Media Brand Reputation in the Digital Milieu: The Effects of Online News Ethics and Logic on Media Brand Image

Abstract

The reputation of media, especially online media, has lately been receiving considerable attention due to the high numbers of hoaxes and twisted facts in news reporting, causing the credibility to be undermined. Online media are considered only to pursue clicks and shares to reap ads, disregarding aspects of news ethics and logic. News ethics and logic are, in fact, constituents of media brand behaviour. In contrast, brand behaviour per se is a dimension of brand image, meaning that news ethics and logic have implications for the reputation and image of the reporting media. This research examines the following consequences: 1) Do online news content ethics, news context ethics, and news logic significantly positively affect shaping media brand image? 2) Which dimension has the most robust relationship and effect? Using an explanatory survey method, we gathered data through questionnaire dissemination to 74 online news active reader-respondents in Indonesia. The research showed that 1) online news ethics and logic are positively and significantly influential to media brand image, 2) news logic had the most significant effect, followed by news context and content ethics. It signals that aspects of coherence, accuracy, and manipulation in online news are the most 'disturbing' to readers and might harm the media's image. Other aspects include news placement, layout, links in the news context ethics, and verbal, visual, and style elements in news content ethics. Various implications of these results are discussed systematically in journalism practices and media brand reputation.