STAKEHOLDERS IN THE FREE TRADE COVERAGE

AND THEIR EFFECTS ON FRAME SALIENCE IN THE NEWS

by

JIANCHUAN ZHOU

(Under the Direction of Lee B. Becker)

ABSTRACT

Research in the news construction tradition has identified multiple levels of influence on the content. In the outside organizations level, this study goes beyond what influences the content and explores why some entities have greater influence on local newspapers’ content in free trade than others do. The stakeholder theory developed in the management research literature is used to explain that the relationships between the local newspaper and the examined entities are stakeholder relationships. The entity’s stakeholder power to the newspaper and its stake size in free trade coverage are two attributes of the stakeholder relationship and are examined as the independent variables. Four local daily newspapers in auto-manufacturing communities are selected for comparison because they are in different stakeholder situations. Related to free trade, the automaker, the UAW union and the local government are examined as stakeholders to each local newspaper. The two independent variables are analyzed using in-depth interview data. The salience of the stakeholder frames in the newspaper free trade coverage is the dependent variable and is measured in content analysis of the stories on free trade issues. The results show that stake size has a strong effect on stakeholder frame salience in the news. First, the percentage of stakeholder frame presence in the defined story population increases as stake size increases. Second, the percentage of frame presence in headlines and leads also is positively related to stake size. Third, stories that contain a stakeholder frame enjoy somewhat better visual salience treatment if the stakeholder has larger stake size. In comparison, stories that contain the stakeholder frame in headlines or leads enjoy more visual salience when the stake size is large. By contrast, stakeholder power only has a weak effect on stakeholder frame salience. However, stakeholder power has an interaction effect with stake size. When stakeholder power gets higher, the effect of stake size on frame salience accelerates. Besides theoretical contributions, the findings also provide practical implications to working journalists and various social groups. Limitations and future directions are discussed in the final chapter.

INDEX WORDS: framing, frame salience, news construction, stakeholder, stake, power,

resource dependence, newspaper, free trade, fair trade, automobile industry, United Auto Workers union (UAW)

STAKEHOLDERS IN THE FREE TRADE COVERAGE

AND THEIR EFFECTS ON FRAME SALIENCE IN THE NEWS

by

JIANCHUAN ZHOU

B.A., University of International Relations, China, 1995

M.A., The University of Texas-Austin, 2004

A Dissertation Submitted to the Graduate Faculty of The University of Georgia in Partial

Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree

DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY

ATHENS, GEORGIA

2008

© 2008

Jianchuan Zhou

All Rights Reserved

STAKEHOLDERS IN THE FREE TRADE COVERAGE

AND THEIR EFFECTS ON FRAME SALIENCE IN THE NEWS

by

JIANCHUAN ZHOU

Major Professor: Lee B. Becker

Committee: Jeffrey D. Berejikian William F. Griswold C. Ann Hollifield Janice R. Hume

Electronic Version Approved: Maureen Grasso Dean of the Graduate School The University of Georgia August 2008

DEDICATION

For Désirée, my fiancée

Our relationship has blossomed as my dissertation progressed.

iv

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

With the completion of this dissertation and my doctoral program, a number of names

and vivid faces emerge in my reflection of the process. To these people I owe millions of thanks

for the knowledge, inspiration, and many hours of work they have contributed to my progress.

First and foremost, Dr. Lee Becker, who acted as my advisor, guided me from a broad interest to

a refined research design and provided much needed instruction in every step of my dissertation

research. Dr. Ann Hollifield, who also served in my committee, instructed me on a prior research

paper that set the theoretical foundation on which my dissertation was built. I also benefited

tremendously from the knowledge of Dr. Bill Griswold, Dr. Janice Hume and Dr. Jeff

Berejikian. My learning and research in their classes play an important role in shaping my

research area. These people have become my reliable sources for instruction, inspiration and

encouragement.

I want to thank Dr. Hugh Martin, Dr. Tudor Vlad, Dr. A (Carolina Acosta-Alzuru) for

their valuable advice with a personal care. Many other Grady professors also have helped but

their names cannot be listed here due to space limit. I appreciate the Grady College for providing

the environment and financial support that made my academic pursuance possible. Amanda

Swennes and Stephen Bailey worked with me as my “research assistant” on my dissertation.

