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Zurich, 27.01.2010. The loss of trust in financial institutions threatens our society. This shows the latest study by the Zurich-based research institute MEDIA TENOR. The analysis with contributions from renowned academics and business representatives will be presented at the Annual Meeting of the World Economic Forum in Davos.
The long-term analysis of the international media coverage shows, how dangerous the loss of trust in banks and insurers is one and a half year after the financial bubble burst. Although banks are now rated even worse than tobacco companies, a fundamental change of corporate behavior is not even contemplated by bankers worldwide. But public support for our economic system depends on trust in institutions and managers.
Joachim Faber, head of Allianz Global Investors, the largest investment company in Germany, shows, how sustainable investment must become a principle for financial companies, in order to evade the next bubble and regain the trust of the public. “If you think about demographic changes and about climate change, none of these issues can be mastered without functioning capital markets. Demographic changes and the results on ageing societies and the funding of the old age pensions, which have to be paid out, by larger and increasing older generations is not feasible if it is not based on a well founded mechanism backed by papers generated by the capital markets.”
Mark B. Fuller and Joseph B. Fuller, heads of Monitor Group call for a change in security regulation: “During the past several decades, financial services firms developed a dizzying array of new, often complex investment approaches, structures, and instruments that government consciously and deliberately chose not to regulate—hedge funds, highly-leveraged private equity deals, off-exchange trading of derivatives, securitized debt, credit default swaps, and the like.” Looking into the future they conclude: “Targeting greedy individuals may be popular but it doesn´t address the fundamental challenges… If we do not see significant changes in securities regulation, if we do not see public officials most responsible for ensuring the integrity of the global financial system addressing the real issues, and if we do not see governance reform in financial services firms, then we should not be surprised by the next crisis in the financial markets.”
More transparency is one key to restoring trust. Liv Watson, a founding member of XBRL international consortium, explains how this universal language of business information can transform the approach to disclosure and improve transparency. “Executives have a fiduciary responsibility to their stake holders to learn more about XBRL and how this powerful open source royalty free information standard can help bring transparency and trust back to markets.”
In his preface former UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan points out the scope of the challenge for governments and financial businesses around the world: “There are many who rightly see the crisis as the consequence of failure to put economic policies at the service of the common good. As Adam Smith wrote over 250 years ago in his Theory of Moral Sentiments, universal values far beyond the profit motive – including humanity, justice, generosity and public spiritedness – must provide the framework for markets to work effectively. Now, he might argue, is the perfect moment to ensure that such core values are finally hardwired into public policy and international relations. In a highly interconnected world beset with shared problems, we cannot afford to get this wrong. And if we get it right, then we might finally have learned the lessons that Smith was trying to teach us.”
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| Zurich, October 12, 2009. The accidents at the Vattenfall power stations in Germany have stopped the revival of nuclear power. While evaluation of nuclear power in opinion-leading media reached a new low in the third quarter of 2009, public support for an operating extension for German nuclear power stations dropped sharply, as shown the latest study on the coverage of nuclear energy by MEDIA TENOR.
“The strategy of nuclear utilities in Germany of waiting for a change in government has misfired,” explained Roland Schatz, editor-in-chief and founder of MEDIA TENOR.
A string of fires in German power stations has undermined industry claims of operating the safest plants worldwide, even as the accidents did not happen in the nuclear part of the facilities.
The debate about global warming and rocketing energy prices had supported calls for scrapping the decision by the former German Government to phase out all nuclear power stations by 2021. But the scandal around the experimental waste site in a salt dome in Asse and another fire in the Kruemmel nuclear power station operated by Vattenfall, have caused the tone of coverage towards nuclear energy to shift notably in 2009 (cf. chart 1).
“The role of nuclear power in a secure and economical power supply in Germany has been kept out of political debate for most of the last parliament,” argues Dr. Christian Kolmer,
head of political research at MEDIA TENOR. “The issue was taboo in the Grand Coalition between the pro-nuclear Christian Democrats and the anti-nuclear Social Democrats.”
The renewed debate of the possible merits of nuclear power stations in the reduction of CO2 emissions did not lead to a marked swing in public opinion in 2008. For the first time, a majority of Germans were in favor of extending the operating time of nuclear stations beyond the year 2021 (cf. chart 2). But the matter remained highly controversial and the pendulum swung back after the latest incidents.
With the new coalition planning to re-negotiate the nuclear exit, a renewed public debate promises to be very lively.
“As the proponents of nuclear energy have failed to make their case in the media over the last years, public support for extending the lifetime of German nuclear power plants will not be sufficient to support a change in energy policy in the next months,” concludes Roland Schatz.
