UBS Subprime Crisis
Irina Antonescu - Raluca Blanaru - Andreea Dicu - Carmen Neghina - Alina Oprea – Teodora Vasileva

Agenda
Research Question
Population of Media Content
Coding Scheme
Findings
Evaluation of Results
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Research Question
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Research Question
“How did the media coverage on UBS’s subprime crisis
develop from October 2007 to January 2008?”
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Population of Media Content
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Population of Media Content
Trusted international financial newspapers with online editions
Media Source
17%
25%
The Financial Times
Forbes
11%
The Economist
Other
47%
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Sampling
Time frame:
October 2007 November 2007 December 2007 January 2008 February 2008
Sampling size: 36 articles (33% double coded)
Distribution of articles
25% 28% Octomber
November
December
8%
January
39%
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Sampling
Time frame:
October 2007 November 2007 December 2007 January 2008 February 2008
Sampling size: 36 articles (33% double coded)
Distribution of articles
25% 28% Octomber
November
December
8%
January
39%
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Coding Scheme
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Code Book
1. Media Source
2. Time Frame
3. Size
4. Centrality
5. Context
6. Personalization
7. Favorability
8. Response
9. Coverage
10. Primary Journalistic Dimension of Commentary
11. Secondary Journalistic Dimension of Commentary
12. Use of the Word “crisis”
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Code Book
1. Media Source
2. Time Frame
3. Size
4. Centrality
5. Context
Manifest
Content 6. Personalization
7. Favorability
8. Response
9. Coverage
10. Primary Journalistic Dimension of Commentary
11. Secondary Journalistic Dimension of Commentary
12. Use of the Word “crisis”
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Code Book
1. Media Source
2. Time Frame
3. Size
4. Centrality
5. Context
Latent
Content 6. Personalization
7. Favorability
8. Response
9. Coverage
10. Primary Journalistic Dimension of Commentary
11. Secondary Journalistic Dimension of Commentary
12. Use of the Word “crisis”
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Reliability
 36 articles - 12 double coded (33%)
 Holsti’s inter-coder reliability
2M
0.94
N1 N2
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Findings
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Centrality
100%
80%
3 3 In center
60% 3
3
1 2 Prominently
40% 1 Not centrally
20% 0 Not mentioned
2
2
1 1 1
0%
October November December January
(0) Firm is not mentioned in the article
(1) Firm is not centrally or prominently covered (other firms or topics are in the center)
(2) Firm is prominently covered but not in the center (one long or various small
paragraphs)
(3) Firm is in the center of the article (the article talks only or mainly about the firm)
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Context
Is the UBS and the topic of the subprime crisis covered in a business context or in a societal context?
100%
80%
(1) Business context (the article talks mainly about the
business performance, management, strategy of
60% the UBS AG)
Both
40% (2) Both (business and societal context are covered to
Social an equal extent)
20%
Business (3) Societal context (the article talks mainly about
societal implications, concerns, ethical aspects)
0%
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Personalization
Does the article personalize the firm, by putting one or more of its representatives (mostly the
CEO or other top managers) in the center of the story? Or is the firm only talked about as a
collective organization?
100%
3 3 (1) No personalization (representatives
are not mentioned)
80% 3
3
2 3 (2) Medium personalization
2
60%
2 (representatives are mentioned but
1 not prominently)
40% (3) Strong personalization (the article
1 2 puts one/more representatives in the
2 center of the story)
20% 1
1
0%
October November December January
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Overall Personalization
Does the article personalize the firm, by putting one or more of its representatives (mostly the
CEO or other top managers) in the center of the story? Or is the firm only talked about as a
collective organization?
(1) No personalization (representatives
are not mentioned)
(2) Medium personalization
(representatives are mentioned but
not prominently)
(3) Strong personalization (the article
puts one/more representatives in the
center of the story)
15 16 5
1. No personalization 2. Medium personalization 3. Strong personalization
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Favorability
100%
80%
Positive
60%
Neutral
40%
Ambivalent
20% Negative
0%
October November December January
(0) Negative (the article is marked by feelings of hostility, pessimism that criticize the situation of the USB AG)
(1) Ambivalent (equal amounts of negative and positive coverage)
(2) Neutral (taking no side on the issue, simply presenting the facts as they are , without voicing an opinion)
(3) Positive (the article uses a confident, optimistic tone, focusing on the good things and presenting solutions,
rather than problems)
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Overall Favorability
18 9 8 1
1. Negative 2. Ambivalent 3. Neutral 4. Positive
(0) Negative (the article is marked by feelings of hostility, pessimism that criticize the situation of the USB AG)
(1) Ambivalent (equal amounts of negative and positive coverage)
(2) Neutral (taking no side on the issue, simply presenting the facts as they are , without voicing an opinion)
(3) Positive (the article uses a confident, optimistic tone, focusing on the good things and presenting solutions,
rather than problems)
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Response
100%
(0) No response
(1) Denial (didn’t do it, others were guilty)
80%
(2) Evading responsibility (not in our control,
accident, we had good intentions)
60%
(3) Reducing offensiveness (reframing the
situation as less negative, bolstering)
40%
(4) Corrective action (make changes to prevent
the problem from repeating itself, or trying
20% to restore the situation to its previous state)
(5) Mortification (apology, expression of regret,
0% confessing, begging for forgiveness)
October November December January
None Denial Evasion
Reduce Offensiveness Corrective Action Mortification
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Overall Response
(0) No response
(1) Denial (didn’t do it, others were guilty)
(2) Evading responsibility (not in our control,
accident, we had good intentions)
(3) Reducing offensiveness (reframing the
situation as less negative, bolstering)
(4) Corrective action (make changes to prevent
the problem from repeating itself, or trying
to restore the situation to its previous state)
12 0 5 8 11 0 (5) Mortification (apology, expression of regret,
confessing, begging for forgiveness)
0. No response 1. Denial 2. Evasion of 3. Reducing 4. Corrective 5. Mortification
responsibility offensiveness action
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Primary Journalistic Dimension of Commentary
What is the tone of the article?
100% (1) Criticizing (expressing disapproval by pointing
out faults or shortcomings related to the
situation)
80%
(2) Argumentative (reasoning aiming at
demonstrating truth or falsehood)
60%
(3) Descriptive (aimed at describing or informing
40%
about the situation)
(4) Summary (giving a general overview of recent
20% actions)
(5) Cynical (mocking, scornful, sarcastic)
0%
October November December January
Criticizing Argumentative Descriptive Summary Cynical
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Primary Journalistic Dimension of Commentary
Overall Results
(1) Criticizing (expressing disapproval by pointing
out faults or shortcomings related to the
situation)
(2) Argumentative (reasoning aiming at
demonstrating truth or falsehood)
(3) Descriptive (aimed at describing or informing
about the situation)
(4) Summary (giving a general overview of recent
actions)
5 9 16 4 2 (5) Cynical (mocking, scornful, sarcastic)
1. Crusading 2. Argumentative 3. Descriptive 4. Summary 5. Cynical
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Evaluation of Results
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Evaluation of results
 In sum, the personalization was medium
 Analysis of the crisis, not of representatives
 Response strategies
 No denial and mortification
 Reasoning prevailed over appeal to emotions
 Tried to improve their damaged image by using reducing offensiveness,
evasion of responsibility and corrective actions
 The cynicism of the articles decreased, whereas the use of
description increased
 The crisis is still in the containment phase
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Thank you for your attention
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