My parents, far away in China, have always provided whole-hearted spiritual support at

times of difficulty and frustration. My fiancée, Désirée, proof-read my dissertation and sacrificed

much time doing the housework when I needed to spend every waking hour in my dissertation to

ensure completion on time.

v

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Page

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS.............................................................................................................v

LIST OF TABLES....................................................................................................................... viii

LIST OF CHARTS ........................................................................................................................ ix

CHAPTER

1 INTRODUCTION .........................................................................................................1

2 THEORIES AND LITERATURES...............................................................................4

2.1. Framing in the news construction tradition........................................................4

2.2. The stakeholder approach.................................................................................15

2.3. A stakeholder approach to understand news framing.......................................27

3 HYPOTHESES............................................................................................................29

3.1. Exemplar: Newspapers in auto manufacturing communities...........................29

3.2. Hypotheses .......................................................................................................32

4 METHODS ..................................................................................................................35

4.1. Data and measurement for independent variables – stakeholder power and

stake size............................................................................................................35

4.2. Data and measurement for the dependent variable – frame salience ...............39

5 DATA ANALYSIS I – INDEPENDENT VARIABLES ............................................45

5.1. The background: the local newspapers and their communities........................45

5.2. Independent variable – stakeholder power .......................................................49

vi

5.3. Independent variable – stake size ....................................................................78

6 DATA ANALYSIS II – STAKEHOLDER FRAMES................................................87

6.1. The frame of U.S. automakers..........................................................................88

6.2. The frame of foreign automakers .....................................................................91

6.3. The frame of the UAW.....................................................................................94

6.4. The frame of the Adams government...............................................................97

6.5. The frame of the Baldwin government...........................................................100

6.6. The frame of the Chaplin and Dawson governments .....................................103

7 DATA ANALYSIS III – FRAME SALIENCE.........................................................106

7.1. Percentage in stories as frame salience indicator ...........................................108

7.2. Visual elements in the story ...........................................................................115

7.3. UAW frame salience before and after the strike ............................................120

8 DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION........................................................................122

8.1. A brief summary.............................................................................................122

8.2. Interpretations and theoretical implications ...................................................125

8.3. Limitations......................................................................................................129

REFERENCES ............................................................................................................................134

APPENDICES .............................................................................................................................144

A SELECTED SAMPLES OF INTERVIEW QUESTIONS TO EDITORS................144

B THE “CONSTRUCTED WEEK” PROCESS ...........................................................146

C THE “CONSTRUCTED MONTH” PROCESS ........................................................147

D CONTENT ANALYSIS CODE BOOK....................................................................148

vii

LIST OF TABLES

Page

Table 4.1: Matching pseudonyms for places, organizations and people .......................................36

Table 4.2: Holsti’s Coefficient of Reliability ................................................................................44

Table 5.1: Editor’s ratings on stakeholder importance to the newspaper ......................................50

Table 5.2: Percent of automaker advertising in newspaper’s total revenue ..................................52

Table 6.1: Viewpoints in U.S. automakers’ frame on free trade ...................................................90

Table 6.2: Viewpoints in foreign automakers’ frame on free trade...............................................91

Table 6.3: Viewpoints in UAW union’s frame on free trade.........................................................94

Table 6.4: Viewpoints in Adams government’s frame on free trade.............................................99

Table 6.5: Viewpoints in Baldwin government’s frame on free trade.........................................100

Table 6.6: Viewpoints in Chaplin and Dawson governments’ frame on free trade.....................105

Table 7.1: Viewpoints that are examined in news stories............................................................107

Table 7.2: Frame salience as percent of stories containing stakeholder frame............................110

Table 7.3: Percent distribution of visual variables in all stories ..................................................115

Table 7.4: Visual salience mean value from stories containing stakeholder frame.....................117

Table 7.5: Change in UAW frame salience after strike ...............................................................121

viii

LIST OF CHARTS

Page

Chart 5.1: Standardized stakeholder power ...................................................................................77

Chart 5.2: Stake size in free trade ..................................................................................................86

Chart 5.3: A two-dimension chart for stakeholder power and stake size ......................................86

Chart 7.1: Frame salience (%) in full stories by stakeholder power and stake size.....................110

Chart 7.2: Frame salience (%) in headlines and leads by stakeholder power and stake size.......114

Chart 7.3: Visual salience value of stakeholder frame in full stories by I.V. ..............................118

Chart 7.4: Visual salience value of stakeholder frame in headlines and leads by I.V. ................118

ix

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

News coverage frames issues. As Entman described, to frame “is to select some aspects

of a perceived reality and make them more salient in a communicating text, in such a way as to

promote a particular problem definition, causal interpretation, moral evaluation, and/or treatment

recommendation” (1993, p. 52). Often a major issue, whether social, political, or economic, is

interpreted through different frames by different actors. To propagate their respective views,

these actors compete to get their particular frames adopted by the news media as the salient news

frames (e.g., Andsager, 2000; Baron, 2005; Callaghan & Schnell, 2001).

