Public Relations Review 37 (2011) 166–168

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Public Relations Review

Short Communication

Dimensions of disclosures: Corporate social responsibility (CSR)reporting by media companies

Jiran Hou ∗, Bryan H. ReberGrady College of Journalism & Mass Communication, The University of Georgia, Journalism Building, 120 Hooper Street, Athens, GA 30602, United States

a r t i c l e i n f o

Article history:Received 14 September 2010Received in revised form 12 January 2011Accepted 12 January 2011

Keywords:Corporate social responsibilityCSR disclosureMedia companies

a b s t r a c t

In this study, we examined the corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives and disclo-sures of major media companies in the United States. We conducted content analysis toanalyze five dimensions of CSR disclosure: environment, community relations, diversity,employee relations and human rights, as well as their media CSR activities. Our findingsshowed that nine of the ten companies have engaged in different types of CSR activities.These companies’ CSR initiatives differ by the types of the company, and the size of thecompany also has influence on the reporting of CSR initiatives.

© 2011 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

CSR is defined as a “voluntary corporate commitment to exceed the explicit and implicit obligations imposed on a companyby society’s expectations of conventional corporate behavior” (Falck & Heblich, 2007, p. 247). For corporations, the adoptionof CSR strategies can enhance their relationships with multiple stakeholders. Therefore, it is necessary to communicateCSR activities and use effective relationship management to satisfy stakeholders’ expectations and achieve the expectedgoals of CSR initiatives (Clarke, 2000; Podnar, 2008). To date, there have been several studies examining the practices andcommunication of CSR in different industries (e.g., Chen & Bouvain, 2009; Sweeney & Coughlan, 2008). However, as one ofthe most influential industries in a society, the media industry has been neglected by CSR research.

The financial realities of today’s media environment require media outlets to satisfy both public interests and sharehold-ers’ fiscal expectations. Given the special status of media companies in a society, it is important to know whether mediacompanies have integrated CSR strategies into their strategic public relations management. And if they have engaged in CSRactivities, how do they use CSR initiatives to differentiate themselves from competitors, meet the general corporate mandateto make profits, and behave as a responsible corporate citizen for the public? This study analyzed the CSR disclosures ofmajor media companies in the United States through the lens of four research questions: (1) Do media companies in theUnited States disclose their CSR activities? (2a) If media companies disclose their CSR activities, what are their CSR activitiesand engagement? (2b) Are there any discernable differences in their CSR reporting? and (3) How do media companies’ CSRinitiatives differ by the types of company?

1. Method

The researchers conducted content analysis to examine the CSR disclosures of the top ten media companies in the UnitedStates. The media companies’ publicly available CSR reports, online CSR information and annual reports were used. The “topten” were chosen based on their annual net U.S. media revenue in 2008. They are Comcast Corp., The Walt Disney Company,

∗ Corresponding author. Tel.: +1 7062064551.E-mail addresses: jiranhou@uga.edu (J. Hou), reber@uga.edu (B.H. Reber).

0363-8111/$ – see front matter © 2011 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.doi:10.1016/j.pubrev.2011.01.005

J. Hou, B.H. Reber / Public Relations Review 37 (2011) 166–168 167

Time Warner, DirecTV Group, Time Warner Cable, News Corporation, NBC Universal, Cox Enterprises, Dish Network Corp.and CBS Corporation.

Coding identified mention of codes of ethics, five dimensions of CSR disclosure, media specific CSR activities (e.g., pro-ducing responsible content), and media product categories.

Two researchers did independent coding using a structural coding format. Comparisons of the coded content found nomajor differences between the two coders’ analysis.

2. Results

Only one of the ten companies, Dish Network Corporation, had no form of CSR disclosure within the coded areas. Amongthe other nine companies, Time Warner, Walt Disney Company and CBS Corporation, had complete CSR reports in PDF formatthat could be accessed from their primary websites. The other six companies had specific sections of CSR information eitheron their primary websites or on a parent company’s website.

2.1. Environment

Seven of the nine companies disclosed environmental policies and activities. Their policies focused on reducing a com-pany’s overall impact on the environment in terms of climate change, energy efficiency, waste reduction and recycling.These media companies have engaged in various programs related to the major focus areas of environment policy, such asbuilding high-performance green office buildings, measuring and analyzing energy used, and engaging stakeholders withenvironmental issues. Comcast Corporation, Time Warner Cable and Cox Enterprises are national cable operators, and theirenvironmental activities focus on energy usage, facilitate management, and using eco-friendly vehicle fleets. In contrast,Walt Disney Company, CBS Corporation, Time Warner and News Corporation not only adopted environmental programs onconserving natural sources and energy, they also have launched programs or used popular programming to engage audiencesto take action for the environment. For example, News Corporation explained:

News Corporation is beginning to address its own use of energy, but we recognize that our carbon footprint is smallcompared to the footprint of our audiences. We hope to engage our audiences and enable them to find ways to reducecarbon emissions in their own lives. We believe we can connect meaningfully with audiences on the issue of climatechange by entertaining and informing them in ways that inspire and enable them to make changes in their own lives.