MEDIA TENOR International has been analyzing the content of opinion-leading media in Germany continuously since 1994. For this study 961 news stories in ARD Tagesschau and Tagesthemen, ZDF heute and heute journal, RTL Aktuell, the current affairs programs of ARD and ZDF, Bild-Zeitung, Spiegel and Focus from January 2006 until July 2009.
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Berlin, September 25th, 2009. Despite President Barack Obama becoming the favorite of German TV news, the overall coverage of the US has not really improved. Stereotypes shape the news selection on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean. This is shown by the latest study of the research institute Media Tenor. The long-time analysis examined day after day, how the opinion-leading main evening TV news in Germany and the US portrayed the other country. "While at the beginning of the new Millennium US news mirrored the proverbial American optimism, a bleak outlook now reigns in both countries", Roland Schatz, founder and editor-in-chief of Media Tenor said on a joint discussion round of CNN, Media Tenor, the Atlantic Bride and the ESMT European School for Management and Technologies in Berlin.
The data of the media scientist show how ABC, CBS, Fox and NBC selected especially those news that gave a negative impression of the state of the economy, beginning a long time before the breakdown of the World´s financial markets. "In June 2008 - thus six month before the US elections - the surplus of negative news in the coverage of the US economy already equaled -60%. But at that time the US economy continued to grow about 3.3% compared to second quarter of 2007. We knew such a pessimistic news selection up to then only from Germany. In that country the scandals of Deutsche Telekom, Siemens or Deutsche Bank got widely more air time than the small and medium sized companies that account for 80% of the jobs", Schatz explained.
Such a way of reporting has of course its consequences. The Consumer Confidence Index in the US collapsed in the wake of the negative turn in the news. This happened in Germany as well - but started already in the second half of 2007, at a time when both economies were expanding. "The careless use of terms like ´recession´ or ´Great Depression´ in the TV news at a time, when this was not supported by the data from the World Bank, OECD or the central banks can only be explained by the craving for sensations. But no one seems to have realized, that this might become a self-fulfilling prophecy", Schatz explained the unintended consequences of the way the media reported about the economy.
Media Tenor International has been analyzing the content of opinion-leading Media in Germany continuously since 1994 and in the US from 2000 on. For this study 35,494 stories in ARD Tagesschau and Tagesthemen, ZDF heute and heute journal, RTL Aktuell and 36,848 stories in the US programs of ABC, CBS, FOX and NBC have been analyzed for the period from 01.07.2008 to 31.08.2009.
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London, September 17th, 2009. The Annual Dialogue Report of the C-1 World Dialogue was released today in London. The C-1 initiative is co-chaired by the Bishop of London, the Right Rev. & Hon. Dr. Richard Chartres and His Excellency Dr. Ali Gomaa, the Grand Mufti of Egypt. To discuss the Report the Editors, Roland Schatz, President of Media Tenor, and Canon Alistair Macdonald-Radcliff, the Director General of the C-1, will be joined by Professor Anthony Grayling of London University who is on the C-1 Executive Committee.
In commending the Report, which is aimed to give an overview of the state of Muslim West Dialogue, Bishop Richard Chartres says that this Report “comes at a time of new impetus in relations with the Muslim world, stimulated by the recent historic speech in Cairo by President Obama. Such a time calls for new action but also for good evidence upon which to ground it.” And the data does show that positive change is indeed possible. For example, the percentage of people who support Bin Laden and Al Quaeda is falling in a number of Muslim countries.
Dr Gomaa the Grand Mufti of Egypt comments, “Establishing and maintaining peace is one of the most urgent issues of our time” and that “Action is clearly vital… but it must be based on knowledge if it is to be effective. It is important to explore and establish the factors that are shaping the course of Muslim-West relations, how opinions are changing over time and why.”
Yet there remains reason for concern as the media image “of the other side” stayed rather unfavourable in 2008/09. The analysis by Media Tenor shows, that especially television, which shapes the attitudes and views of a great portion of the public, emphasizes the negative aspects of religion in general and Islam in particular. While coverage of Muslims and Islam declined in British TV news declined notably in the second half of 2008, the tone remained very negative with a share of more than 20% of critical information broadcast in the first five months of 2009. While everyday life of Muslims and the peaceful co-existence of Christians and Muslims plays a minor role, the image of Islam remains dominated by war and terrorism, especially with regard to the increasing violence in Afghanistan. Positive news about Muslims are virtually absent from the main evening news in the UK.
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| Zurich, September 14th, 2009. In opinion polls the lead of the conservative CDU remains strong two weeks before the federal elections in Germany. In reports by opinion-leading TV and print media, Chancellor Angela Merkel and the SPD challenger Frank-Walter Steinmeier are rated rather similarly in the week before the only TV debate. Bild-Zeitung, Europe’s big-gest tabloid paper, its Sunday edition Bild am Sonntag, the main evening news of public sta-tions ARD and ZDF, and private program RTL painted a slightly positive picture of both con-tenders. These media exert a strong influence on public opinion in Germany, as was ob-served some years ago by former Chancellor Gerhard Schröder, who was said to govern with “Bild, BamS and telly.”
