Publications
Publications
- 2017
- HBS Working Paper Series
The Effects of Media Slant on Firm Behavior
By: Vishal P. Baloria and Jonas Heese
Abstract
The media can impose reputational costs on firms because of its important role as an information intermediary and its ability to negatively slant coverage. We exploit a quasi-natural experiment that holds constant the information event across firms, but varies the availability of a major news outlet in local markets. We find that firms subject to the threat of slanted coverage suppress the release of negative information before the event and release it subsequently. Our results are consistent with theory on the active role firms can play in managing their reputational capital through anticipatory actions to avoid negative media coverage.
Keywords
Citation
Baloria, Vishal P., and Jonas Heese. "The Effects of Media Slant on Firm Behavior." Harvard Business School Working Paper, No. 18-015, August 2017.