Mouthpiece or Corrective: How Financial Media Responded to the Cultural Change Promulgated by Deutsche Bank

• In Event: Organizational Perspectives on Public Relations, Corporate Communication, and Branding

Abstract

This study develops a new approach to qualitatively analyze the responsiveness of German financial media to frames of the ‘cultural change’ proclaimed in the banking industry after the financial crisis, exemplified on Deutsche Bank. Based on framing theory and first-order and second-order agenda building theory, a systematic analysis of the salience and attributes of messages conveyed in press releases by DB dealing with the ‘cultural change’ is carried out. Findings suggest that there is a strong difference between the two major German financial media outlets in the extent to which the salience and attributes of press releases by DB are adopted. While Handelsblatt preliminary resonates the messages by DB in a neutral tone and therefore appears to be rather a ‘mouthpiece’ of DB, Börsen-Zeitung presents a corrective counterpart that develops a more critical and differentiated viewpoint towards the ‘cultural change’ communicated by DB.

Author

• Nadine Strauss, University of Amsterdam