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Barack Obama’s job approval rating has been eroded by a steady flow of negative coverage in the main evening news shows. Since taking office in January, Obama’s job approval figures have decreased by over 40 points, down to +14 from a starting point of +56.
“This speedy reversal of fortunes results from the media coverage in two different ways,” explains Roland Schatz, founder and editor-in-chief of the Zurich-based research institute MEDIA TENOR. “Since the middle of February, coverage of Obama on ABC, CBS, NBC and Fox has been overwhelmingly negative with critical coverage dominating 107 out of 136 days.”
U.S. citizens have become disillusioned with Obama so quickly because reporting was so en-thusiastic during the election campaign and after the vote, he says. “As soon as people realized that Obama cannot, after all, walk on water, his halo was bound to fade,” concludes Schatz.
Out of 22,382 statements about or by the President that were aired between January 15th and July 29th, 3,012 were critical of Obama and only 1,763 rated him positively. In contrast, in the weeks before his inauguration the picture was slightly positive. At the end of July, as the media focused on the problems of health-care reform, reporting became more critical.
“Barack Obama has tackled many tough issues at the same time, and, as he cannot possibly succeed in the short term where others have failed again and again, his media image will dete-riorate further in the next months,” predicts Schatz. With his high number of targets, Obama raised expectations, a gambit which now come back to haunt him.
MEDIA TENOR International analyzes U.S. politicians, parties and the U.S. government on an ongoing basis in the main evening news programs of ABC, CBS, NBC and Fox. Job approval ratings were taken from the Gallup poll (http://www.gallup.com/poll/113980/gallup-daily-obama-job-approval.aspx); the chart shows the balance of approve and disapprove, and the values are the result of a three-day rolling average.
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| MEDIA TENOR continuously analyzes opinion leading international business
media, including Barrons, Financial Times and Wall Street Journal. Based on the
analysts quoted in these publications, a virtual fund was created and stocked with
100,000 Euro on October 1st, 2006. As of June 30th, 2007, this fund had a value of
159,000 Euro.
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New York, 25 June, Agenda Setting effect allows to predict Consumer Confidence Index. Media Tenor’s latest findings for January 2004 - April 2006 underline a direct correlation between consumer confidence and media coverage of the economy.
Consumer Confidence Index trends in the US trail behind media ratings of the economy by around one month, an on-going comparative study of the two economic indicators by Media Tenor Research Institute shows.
In its analysis, Media Tenor monitored media coverage of the economy on ABC, CBS, NBC and FOX evening news. Applying a scientific and verifiable methodology, Media Tenor’s research took into account all statements, forecasts and prognoses of the US economy, including assessments of business sentiments, investment and employment prospects.
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Iraq is still one of the most covered countries by international media, topping the bill in foreign news coverage in the US and Arab
countries. But with terrorism and warfare being the topics most associated with the troubled Middle East country, the audiences in
none of those countries can understand the development in this country since the end of the war.
A Media Tenor analysis of news reports by international news media in the US, the Middle East, Germany and South Africa shows
that media attention in Iraq reached a peak in January 2005, at the time of its first free elections. Coverage was relatively lower
during the rest of 2005 and the first quarter of 2006, although way ahead of media coverage received by any country in the Middle
East.
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| Dresden/Bonn. A new study by Media Tenor, the Bonn media research institute, shows how
strongly the TV news coverage of events in Iraq in different countries is influenced by the political
climate in those countries. The study, entitled “Framing the War on Terror and Iraq: A Cross-
National Perspective,” will be presented to academics and communications experts from around
the world on June 19, 2006, in Dresden, at the annual conference of the International
Communication Association (ICA). For the study, which was created in cooperation with Emory
University (Atlanta, GA), Media Tenor analyzed the TV news coverage of the war in Iraq in March
and April of 2003 in Germany, Great Britain, the U.S., the Czech Republic, South Africa and on
Qatar’s Al Jazeera.
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| Accounting scandals such as the Enron debacle
or governance scandals like Volkswagen’s
have put higher pressure on the companies’
corporate reputation. Since then, journalists and
– going by the agenda-setting theory – the public
have been watching them more closely. The adaptation
of that theory to business and company
coverage has only played a minor role, although
Media Tenor analyses on the interdependency of
analyst quotes on the one hand and share price
movements on the other do suggest a correlation.
The following analysis looks at the effects of media
coverage on company images and shows that
even a weak media presence can jeopardize corporate
reputation.
