Measuring the reputation of media

Abstract

The goal of this article is to apply a general reputation model to the media. Putting reputation into the centre of media analysis allows one to concentrate on publishers’ and broadcasters’ corporate identities and their situation in the aggressive market. Reputation analysis contributes to the understanding of the specifics of the media business. The Media Reputation Quotient, developed by the author for the measurement of media reputation, consists of four dimensions: (1) a public or ‘external’ dimension, showing how society and the state understand fundamental values of freedom, equality and solidarity; (2) an ‘invisible’ market dimension that evaluates media concentration, prices, and circulation; (3) an organizational dimension that consists of slightly modified dimensions from the classical Reputation Quotient; and (4) a journalistic dimension based on the media products’ quality and creativity. The Media Reputation Quotient is an attempt to use the classical Reputation Quotient (designed primarily for commercial purposes) for the analysis of a mixed (commercial and public) business. Modifications of the Reputation Quotient demonstrate that a comparison of reputation between different sectors is very limited.