also be interesting to research if other types of crises are portrayed the same way by the media depending if they happen in non-governmental or for-profit organizations. Theoretical and societal implications
As said before, this research and results are scientifically and socially relevant. Regarding the scientific relevance, this study extends the scientific knowledge regarding the
occurrence of sexual crisis in different types of organizations (for-profit and
non-governmental) and how the media reacts to it, plus, it was also investigated the different geographic locations and its influence. As to be expected, the media, in none of the regions of this study portrays such a scandal in a light and positive way. However, it was discovered that, with these two particular cases, Roland van Hauwermeiren and Oxfam and Cristiano Ronaldo and Juventus, there was a mix of neutral and negative noted articles. Surprisingly, international newspapers and Dutch newspapers were considered to be more negative than Portuguese newspapers. This can mean that crimes from a sexual origin are still seen as the victim's fault. Portugal is still a very sexist country (Prewitt-Freilino, Caswell, & Laakso, 2012). This study as shown how media plays a great role in setting the agenda in a country like Portugal (Hallin & Mancini, 2004).
This research also shows how differently the two types of organizations were framed. More often than note, Oxfam was more criticized than Juventus or any other organization that was involved with Ronaldo. This highlights the double standards that are still used today. Because people donate money to charitable organizations like Oxfam, they expect them to behave and act accordingly to the set of high expectations people have.
Studies like this one ought to help professionals to better prepare for when a crisis this type hits. Especially now that this period is very propitious for victims of sexual crimes coming forward and talking about what has happened to them. Moreover, organizations will be able to understand that, depending on their type, the public expects something from them. And, more often than not, the public just expects transparency.
References
Ardèvol-Abreu, A., & Gil De Zúñiga, H. (2017). Effects of Editorial Media Bias Perception and Media Trust on the Use of Traditional, Citizen, and Social Media News. Journalism
and Mass Communication Quarterly, 94(3), 703–724. https://doi.org/10.1177/1077699016654684
Associação Portuguesa para o Controlo de Tiragem e Circulação. (2019). Análise Simples. Retrieved from
http://www.apct.pt/Analise_simples.php?idSegmento=2&ano=2019&ordenacao=circul acao2Bi%20ASC
Barakat, A., Ashby, S., Fenn, P., & Bryce, C. (2019). Operational risk and reputation in financial Institutions: Does media tone make a difference? Journal of Banking and Finance, 98, 1–24.
Bennett, J. (2017, November 30). The #MeToo Moment: When the Blinders Come Off. The New York Times. Retrieved from https://www.nytimes.com
Berinsky, A. J., Hutchings, V. L., Mendelberg, T., Shaker, L., & Valentino, N. A. (2011). Sex and Race: Are Black Candidates More Likely to be Disadvantaged by Sex Scandals? Political Behavior, 33(2), 179–202.
Churchill, L., & Cicourel, A. V. (1966). Method and Measurement in Sociology. American Sociological Review, 31(1), 132. https://doi.org/10.2307/2091316
Conway, B. (2014). Religious institutions and sexual scandals: A comparative study of Catholicism in Ireland, South Africa, and the United States. International Journal of Comparative Sociology, 55(4), 318–341.
DeCosse, D. E. (2007). Freedom of the press and catholic social thought: Reflections on the sexual abuse scandal in the Catholic Church in the United States. Theological Studies, 68(4), 865–899. https://doi.org/10.1177/004056390706800406
Der Spiegel Staff. (2018, September 29).The Woman Who Accuses Ronaldo of Rape. Der Spiegel: English edition. Retrieved from https://www.spiegel.de/international
Downey, J., & Stanyer, J. (2013). Exposing Politicians’ Peccadilloes in Comparative Context: Explaining the Frequency of Political Sex Scandals in Eight Democracies Using Fuzzy Set Qualitative Comparative Analysis. Political Communication, 30(3), 495–509. Entman, R. M. (1993). Framing: Toward Clarification of a Fractured Paradigm. Journal of
Communication, 43(4), 51–58. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1460-2466.1993.tb01304.x Folger, J. (2018, January 8). What is an NGO (Non-Governmental Organization)? Retrieved
from https://www.investopedia.com
Frosh, P. (2011). Framing pictures, picturing frames: Visual metaphors in political communications research. Journal of Communication Inquiry, 35(2), 91–114. Garfinkel, H. (2016). Studies in ethnomethodology. In Social Theory Re-Wired: New
Connections to Classical and Contemporary Perspectives: Second Edition (pp. 85–95). Taylor and Francis Inc. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315775357
Glader, P. (2017, February 1). 10 Journalism Brands Where You Find Real Facts Rather Than Alternative Facts. Forbes. Retrieved from https://www.forbes.com/
Grover, S. L., & Hasel, M. C. (2015). How Leaders Recover (or Not) from Publicized Sex Scandals. Journal of Business Ethics, 129(1), 177–194.