Typically, actors who compete for frame salience do so because they have a stake or an

interest in the issue. Therefore, how the issue is covered in the news and which frame dominates

will have a positive or negative impact on the interests of the actors. When competing frames are

available from various actors, the news media rarely present all of them to audiences. Which

frame becomes salient in the news is ultimately the choice of the media organizations. This

choice, whether conscious or unconscious, is not random, but determined by various influences

(Shoemaker & Reese, 1996). When a number of possible frames are competing for salience in

the coverage, why does a focal media organization adopt Frame A as opposed to Frame B, C,

D…? One way of furthering this understanding is to examine how frame salience is linked to

external influence over the media organization.

Jamieson and Waldman (2003) noted that when powerful groups collaborate in framing,

the press usually transmits the agreed-upon words to its audience. To test whether differentiation

1

in power possessed by political or social groups leads to differentiation in frame salience, one

approach is to compare two cases between which power differentiation exists. In this way, a

frame suppressed in one case may show up in the other, should there be real difference in

interests. Only in such contests and comparison can one examine whether a relationship exists

between power and frame salience.

One such contest observable in the American public discourse is on the trade policy of

the United States. Public discourse and policy on international trade bring about different results

to various domestic groups. Some may benefit while others may be harmed. A review of trade

policy literature by Bailey (2001, p. 45) noted interest group battles dominate discussions of

American trade politics, and his finding suggested that both organized and diffuse interests may

have an influence on trade policies. Frames to be found in the news on U.S. trade policies, then,

are expected to reflect some of the various perspectives. While the competing views do get more

or less coverage in the news media, they are not treated equally, and some views or frames enjoy

more salience in the news. A content analysis of The New York Times and The Detroit News

showed that the news coverage on the U.S.-Japanese auto trade conflicts biased toward “fair

trade” instead of “free trade,” and was a result of auto elite influence (Chang, 1999).

The current study examines U.S. local newspapers’ coverage on the issues of “free trade”

versus “fair trade” where the automobile industry is in concern. In this study, “free trade” is

broadly defined as free flow of both goods and capitals without restriction. This definition of free

trade includes free imports and exports without duty, as well as free direct investment in a

foreign country and such activity is free from discrimination. The free trade definition in the

current study does not include free flow of labor across borders, which is essentially the

immigration issue. In comparison, the “fair trade” argument refers to the philosophy and policy

2

approach that certain measures, including restrictions, should be taken to ensure all parties in

international trade compete on a level playing field and no one has a distinct advantage created

by unequal policies, or by absence of policies that address inequities.

The local newspapers studied have stakeholders in their communities. The stakeholders

all have stakes of different sizes in free trade and different levels of stakeholder powers to the

local newspapers. In this way, the study seeks to understand the conditions under which a

stakeholder frame in free trade is adopted by the newspaper organization as the salient news

frame.

In this study, actors who have stakes or interests in the U.S. trade policies and who are to

be affected by the news frames on this issue are the stakeholders. In this approach, a media

organization is viewed as a focal organization dealing with stakeholders who have conflicting

interests and competing frames. These competing frames, sponsored by the stakeholders and may

or may not be salient in the news, are referred to as “stakeholder frames” (as opposed to “news

frames”) in the current study.

The linkage between the stakeholder approach and news framing is constructed and used

as the overarching theoretical framework for analyzing the effects of stakeholder power and

stake size on the salience of stakeholder frame in the newspaper.

3

CHAPTER TWO

THEORIES AND LITERATURES

The current study is about news framing. It attempts to explore some determinants that

explain the influence on news frames and to understand why some frames are more salient than

others. The theoretical framework of this study is constructed upon the rich literature in the news

construction and framing areas as well as extracting the explanatory power of stakeholder

approach for understanding news organizations.

2.1. Framing in the news construction tradition

Empirical studies on news framing generally follow one of the two traditions. One is the

media effect tradition, which treats news framing as an independent variable and examines its

effects on audience, and on many aspects of our social and political life, including voters’

participation and voting decision (Di Palma, 1970; Schuck & de Vreese, 2007), and policy

making process (Callaghan & Schnell, 2001). The vast research in this tradition generally finds

that news frames have impacts on public opinions (Gamson & Modigliani, 1989; Pan & Kosicki,

1993) and on a broader political environment for policy changes (Mutz & Soss, 1997).

