Abstract:
Sound corporate governance is a key driver for sustainable business performance,
particularly for companies in developing countries. Since the media fulfils an important
function in developing discourse regarding the role of business in society, we
investigate the role that the South African print media has played to place corporate
governance on the public agenda, and report on the level to which the term corporate
governance and related topics appeared in the South African print media from 1990
to 2012. Based on agenda setting theory, we present a descriptive statistical analysis
of the frequency (first level agenda setting) as well as the tonality (second level agenda
setting) of corporate governance in selected South African print media over the 22-year
period. Our findings suggest that while corporate governance has gained prominence
in the media over the period of analysis, media reporting on this and related issues
have a predominantly negative balanced tonality. We conclude that the print media is
not yet sufficiently setting the agenda and breaching the public’s awareness threshold
to substantially foster ethical corporate behaviour. Recommendations for further
research are discussed.