Guggenheim, L., Jang, S. M., Bae, S. Y., & Neuman, W. R. (2015). The Dynamics of Issue Frame Competition in Traditional and Social Media. Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, 659(1), 207–224.
https://doi.org/10.1177/0002716215570549
Hale, M. (2007, September). Superficial friends: A content analysis of nonprofit and philanthropy coverage in nine major newspapers. Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly. https://doi.org/10.1177/0899764006296849
Hallin, D. C., & Mancini, P. (2004). Comparing media systems: Three models of media and politics. Comparing Media Systems: Three Models of Media and Politics (pp. 1–343). Cambridge University Press. https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511790867
Hardy, J. (2008). Western media systems. Western Media Systems (pp. 1–282). Routledge Taylor & Francis Group. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203869048
Hilgartner, S., & Bosk, C. L. (1988). The Rise and Fall of Social Problems: A Public Arenas Model. American Journal of Sociology, 94(1), 53–78. https://doi.org/10.1086/228951 Jakopović, H. (2017). Predicting the Strength of Online News Frames. Interdisciplinary
Description of Complex Systems, 15(3), 209-22.
Kim, S. H., Thrasher, J. F., Kang, M. H., Cho, Y. J., & Kim, J. K. (2017). News Media Presentations of Electronic Cigarettes: A Content Analysis of News Coverage in South Korea. Journalism and Mass Communication Quarterly, 94(2), 443–464.
Krippendorff, K. (2013) Content Analysis. An Introduction to Its Methodology. California, CA: Sage Publications.
Lecheler, S., Bos, L., & Vliegenthart, R. (2015). The mediating role of emotions: News framing effects on opinions about immigration. Journalism and Mass Communication Quarterly, 92(4) 812–838.
Lecheler, S., Keer, M., Schuck, A. R. T., & Hänggli, R. (2015). The Effects of Repetitive News Framing on Political Opinions over Time. Communication Monographs, 82(3), 339–358.
Leete, L. (2002). Wage equity and employee motivation in nonprofit and for-profit organizations. Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, 43(4), 423–446. Lin, T. T. C. (2018). Communicating Haze Crisis Online: Comparing Traditional Media
News and New Media Perspectives in Singapore. Environmental Communication. Routledge. https://doi.org/10.1080/17524032.2018.1488754
Lisak, M. (2012). Democratization of a Hierarchical Religion: the Roman Catholic Church in the Time of a Credibility Crisis Caused by Sexual Abuse Misconduct. Studia
Religiologica, 45(1), 7-19
Luoma-aho, V., & Vos, M. (2010). Towards a more dynamic stakeholder model:
Acknowledging multiple issue arenas. Corporate Communications: An International Journal, 15(3), 315-331.
Maher, M. J., Sever, L. M., & Pichler, S. (2007). The Priest Sex Scandal and Its Effects on Trust and Respect. Journal of Religion & Abuse, 8(3), 35–62.
https://doi.org/10.1300/j154v08n03_03
Maier, C. T. (2005). Weathering the storm: Hauser’s Vernacular Voices, public relations and the Roman Catholic Church’s sexual abuse scandal. Public Relations Review, 31(2), 219–227. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pubrev.2005.02.017
Mancini, C., & Shields, R. T. (2014). Notes on a (sex crime) scandal: The impact of media coverage of sexual abuse in the Catholic Church on public opinion. Journal of Criminal Justice, 42(2), 221–232. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jcrimjus.2013.06.006
Mandell, H. (2015). She Legislates, He Scandalizes: Reenvisioning the Impact of Political Sex Scandals on Assemblywomen in New York. Journal of Feminist Scholarship, 9, 30-50.