On the other hand, the news construction tradition takes news framing as a dependent

variable. While it aims to explain what matters in shaping the news, the “so what” question on

this type of inquiry is generally answered by the findings of the media effect tradition. In other

words, the importance of this inquiry is ratified by the effects of media frames on citizens and the

society as a whole. The current study belongs to the news construction tradition.

4

2.1.1. Definitions of framing

In the past three decades, scholars have offered various versions of definitions for frame

or framing. Entman’s well-known definition, quoted in the beginning paragraph of Chapter 1,

has its emphasis on the selective nature of frames, and it provides four specific elements of the

framing selection.

Another widely cited version is provided by Gitlin (1980). In his words, frames “are

principles of selection, emphasis, and presentation composed of little tacit theories about what

exists, what happens, and what matters” (p. 6). Said in other words, they “are persistent patterns

of cognition, interpretation and presentation of selection, emphasis and exclusion, by which

symbol-handlers routinely organize discourse, whether verbal or visual” (p. 7).

To say that the news media frame reality is not to say that they fake the news. Gitlin

recognized that for organizational reasons alone, frames are unavoidable (p. 7). Likewise,

Schudson suggested that to acknowledge framing “is also to acknowledge that it would be

humanly impossible to avoid framing” (2003, p. 35). Noakes and Johnston likened framing

functions to a frame around a picture: attention gets focused on what is relevant and important

and away from extraneous items in the field of view (2005, p. 2). “What is relevant and

important” or what is “extraneous” is, of course, a subjective matter.

Gamson and Modigliani (1989), as well as Tankard and colleagues (2001), defined a

frame as “a central organizing idea” for making sense of relevant events, suggesting what is at

issue, and supplying a context through the use of selection, emphasis, exclusion, and elaboration.

These definitions and that of Gitlin include both the selective nature and the organizing function

of the frames.

5

Other definitions, in comparison, have put more emphasis on the organizing power of the

frames. Pan and Kosicki viewed a frame as “an idea that connects different semantic elements of

a story into a coherent whole” (1993, p. 59). Reese’s definition viewed that frames must be

socially shared and persistent to be meaningful – they are “organizing principles that are socially

shared and persistent over time, that work symbolically to meaningfully structure the social

world” (2001, p. 11). In particular, the definition offered by Reese described what a strong frame

ultimately achieves.

While some of the sampled definitions describe how the frames function in the text, such

as the various “central organizing idea” versions, and some others offer criteria of frames, such

as the one by Reese, the current study, with a stakeholder approach, concerns what effect the

stakeholders of the media may have on news framing.

Entman’s definition is regarded as most useful to this study because it clearly provides

such an effect for the researcher to expect: that “some aspects of a perceived reality” are made

salient is a key characteristic of frames to make them empirically observable. Moreover,

“problem definition, causal interpretation, moral evaluation, and/or treatment recommendation”

are four dimensions of framing and the substance messages of the frame itself, serving as

lighthouses in framing analysis (1993, p. 52).

Complementally, Gitlin’s term “little tacit theories” reminds us that frames are “largely

unspoken and unacknowledged” (1980, pp. 6, 7), so the messages about the “problem definition,

causal interpretation, moral evaluation, and/or treatment recommendation” are conveyed without

explicit awareness of the audience.

As such, the concept of frame salience is used in the current study as a dependent

variable. From a stakeholder approach, the term “frame salience” refers to the extent to which a

6

stakeholder frame is adopted in the news. It is the relative weight of one stakeholder frame in a

defined universe of news coverage. It is important to understand how certain frames get salient in

the news because salient frames have bigger impact on both public opinions and policy

formation.

2.1.2. Framing research in a news construction tradition

In one of the classic works in the news construction tradition of framing research,

Tuchman (1978) examined newspapers and television stations as complex organizations subject

to certain inevitable processes, and journalists as professionals with professional concerns. She

found that the news frame organizes everyday reality and the news frame is an essential part of

this everyday reality. In this process, news reproduces the status quo and obfuscates social reality

instead of revealing it. It confirms the legitimacy of the state by hiding the state’s intimate

involvement with, and support of, corporate capitalism. The research of Entman concluded that

the frame in a news text “is really the imprint of power – it registers the identity of actors or

interests that compete to dominate the text” (1993, p. 55). Turow (1997) developed a framework

for strategic thinking to explain the complex relationship between power players who control

resources and the media that are dependent upon them for resources and how the power relations

can influence the content decision of the media into a strategic decision.

