Forced Transparency: Corporate Image on Wikipedia and What it Means for Public Relations

Forced Transparency: Corporate Image on Wikipedia and What it Means for Public Relations

Collaboratively edited information on social media that circumvents traditional media gatekeepers poses a challenge to public relations practitioners. The online encyclopedia Wikipedia gives corporate critics the opportunity to shape the public image of major corporations. This longitudinal panel...

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Main Authors: Marcia W. DiStaso, Marcus Messner
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Insitute for Public Relations 2010-04-01
Series:Public Relations Journal
Online Access:https://prjournal.instituteforpr.org/wp-content/uploads/Forced-Transparency-1.pdf
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spelling doaj-9f4eb5a5be6e49caa3f79a34f0a568c72020-11-24T21:35:07ZengInsitute for Public RelationsPublic Relations Journal 1942-46041942-46042010-04-0142Forced Transparency: Corporate Image on Wikipedia and What it Means for Public RelationsMarcia W. DiStasoMarcus MessnerCollaboratively edited information on social media that circumvents traditional media gatekeepers poses a challenge to public relations practitioners. The online encyclopedia Wikipedia gives corporate critics the opportunity to shape the public image of major corporations. This longitudinal panel study analyzed the framing of 10 Fortune 500 companies on Wikipedia between 2006 and 2010. It was found through content analyses of tonality and topics of more than 3,800 sentences in the articles for Wal-Mart, Exxon Mobil, General Motors, Ford, General Electric, Chevron, ConocoPhillips, Citigroup, AIG, and IBM that the negativity increased over time and that the focus shifted from historical information to legal concerns and scandals. The findings show that public relations practitioners need to pay close attention to the forced transparency about their companies on Wikipedia.https://prjournal.instituteforpr.org/wp-content/uploads/Forced-Transparency-1.pdf
collection DOAJ
language English
format Article
sources DOAJ
author Marcia W. DiStaso
Marcus Messner
spellingShingle Marcia W. DiStaso
Marcus Messner
Forced Transparency: Corporate Image on Wikipedia and What it Means for Public Relations
Public Relations Journal
author_facet Marcia W. DiStaso
Marcus Messner
author_sort Marcia W. DiStaso
title Forced Transparency: Corporate Image on Wikipedia and What it Means for Public Relations
title_short Forced Transparency: Corporate Image on Wikipedia and What it Means for Public Relations
title_full Forced Transparency: Corporate Image on Wikipedia and What it Means for Public Relations
title_fullStr Forced Transparency: Corporate Image on Wikipedia and What it Means for Public Relations
title_full_unstemmed Forced Transparency: Corporate Image on Wikipedia and What it Means for Public Relations
title_sort forced transparency: corporate image on wikipedia and what it means for public relations
publisher Insitute for Public Relations
series Public Relations Journal
issn 1942-4604
1942-4604
publishDate 2010-04-01
description Collaboratively edited information on social media that circumvents traditional media gatekeepers poses a challenge to public relations practitioners. The online encyclopedia Wikipedia gives corporate critics the opportunity to shape the public image of major corporations. This longitudinal panel study analyzed the framing of 10 Fortune 500 companies on Wikipedia between 2006 and 2010. It was found through content analyses of tonality and topics of more than 3,800 sentences in the articles for Wal-Mart, Exxon Mobil, General Motors, Ford, General Electric, Chevron, ConocoPhillips, Citigroup, AIG, and IBM that the negativity increased over time and that the focus shifted from historical information to legal concerns and scandals. The findings show that public relations practitioners need to pay close attention to the forced transparency about their companies on Wikipedia.
url https://prjournal.instituteforpr.org/wp-content/uploads/Forced-Transparency-1.pdf
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