McCombs, M., & Shaw, D. (1972). The Agenda-Setting function of mass media. The Public Opinion Quarterly, 36(2), 176–187.
McNamara, C. (n.d.). Two Basic Types of Organizations: For-Profit (Business) and Nonprofit. Retrieved from https://managementhelp.org/
Meriläinen, N., & Vos, M. (2011). Human rights organizations and online agenda setting. Corporate Communications, 16(4), 293–310.
Meriläinen, N., & Vos, M. (2015). Public Discourse on Human Trafficking in International Issue Arenas. Societies, 5(1), 14–42. https://doi.org/10.3390/soc5010014
Neuman, W. R., Just, M. R., & Crigler, A. N. (1992). Common knowledge. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Newmark, A. J., & Vaughan, S. K. (2014). When Sex Doesn't Sell: Political Scandals, Culture, and Media Coverage in the States. Public Integrity, 16(2), 117-140.
Nijkrake, J., Gosselt, J. F., & Gutteling, J. M. (2015). Competing frames and tone in corporate communication versus media coverage during a crisis. Public Relations Review, 41(1), 80–88.
Pérez-Peña, R. (2018, February 9). Oxfam, British Charity, Admits Sexual Misconduct by Workers in Haiti. The New York Times. Retrieved from https://www.nytimes.com Prewitt-Freilino, J. L., Caswell, T. A., & Laakso, E. K. (2012). The Gendering of Language:
A Comparison of Gender Equality in Countries with Gendered, Natural Gender, and Genderless Languages. Sex Roles, 66(3–4), 268–281. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11199-011-0083-5
Schudson, M. (1978). Discovering the News: A social history of American newspapers. New York, New York: Basic Books
Semetko, H. A., & Valkenburg, P. M. (2000). Framing European politics: A content analysis of press and television news. Journal of Communication, 50(2), 93–109.
https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1460-2466.2000.tb02843.x
Soo, C. K. (2018). Quantifying sentiment with news media across local housing markets. Review of Financial Studies, 31(10), 3689–3719.
Spaulding, C. (2018). Evangelical Christian Crisis Responses to Same-Sex Sex Scandals. Journal of Media and Religion, 17(1), 28–40.
Tsugawa, S., & Ohsaki, H. (2015). Negative Messages Spread Rapidly and Widely on Social Media (pp. 151–160). Association for Computing Machinery (ACM).
https://doi.org/10.1145/2817946.2817962
Valentini, C., & Romenti, S. (2011). The press and Alitalia’s 2008 crisis: Issues, tones, and frames. Public Relations Review, 37(4), 360–365.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pubrev.2011.07.002
Valenzuela, S., Piña, M., & Ramírez, J. (2017). Behavioral Effects of Framing on Social Media Users: How Conflict, Economic, Human Interest, and Morality Frames Drive News Sharing. Journal of Communication, 67(5), 803–826.
Wiid, R., Pitt, L. F., & Engstrom, A. (2011). Not so sexy: Public opinion of political sex scandals as reflected in political cartoons. Journal of Public Affairs, 11(3), 137–147. Young, L., & Soroka, S. (2012). Affective News: The Automated Coding of Sentiment in
Political Texts. Political Communication, 29(2), 205–231.
Zhou, X. (2008). Cultural Dimensions and Framing the Internet in China: A Cross-Cultural Study of Newspapers’ Coverage in Hong Kong, Singapore, the US and the UK. International Communication Gazette, 70(2), 117–136.
Appendix A - List of newspapers and respective websites
Newspaper name Website
The Guardian https://www.theguardian.com/
The Washington Post https://www.washingtonpost.com/
New York Times https://www.nytimes.com/
Jornal de Notícias https://www.jn.pt/
Público https://www.publico.pt/
Expresso https://expresso.pt/
De Volkskrant https://www.volkskrant.nl/
NRC https://www.nrc.nl/
Appendix B - Codebook
Keywords use in selecting newspaper articles: sex; scandal; Ronaldo; Juventus; Kathryn Mayorga; Oxfam; Roland van Hauwermeiren.