Fishman (1980) reported how a New York City television station was creating a crime

wave, which he found was little more than a theme that allowed editors to organize an array of

events into packages or groups of interrelated news items. Interested in “the creation of news,”

the researcher distinguished between two levels of news making: that of routine journalism and

that of manipulated journalism. The latter is built on a foundation of routine news practices it

attempts to direct. Fishman noted that the crime wave involved news sources who had a stake in

7

the issue. They strategically used their power to make news in order to formulate what was going

on in ways that were compatible with their interests.

Shoemaker and Reese’s comprehensive work, Mediating the Message (1996),

summarized and categorized influences on media content into five hierarchical levels from micro

to macro: individual journalists, media routines, media organization, outside organizations

(including other media organizations), and ideology. These authors argued the more micro-level

influences are confined by the macro ones, and will be overruled by the latter when they are at

odds.

The current study is about the relation between the media organization and the outside

organizations, or stakeholders, in its environment. This is where the stakeholder approach fits the

best. In this approach, the media organization, and not the individual journalist, is the center of

concern. This study seeks to understand how the stakeholder relationship influences media

content. Certainly, the ideological level of influence is another matter of importance that

deserves separate inquiries. Also, all the macro-level influences are only realized through the

work of journalists. But, as Shoemaker and Reese (1996) have suggested, the macro-level

influences encompass the micro-level ones. Influences from outside organizations, therefore,

may be passed down to the working journalists, either directly from the top management of the

organization or through the institutionalized media routines. This study views the media routines

as the means of hidden control over working journalists, confining news production in certain

process and its news products in certain patterns. For example, a study on a major-market

television station found journalists adapted typification of story elements and news sources as a

key strategy in their everyday work routine process (Berkowitz, 1992). In other words, news

8

routine is an invisible part of the organizational influence on the media content, so that the

working journalists do not feel direct organizational control on a daily basis.

News organizations rely on the interplay of news professionalism and news policies to

control the behavior of journalists (Soloski, 1989). Direct interference from the top management,

as suggested by Shoemaker and Reese, only comes to light in exceptional cases or when a

violation of the norm has occurred. But even rare cases of interference or reprimand from the

management helps journalists to understand the boundaries of their autonomy, thus imposing a

highly efficient type of censorship – self-censorship (Breed, 1955).

2.1.2.1. Governments, elites, and news content

Government officials and congressional members have been the single most important

sources for news in many countries, including the Untied States. A study by Gans (1979) on CBS

Evening News, NBC Nightly News, Newsweek, and Time magazine demonstrated that news was

determined by a complicated mix of factors, but among those he singled out a handful of

explanatory factors. Particularly, Gans suggested source power was of prime significance.

Government sources are chosen because they have resource and power, both to supply the

information and to exert pressure. In the relationship between journalists and sources, “more

often than not, sources do the leading” (p. 116). They can punish reporters by withholding

information, thereby putting them at a disadvantage with peers from competing media (p. 134).

Another reason why official resources are preferred is that they are more easily available

to journalists, and their status allows journalists to believe they have more important things to

say (Paletz & Entman, 1981). Journalists also tend to accept the official accounts as being factual

(Gandy, 1982). The impact of this tendency is not limited to just which issues or events are

selected as news, but how they are presented as well. Goldenberg (1975) noted that the bulk of

9

the news, particularly the stories emanating from beats, came from officials and journalists

adopted their definition of the situation or problem, and worked within that framework.

Others have made similar points. For example, Gandy (1982) provided detailed accounts

elaborating how the “information subsidies,” made available by the resource-rich governmental

and corporate sources, have played an influential role in manipulating the news. Croteau and

Hoynes (1994) examined Nightline and MacNeil/Lehrer, and revealed that the television news

effectively limited public affairs debate by selecting guests from an “insider” circle. Quite

naturally, guests from such “insider” circles were presented as “experts.” When only on occasion

antagonists were invited as guests, they were typically derogated as political partisans who have

an agenda, hence, not as credible.