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| Media Image of Israel improved significantly over the last three years and consequently more German tourist
are thinking Israel a good travel destination. According to Israel’s Central Bureau of statistics, tourist arrivals in
Israel increased in 2004 and especially in the first quarter of 2005. Why are people again finding Israel a good
travel destination? One of the reasons may be the improvement in the country’s media image in recent years.
Media Tenor research institute has analysed German opinion leading media from 1998 to 2005 and came upon
an interesting result. In 1999 and 2000 reportage on crisis and terror represented only 20% of the reporting
on Israel. In the same years German tourist arrivals in Israel was the highest registered in the last seven years.
The situation changed in 2001 when Ariel Sharon came to government. TV journalists changed the topic
structure of their reportage, focusing instead on critical aspects while ignoring stories they formerly found
newsworthy under the previous government. As many as 80% of all 2002 reports on Israel focused on terror
attacks, bombs and suicide-bombers. It cannot come as a surprise then that viewers, who are entirely
dependent on media coverage and can not assess the situation in Israel for themselves, abstained from what
they must have perceived as a perilous journey. Tourist arrivals in Israel in 2002 fell by 78% when compared to 2000.
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| There was a perceptible difference between the coverage on the tsunami that hit South-East Asia in December 2004 and the earthquake that
hit Pakistan in October 2005. The tsunami received far more extensive coverage in all countries analyzed in both television and print media.
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| A Study conducted by Media Tenor in the U.S.,
Germany and South Africa shows that the coverage
of the UN has been inconsistent in volume,
poor in the variety of issues that were reported on,
and, in the case of the U.S. media, increasingly negative
in tone over the course of the last few months.
Last May in New York, before an audience of professors
and researchers attending the International Communication
Association Conference, Shashi Tharoor,
the Undersecretary General for Communications and
Public Information of the UN, made very clear that
he is aware of the challenges the UN faces in its communication
with the public and the media. Not only
is the UN working to restore its image, which has
been tarnished by scandals in the last year, but it is
also aiming to increase public awareness of its programs
and to shorten the distance between the UN
and communities worldwide.
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| Before the German parliamentary elections in 2002, the governing coalition of the Green Party and the
Social Democrats counted the exit from nuclear energy among its greatest achievements. The socalled
“nuclear consensus” brought calm to the German populace, which had been weary of nuclear
energy ever since the meltdown of a reactor in Chernobyl in 1986. Even the country’s large energy
providers gave in to the popular consensus. Nuclear technology has consequently not received much
attention in German media in recent years. As an analysis by Media Tenor Research Institute of Bonn,
Germany, shows, nuclear energy remained far below the public awareness threshold in terms of the
volume of coverage it received, with no more than 50 reports per quarter. But earlier this year there
was increased public debate about the presence of micro particles in the air and in anticipation of the
coming change in the country’s leadership, the issue of nuclear energy has slowly begun to garner
more attention again. However, the negative tone of the coverage can only serve to mobilize the
opponents of nuclear energy. Beginning with the second quarter of 2004, media reports of nuclear
energy have been increasingly negative in tone. It should thus hardly come as a surprise that,
according to a recent poll by Emnid, 70% of Germans continue to support the country’s exit from
nuclear energy.
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| Bad news seems to be good for U.S. opinion leading media that are intent on using corporate
malfeasance or a change in corporate leadership as the main factor in their news-selection process. This
was apparent in the first half of 2004 as well as 2005.
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| US brands in crisis: In December 2004, two
studies by renowned market research companies
raised attention by confi rming a drop in
the approval ratings of McDonalds, Ford & Co.
among consumers in Europe and Asia. Especially
the “GMI World Poll” underlined the connection
between the consumers’ critical view on US
foreign policy and an increasingly negative attitude
towards American brands. From the Agenda
Setting point of view, the public view on the
Bush administration is perfectly understandable:
Graph 1 illustrates the correlation between German
television news coverage on the US government
and the increasingly negative polling results
throughout the past three years. But Media Tenor
data also show that this kind of “framing” through
political news coverage is not necessary to explain
the bad image many US companies have. Business
journalists of the opinion forming media in
Germany contribute much more directly to their
negative appearance.
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| One thing can be observed more and more frequently in poll results: There is a relatively quick progression of
ups and downs in the political climate in favor of one party or against another. This is due to the declining
number of supporters of Germany’s big parties. Politically unaffiliated voters are no longer making their
decisions based on long-standing traditions, but as a reaction to current political events. One day, the scandal
around donations leads to a dip in public opinion for the CDU, the next day the excess of five million
unemployed sinks the SPD in opinion polls.