V1 Coder (Every coder gets an identification number, so the articles can be assigned to each coder.)
1 Coder 1
2 Coder 2
V2_1 Organization Type_NGO (Here identify if the article concerns a non-governmental)
0 No
1 Yes
V2_2 Organization Type_FP (Here identify if the article concerns a for-profit)
0 No
1 Yes
V3 Date (indicate the date of the article)
V4_1 Source_Guardian (Here the source of the article is coded, is it The Guardian)
0 No
1 Yes
0 No
1 Yes
V4_3 Source_NYT (Here the source of the article is coded, is it the New York Times)
0 No
1 Yes
V4_4 Source_JN (Here the source of the article is coded; Jornal de Notícias)
0 No
1 Yes
V4_5 Source_PB (Here the source of the article is coded, Público)
0 No
1 Yes
V4_6 Source_EXP (Here the source of the article is coded, Expresso)
0 No
1 Yes
V4_7 Source_TEL (Here the source of the article is coded, De Telegraaf)
0 No
1 Yes
V4_8 Source_VOK (Here the source of the article is coded, De Volkskrant)
1 Yes
V4_9 Source_NRC (Here the source of the article is coded, NRC)
0 No
1 Yes
V5_1 Human interest frame Does the media personify the crisis?
0 No
1 Yes
V5_2 Human interest frame Do they give it a human face?
0 No
1 Yes
V5_3 Human interest frame Are the victims of the scandal mentioned?
0 No
1 Yes
V5_4 Human interest frame Does the article provoke emotion?
0 No
1 Yes
V6_1 Economic Frame Does the media connect the problem to economic consequences for the individual?
0 No
V6_2 Economic Frame Does the media connect the problem to economic consequences for the organization?
0 No
1 Yes
V7_1 Morality Frame Does the media connect the problem to a religious context?
0 No
1 Yes
V7_2 Morality Frame Does the media connect the problem to moral principles?
0 No
1 Yes
V8_1 Conflict Frame Does the media try to capture the audience's attention by highlighting the disagreement between individuals?
0 No
1 Yes
V8_2 Conflict Frame Does the media try to capture the audience’s attention by highlighting the disagreement between organizations?
0 No
1 Yes
V8_3 Conflict Frame Does the media try to capture the audience’s attention by highlighting the disagreement between groups?
0 No
V9_1 Positive Sentiment of Articles Is the tone used by the media positive?
0 No
1 Yes
V9_2 Positive Sentiment of Articles Is the organization portrayed in a positive light?
0 No
1 Yes
V9_3 Positive Sentiment of Articles Is the organization portrayed in a generally sympathetic point of view?
0 No
1 Yes
V9_4 Positive Sentiment of Articles Are the actions of the organization supported or/and defended by the author?
0 No
1 Yes
V9_5 Positive Sentiment of Articles Does the media use positive words when mentioning the organization - e.g. good, nice; hope; the organization is doing its best to mend the situation?
0 No
1 Yes
V10_1 Negative Sentiment of Articles Is the tone used by the media negative?
0 No
V10_2 Negative Sentiment of Articles Is the organization portrayed in a negative light?
0 No
1 Yes
V10_3 Negative Sentiment of Articles Is the organization portrayed in a generally unsympathetic point of view?
0 No
1 Yes
V10_4 Negative Sentiment of Articles Are the actions of the organization criticized by the author?
0 No
1 Yes
V10_5 Negative Sentiment of Articles Does the media use negative words when
mentioning the organization - e.g. the organization could have prevented this situation; the organization didn’t stop this situation; the organization could’ve done more; the
organization is responsible?
0 No
1 Yes
V11_1 Neutral Sentiment of Articles Is the tone used by the media neutral?
0 No
1 Yes
V11_2 Neutral Sentiment of Articles Does the media present a neutral sentiment towards the organization?
1 Yes
V11_3 Neutral Sentiment of Articles Does the media present pure facts about the situation?
0 No
1 Yes
V11_4 Neutral Sentiment of Articles Does the media evaluate the organization’s actions?
0 No