2.2. Community relations

Among the nine media companies having CSR disclosure, eight of them mentioned their policy and initiatives on buildingcommunity relations. The major goals of their policies are quite similar, as they all mention the importance of being aresponsible and good corporate citizen to the communities they serve. Comcast stated its policy as:

Comcast’s community investment strategy focuses on powering dreams in the communities we serve. Comcast caresabout creating lasting impact, strengthening communities, and fostering diversity and opportunity. We work withexisting local organizations to positively impact each community we serve while using our resources to bring visibilityto important local issues.

The major activities each company has engaged in can be categorized into three parts: corporate donation/giving, com-munity service, and employee volunteerism. One similarity among Comcast, Time Warner Cable and DirecTV’s activities isthat they all stated the importance of expanding digital literacy and fostering education using new media technology. Interms of the activities on community service, these media companies either build partnerships with external organizationsto support local communities, or create multi-platform campaigns and use programming to educate audiences about socialand health issues.

2.3. Diversity

Seven of the nine media companies have launched different types of strategies to promote diversity, such as using a diver-sified workforce, producing diverse content, working with diverse suppliers, and cooperating with schools and organizationsto support diversity in the media industry. Specifically, the media companies are using corporate training and leadershipprograms to encourage and develop current employees from diverse backgrounds. They are hiring future employees whorepresent diverse backgrounds. CBS Corporation and NBC Universal offer a diversity institute or other training programs,such as acting, writing and directing programs, to identify and develop future media talent. Programming content and audi-ences also play important roles in media companies’ CSR diversity activities. For example, Walt Disney Company mentionedthat their programming serves the needs of children in different age groups, and their shows “incorporate many ethnicities,cultures, religions, geographic locales and physical and developmental differences . . .”

168 J. Hou, B.H. Reber / Public Relations Review 37 (2011) 166–168

2.4. Employee relations

Unlike the disclosure of the first three dimensions of CSR activities, only three media companies, Comcast Corporation,Walt Disney Company and Time Warner, disclosed information on employee dimension. Basically, their goals are fosteringsafe and respectful workplaces for employees, and improving their working experience. These companies are using opencommunication strategies, diverse benefit packages and training programs to attract and retain employees.

2.5. Human rights

For this dimension, Comcast Corporation, Walt Disney Company, Time Warner and Cox Enterprises mentioned theirpolicies and actions in protecting human rights. Their focus areas are employee and workplace safety, food safety and parksafety (Walt Disney Company).

2.6. Media specific CSR activities

Six of the nine media companies mentioned media specific CSR activities in their CSR disclosures. Providing responsiblemedia content, committed to diversity in content, and supporting creativity were most-mentioned by the media companies,and no company disclosed whether they had activities on media literacy or media education.

3. Discussion

The companies whose primary domain is media delivery (i.e., DirecTV, Comcast) focus their CSR efforts on donatingtechnology or service to schools and the underserved. The companies whose domain includes entertainment (i.e., WaltDisney Company, CBS, Time Warner) promote programming among their CSR initiatives.

It appears that the size of the organization also matters in its CSR reporting. Media conglomerates such as Walt DisneyCompany and Time Warner are more mature and complete in their reporting. The three companies that had free-standingCSR reports as downloadable PDFs (i.e., Time Warner, Walt Disney, and CBS) had packaged their information in clean, logical,complete, and easily communicable bites. Only three companies (i.e., Comcast, Time Warner, and Walt Disney) mentionedany type of business code or code of ethics. The results suggest that organizations do a good job linking organizationalmission to CSR behaviors.

This research provides a new typology for analyzing CSR initiatives. While economic, legal, ethical, and philanthropic havebeen widely used categories in past research, this research suggests a logical reporting categorization would be: environment,diversity, community, and employee relations. These are the dominant areas for CSR programming. Subcategories were alsoidentified.

This research provides both scholars and practitioners with valuable insights. Scholars can use and develop the CSRreporting categories tested and identified in this research. Practitioners should standardize CSR reporting in order to providestakeholders with relevant comparisons among organizations.

The complete study can be requested from the authors.

References

Chen, S., & Bouvain, P. (2009). Is corporate social responsibility converging? A comparison of corporate responsibility reporting in the USA, UK, Australia,and Germany. Journal of Business Ethics, 87, 299–317.

Clarke, C. E. (2000). Differences between public relations and corporate social responsibility: An analysis. Public Relations Review, 26(3), 363–380.Falck, O., & Heblich, S. (2007). Corporate social responsibility: Doing well by doing good. Business Horizons, 50, 247–254.Podnar, K. (2008). Guest editorial—Communication corporate social responsibility. Journal of Marketing Communication, 14(2), 75–81.Sweeney, L., & Coughlan, J. (2008). Do different industries report corporate social responsibility differently? An investigation through the lens of stakeholder

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