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Aside from carmakers and financial institutions, German companies were a rare sight in U.S.
media during the first four months of 2005, according to an analysis by media research firm
Media Tenor of Bonn, Germany. Even large corporations like Siemens and Deutsche Telekom were
not able to build a sustainable media presence. Bertelsmann, ranking fifth, received some media
attention – however, the news were not always good. In January, reports on pending court
proceedings significantly impaired the company’s overall media image.
Deutsche Bank, which has been harshly criticized in German media, received near-balanced media
coverage in the U.S. This is in keeping with an overall trend toward more favorable media
coverage of business in U.S. media. “We have been observing this trend for several years in our
analysis. Unlike in Germany, there is little discussion of the viability of capitalism as a whole in
U.S. media, which only serves to broaden the difference in the media coverage in the two
countries,“ explains Matthias Vollbracht, Media Tenor’s Head of Economic Research.
For this report, Media Tenor analyzed 27,641 passages on companies and executives in eight U.S.
media between January 1 and April 30, 2005.
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| President George W. Bush’s trip to Europe had a positive effect on the international media image of the U.S., but it
waned quickly. In March, as they had prior to February, media in Europe, the Middle East and Asia, presented the
U.S. in a predominantly negative tone. The prevailing negative public sentiment in Germany toward the U.S. and the
president in particular is thus also unlikely to change. The polling institute ipsos found that German respondents’
negative opinion toward the U.S. exceeded their negative opinion of France by a factor of six. In the same poll,
conducted 18 months ago, they gave President Bush a negative 2.7 rating on a scale between negative 5 and plus 5,
while the French president received a plus 1.5 rating. “Only one month of positive reporting on the U.S. related to
the Bush visit to Europe is not enough to change the general climate,” says Markus Rettich, head of political
research at the International Media Tenor Institute, based in Bonn, Germany.
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| New York, April 28, 2005. Consumer confidence fell in April and is likely to continue to fall over the
next month. Media Tenor found a direct correlation between consumer confidence and media coverage
of the economy. After eleven years of continuous media analysis, Media Tenor’s research shows a
strong correlation between how the media portrays the state of the economy to the general public and
public perception of the overall situation of a country’s economy. Media Tenor started to do research
on this issue in Germany and has since successfully expanded the scope of inquiry to other countries,
such as the U.K., South Africa, the Czech Republic and the U.S.
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New York, 28 April 2005. With the success of Condoleezza Rice and other women working in Congress
and in President Bush's cabinet, women have also appeared at the center of political news coverage
more frequently. However, when it comes to business coverage, women are all but invisible. In the Wall
Street Journal, the total share of coverage of female protagonists did not exceed 11% in the last 15
months.
The overall share of coverage of women in U.S. media increased by a small margin in the first quarter of
2005, compared to 2004. Media Tenor Institute analyzed the news coverage in seven opinion-leading
media between January, 2004, and March, 2005, and noted each time any individual was mentioned
for at least five lines (print media) or for five seconds (TV news).
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| Current opinion polls say that Labour is still in the lead, but the government is losing ground: Last Week the
Tories were rated better than Labour for the first time since the beginning of March. Media Tenor’s analysis of
five TV newscasts and one Sunday paper shows that TV news in particular covered Michael Howard and the
Conservative Party in a slightly more negative tone, with overall more positive reporting on BBC’s
“Newsnight.” The news coverage of the Tories was particularly positive in the contest of domestic security
and immigration enforcement.
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| The coverage of Tony Blair and his opponent Michael Howard in the BBC headline news (News
at Six & News at Ten) indicates a narrow race in the upcoming election of the lower houses on
May the fifth, as was found by a recent study of the BBC News by the independent media
research institute Media Tenor. Blair’s media image was dramatically damaged due to the
foundering of his Anti-Terror laws at the end of March. While Blair was criticised around issues
of home affairs during the first three months of this year, compared to his opponent, he is
trusted upon in issues such as economics and social politics. Even though Blair’s image is
showing a downward turn, it certainly is not to say that Howard can present himself as the
clear favourite compared to the current Prime Minister.
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| Throughout the past three years AIG received only a limited amount of coverage in opinion-leading U.S.
media. The main source of media attention was the publication of financial results. Therefore the reputation
of the company was not fully controlled. As the crisis hit the surface, their image was badly damaged.
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| Media reporting on the job market has rapidly increased in Germany over the last four months and
as a result the public has been worrying more about the rising unemployment. Media Tenor
Research Institute compared media coverage of the job market in German opinion-leading media
with the ZDF (German TV) Political Barometer Poll, conducted monthly since October 2004.
Media Tenor analyzed all reports concerning unemployment in 36 German media between October
2004 and March 2005 and then compared the media coverage with the public opinion research.
