Business News Framing of Corporate Social Responsibility in the United States and the United Kingdom: Insights From the Implicit and Explicit CSR Framework

• Published in: Business & society 2019-04, Vol.58 (4), p.683-711
• Main Authors: Lee, Tae Ho, Riffe, Daniel
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Business; Companies; Content analysis; Media coverage; News media; Social responsibility
• ISSN: 0007-6503; 1552-4205
• DOI: 10.1177/0007650317696314

This study aims to contribute to the understanding of business news coverage of corporate social responsibility (CSR) within a comparative international context by investigating two business newspapers, The Wall Street Journal from the United States and The Financial Times from the United Kingdom. Drawing on the news framing research and the implicit and explicit CSR framework of Matten and Moon, this content analysis shows that business news coverage of CSR in the United States and in the United Kingdom differs in terms of news framing (thematic vs. episodic), motive attributions of CSR as a concept, motive attributions of referenced companies in relation to CSR, general tone toward the concept of CSR, and the general tone toward referenced companies in relation to CSR. Most significantly, findings suggest that business news plays different roles in constructing and legitimizing CSR in the two countries. In the United States, CSR’s legitimacy and its conceptual positivity may be more implied through the coverage of singular events or actors (episodic framing), whereas in the United Kingdom, CSR’s illegitimacy and its conceptual negativity may be more exposed for further discussion through the coverage of larger societal contexts (thematic framing). Other theoretical as well as practical implications are also discussed.