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New York. The perception of industries depends greatly on what people read in the media or see on
evening news broadcasts, according to a comparison of Media Tenor's media analysis with research
from Gallup. Media Tenor analyzed all reports on companies from various industries on the evening
news broadcasts of NBC, ABC, CBS and in Newsweek between January and August 2004 and
compared the ratings of the different industries with their public perception.
Of all industries, the IT industry, along with the automobile and airline industries, received the most
positive coverage in the media in the first seven months of 2004. The airline industry also received the
best ratings in Gallup's 'Business and Industry Sector Rating'-poll in August of 2004, with 60% positive
responses.
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| Thanks to the visa affair, Joschka Fisher can’t rely on the media anymore. The new favourite of
the month is the Prime Minister of Niedersachsen, Chr istian Wulff. Until recently very popular
in the media, foreign minister Joschka Fisher received the worst media image in February from
among all politicians. The prevalence of negative reporting represented 19,2%. On the other
hand, Christian Wulff experiences an increase in positive reporting to become the centre of
media attention. Lots of hope was put in him and he was also presented as a possible candidate
for a chancellor. A comparison of the rating of all the reports showed that the CDU candidate,
Christian Wulff received a total 16,4% positive prevalence. In February 2004, the prevalence of
rating on Mr. Wulff was as low as -28,1%. Joschka Fisher’s media image was even worse that
the reporting on German Chancellor Gerhard Schr?der, who is usually at the centre of media
attention. Trailing behind fisher’s negative media image were Wolfgang Clement (-13,2%), Hans
Eichel (-12,5%) und J?rgen Trittin (-12,2%).
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| Over the past decade the Anti-American attitude rapidly increased not only in the Muslim world
but in all continents including Europe. The world fears and resents the unrivalled power that the
U.S has amassed and become more suspicious of U.S motives. The visit of President Bush
causes a positive change in the media reporting but for how long? Is the U.S on the way to
restoring its trust in Europe?
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| Media Tenor compared the media reporting on the job market in the U.S media with the poll
conducted by Gallup Organisation. Gallup asked people how they feel about the job situation in
America today. The poll was focused on whether it is now a good time or a bad time to find a
quality job. Media Tenor compiled the data concerning the situation on the job market including
information such as statements, forecasts and prognoses on number of vacancies,
rising/decreasing unemployment, the overall situation in the job market etc. and compared the
rating of media reports in Newsweek, Time and ABC, NBC, CBS TV news with the poll
answers. The study observed that the people’s perception of the reality reflects the media
reporting.
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One of the Media Tenor activities is to search for correlations between reporting in the media on
one side and the impact of this information on the share price selected companies.
Media Tenor analysis all the analyst information and quotes related to stock markets and on the
basic of this data create its own portfolio. Data are collected from the opinion leading financial
newspapers such as WSJE, Financial Times, B?rsen Zeitung, Handelsblatt. One of the relevance
criteria is a minimum of 40 statements a week on DAX, MDAX or Euro Stoxx50. Media Tenor
is creating its portfolio only from the stocks related data which were quoted more positively than
negatively by analyst and journalist at the same time. The positive stocks will be bought and the
ones with the negative rating will be excluded from the sample portfolio. Media Tenor buys the
stocks every Thursday per closing call and sells the following Monday.
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Media Tenor research institute conducted the study on U.S opinion leading media on
investigations and settlements with regard to the financial industry. This study analyzed the data
from 01.01.2004 – 31.12.2004 in 23 U.S. media outlets. All together 79,341 passages on banks,
financial services providers, Funds, insurance companies were analysed.
Investigations and settlements are an inherent part of the coverage of the financial industry in
2005. The investigations into various practices of the financial industry started with the burst of
the “New Economy” bubble. Investigations by governmental authorities, regulatory bodies or
general attorneys in the first phase focused on conflicts of interests within the banking sector
(e.g. analysts), followed by trading practices in the investment fund industry. Most recently,
Spitzer has focused on the insurance industries’ relations with its brokers and non-traditional
forms of ins urance products.
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Once again Media Tenor has predicted an increase in the Ifo-Index before the Ifo-Institute
announced that its business climate index rose to 96.4 in January from 96.2 in December. In
contrast, the majority of analysts estimated that the Ifo-Index would decrease.
The monthly forecast from the independent media research institute is based on the evaluation of
leading media indicators such as investments, incoming orders and even general suggestions on
the economic development. "Given the high volatility of expectations, entrepreneurs take a
close look at the information and climate given in opinion-leading media when asked about
their own assessments of business development. Media Tenor takes this into account by
analyzing the media both before and while the ifo-questionaire is sent out," explained Matthias
Vollbracht, head of economic research at Media Tenor. "The positive trend in the beginning of
the year in opinion-leading media has assured that business professionals will enjoy slightly more
optimistic expectations for the year 2005."
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| New York, April 28, 2005. Consumer confidence fell in April and is likely to continue to fall over the
next month. Media Tenor found a direct correlation between consumer confidence and media coverage
of the economy. After eleven years of continuous media analysis, Media Tenor’s research shows a
strong correlation between how the media portrays the state of the economy to the general public and
public perception of the overall situation of a country’s economy. Media Tenor started to do research
on this issue in Germany and has since successfully expanded the scope of inquiry to other countries,
such as the U.K., South Africa, the Czech Republic and the U.S.
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| Die Arbeit von Julia Sophie W?rsdorfer beinhaltet
eine theoretische und empirische Analyse
zur Hypothese ?ber einen Einfl u? der Konsumentenstimmung
auf den privaten Verbrauch
(gesamtdeutscher Datensatz, 1995-2002). In diesem
Zusammenhang wird ein neuer, potentieller
Indikator der Verbraucherstimmung, der sog. „Medienindikator”
vorgestellt, welcher aus Daten zur
„Medien-Berichterstattung” (s.u.) gewonnen wird.
?ber die Einbeziehung dieser Medienvariable in
eine Standard-Konsumfunktion wird gleichzeitig
untersucht, ob ein Einfl u? der Medien auf das
Konsumverhalten nachweisbar ist. Im Folgenden
werden einige relevante Passagen der Arbeit knapp
zusammengefa?t.
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| Media Tenor compares reporting on the Tsunami disaster with the SARS epidemic in April/May
two years ago. The Tsunami, triggered by the world’s most powerful earthquake in 40 years, has
killed upwards of 160,000 people in Asia and Africa; more than half of the deaths were on
Sumatra. Our analysis includes affected countries such as Germany, USA and South Africa. In
Germany more than 1,000 tourists are missing and 60 are confirmed dead. Coverage
of the Tsunami in Germany was featured in 49,7% of all TV news reports. Germany has made
one of the largest donations, which reached 8,25 USD per capita. Reporting in the U.S. followed
a similar pattern; the Tsunami was featured in 48,1% of TV news coverage on ABC, NBC and
CBS. Two thousand Americans are missing and 35 are confirmed dead. The U.S has donated
1,19 dollars per capita. South Africa didn’t have as many victims and did not focus
on the disaster as much as the other countries mentioned. South Africa has reported 11 people
dead and 7 missing. The Tsunami was featured in 24,7% of TV news reports.
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A Media Tenor study on the coverage of ethnic
and racial groups shows that leading US media
distorts the image of American society to the general
public and thus reinforce old stereotypes with a lack
of diversity in reporting.
The analysis focused on reports with a specifi c US
ethnic and/or racial group as the main protagonist in
TV national network news, The Wall Street Journal,
Newsweek and Time Magazine. The results
show an unbalanced portrait of society with minorities
playing secondary roles in news stories, while
white Americans lead most of the political and economic
events.
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The European elections present a welcome opportunity
for journalists to lament the decline
of support for the European Union in the 25 member
countries. Especially in Germany, the approval
ratings for EU membership have declined from the
early 90s. But the media contributed strongly to this
development. By focusing on the executive branch
and framing the Union in the context of national politics,
media coverage accelerates the devaluation of
the ideal of European unifi cation.
On June 13 came the moment of truth for Europe.
Just 43.5% of Germans voted in the European elections,
less than 1999, when 45.2% of German voters
bothered to go to the ballot box – well below the
European average in both years. Interestingly, the
three-month Eurobarometer poll showed more interest.
According to the Spring of 2004 edition, 36% of
Germans have a positive attitude towards the European
Union. Only 19% take a negative stance. Even
more interesting, 45% of the respondents think that
Germany has more advantages than disadvantages
from EU membership. Obviously it is – for the time
– not politically correct to publicly voice opposition
of the EU.
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In November 1997 the Luxor incident leaves 71 dead out of 60 were tourist coming from
Germany, Japan and Switzerland. The incident came two months after nine German tourists
and an Egyptian driver were killed when a tour bus was firebombed outside the Egyptian
Museum in Cairo.
The incident took place at the Deir al-Bahri temple, also known as Hatshepsut, in the Valley
of the Kings on the west bank of the Nile. The popular archaeological site is located 300 miles
(500 km) south of Cairo.
Attacks by Moslem militants have killed at least 34 international tourists in the past five
years. Overall about 1,100 people have been killed since 1992, when extremists launched a
campaign aimed at ousting President Hosni Mubarak.
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The R+V insurance poll of 2004 shows
that in comparison to 2003, overall fear
within the German public has decreased.
The issues that worry Germans most are:
that daily life will become more expensive,
that the economy situation will get worse
and that unemployment will continue to
rise. According to the study, the fear
index of the R+V insurance poll reached a
record number in 2003 and since then has
slightly decreased. Issues evoking public
fear correspond with Media Tenor data
analysis.
The most frequent fear, the increase of
living costs, is not a common topic in the
media. This fear seems to be a result of
growing unemployment, negative coverage
and forecasts of the general economic
situation. Media Tenor data predicts a
decrease in the R+V fear index in 2005.
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| Analysts' ratings are crucial to the share prices of listed companies and to
investor satisfaction. Monitoring these quotations in the global business
media enables everyone to judge (eliminate on)on the impact of the media
on shareholder‘s behavior.
In this context there is a new trend which began in summer 2004 whereas
reports on funds increase. At least within the german media, a
globalisation has come into effect since german funds no longer seem to
be those with the biggest media awareness.
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| According to Media Tenor’s content analysis of network news and Fox’s Special Report with Brit Hume,
coverage in the last week prior to Election Day focused greatly on security and Iraq, bringing those issues
to the forefront of the voting public’s minds. Health care, which had been another prominent policy issue
since the debates, was almost completely cut off the news agenda.
In the last three days prior to Election Day, CBS and FOX overall were clearly more critical on Kerry than on
Bush while NBC rated Kerry more positive than Bush. ABC was largely balanced in covering the
candidates. Overall, TV news coverage on Bush was particularly positive when presenting opinion poll
results.
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| One-sided reporting by foreign media has
in.icted serious .nancial damages upon
Israel’s economy since September 2000: The
losses incurred by industry and tourism since the
outbreak of the “Al Aqsa Intifada” amount to an
estimated seven billion Euro (8.9 billion Dollar)
according to the National Bank of Israel. The fact
that many investors and tourists stay away is primarily
due to the media’s one-dimensional portrayal
of Israel as a war-torn country.
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| In democratic societies, crime policy and its management by parliaments and ministries largely depends on trends in crime. If, over a prolonged period, the media report strong upward trends in the number of crimes committed and if the public debate on crime focuses on spectacular, serious crimes, policymakers come under heavy pressure to increase statutory punishments and tighten the rules of procedure for criminal prosecutions1. The courts in turn feel duty bound to hand out tougher sentences2 – passed in the name of the people, their judgements are meant to reflect public opinion3. The question thus arises as to whether long periods of either dwindling or stable crime figures allow policymakers and the courts to soften punishments for specific offences and to place, for example, the notion of offender-victim compensation and offender resocialisation at the forefront.
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| Until very recently, before the onset
of the war against terrorism in
Afghanistan and later Iraq, the
thought of an actual challenge to a second
term in office for US President George W
Bush was almost unthinkable. Yet a ‘terrible
week’ in August (to quote Republican
party members) that saw the bombing of
UN headquarters in Baghdad, as well as
another suicide bombing in Jerusalem,
politically damaged Bush’s trump card
– foreign (peace-keeping) affairs, more than
ever thought. To steer clear of the issue,
Bush chose to focus on US forestation and
salmon quotas during his recent tour of
the western states. But the power blackout,
forcing everyday life to a standstill, raised
questions about the vulnerability of the US
to further terrorist attacks, clearly showing
that the domestic affairs of the United States
are in dire need of some attention. The
population needs some serious convincing
about the wellbeing of their own safety and
infrastructure.
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| The the claim that row between the government and BBC has only just begun. It is not only the result of Andrew Gilligan’s the government communications director, Alistair Campbell, had personally interfered with a secret services dossier on Iraq’s weapons of mass destruction. Accor-ding to an article by BBC chairman Gavyn Davies in the DAILY TELEGRAPH, ”BBC News was under constant attack from poli-ticians”, during the Iraq war, ”for running a news agenda which they believed was opposed to the government’s case for war”.
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| In their annual report of 2002, Human
rights watchdog Amnesty International
said that September 11 had deepened
divisions amongst people and nations. It
has certainly changed the patterns in the
way media report about global conflicts
and events. Up to the 1990’s various academic
news flow studies established that
news value was determined by certain
‘gatekeeping factors’ and that these factors
were predominantly in control of western
news agencies, particularly the United
States. In 1965, Galtung & Ruge established
the model of selective gatekeeping,
which primarily dealt with factors that
determined the selection and alteration
of certain events, amongst them intensity
(where matters of ‘national interest’ get
higher priority than matters of regular level
of significance’), cultural proximity (the
closer the event to the culture and interest
of the target audience, the more likely the
selection) as well as continuity (once an
event has been declared ‘newsworthy,’ it is
more likely to sustain in the media and push
other issues off the agenda). In 1995, US
scholars Robert Stevenson and Isabelle Sreberny-
Mohammadi came to the conclusion
that although the US was still dominating
news as a news superpower, other regions,
including Africa, were starting to participate
in a previously north-west oriented
and geographically divided news flow.
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