Numerous studies have found the media’s heavy reliance on official or elite sources (e.g.,

Hornig, Walters, & Templin, 1991; Lasorsa & Reese, 1990). A recent example examines the

case of the Abu Ghraib scandal, in which researchers found that the leading national news

organizations failed to challenge the official framing that claimed the scandal was isolated

“abuse” by low-level soldiers, despite available evidence to support “a policy of torture” framing

(Bennett, Lawrence, & Livingston, 2006).

Some scholars found that use of official sources is even more common in the public

discourse on issues that involve the vested interests of the established, compared to the coverage

of human interest events (Atwater & Green, 1988; Shoemaker & Reese, 1996). The implication

of this finding to the current study, from the stakeholder perspective, is that the size of the stake

is another variable besides stakeholder power that may influence news framing.

Scholars, however, have pointed out that the economic logic of the media organizations,

rather than the individual journalists, is the primary drive for the heavy reliance on powerful

10

sources. While it is the reporters who maintain direct contact with news sources, it is ultimately

the organizational quest for low-cost, high-volume news production that creates a power

differential usually in favor of the sources (Fishman, 1980; Gandy, 1982; Gans, 1979;

Goldenberg, 1975). Although, the journalists are surely concerned about their income (which

will be reduced if their story quotas are not met), and they are cognizant of the costs of

publishing and broadcasting (Altschull, 1997). Treating official sources as “reliable” sources

eliminates the need to double- and triple-check “facts” (Hackett, 1985), making the journalists’

job more efficient.

2.1.2.2. Advertisers and news content

The relationship between the press and the advertisers is described by Altschull as such:

[T]he content of the press is directly correlated with the interests of those who finance the press. The press is the piper, and the tune the piper plays is composed by those who pay him or her. This is so even though the identity of the paymaster is not always known: In fact, it is in the paymaster’s interests to maintain the lowest sort of profile, for to do so contributes to the maintenance of the folklore (1997, p. 261).

In a capitalist society, concerning the United States in particular, advertisers are the principal

paymasters of the mass media. Jamieson and Campbell (2000) have observed that advertisers

“use their financial muscle to protest what they perceive as unfair treatment by the news segment

of the mass media” (p. 97).

The influence of tobacco companies on mass media, for example, is well documented in

multiple studies. In the six major women’s magazines investigated by Kessler (1989), although

women’s health was a major topic, there was almost no editorial content about any health

hazards of smoking. Ferris (Ferris, 1994) reported that a California group known as Women and

Girls Against Tobacco tried to place an anti-smoking ad in Essence magazine. The magazine

eventually refused to run the ad out of fear of angering the big clients – the tobacco companies.

11

Other major advertisers have also been observed to exert influence on the media. A

survey of 41 newspapers (Williams, 1992) found three-quarters of real estate editors said that

advertisers had threatened to pull ads in response to unfavorable coverage, and more than one-

third said the ads had actually been pulled. Another survey of editors at daily newspapers

reported that near 90% reported that advertisers attempted to influence the content of news

stories; another 90% had economic pressure applied on them by advertisers because of their

reporting, and 37% had capitulated to advertiser pressure. The same study also reported that 85%

of the surveyed editors said their papers carried articles that advertisers found critical and

harmful, indicating other countering factors exist as well (Soley & Craig, 1992).

Rykken (1992) reported that when newspapers worry more about advertising revenues,

independent reporting gives way to press releases. In some cases, the media contents are even

designed to draw advertisers. Lazare (1989) found that Vanity Fair’s April 1989 issue carried 37

pages of ads from advertisers who had previously been given favorable editorial coverage in the

magazine.

On the power of the advertisers, Gitlin (1994) contended that the TV executives took into

account whether, in their perception, major advertisers in the aggregate were going to consider a

show a hospitable setting for their commercials. To the advertisers, the TV programs amount to

packaging for their commercials.

2.1.2.3. Audiences and news content

Gans (1979) suggested that audience has potentially great power, but could exert its

power only by a mass boycott, a nearly impossible task from a heterogeneous aggregate of

spectators. As time changes, more recent research that identified audience influence on media

content often did so without finding the audience having to exert its power in such a drastic way.

12

In today’s media world, publishers, editors and news directors are among the first to feel the

pulse of ratings and often react rather quickly. Perhaps thanks to the improved audience research

methods and technology, media organizations are now able to closely monitor audience reaction

to content, and virtually avoid the kind of “mass boycott” discussed by Gans, except in extreme

cases.

Yet this does not mean the audience as a whole has gained more practical influence.

Napoli (2002) suggested that audience valuation, a now common practice by advertisers and

market-driven media organizations, makes some segments of audience over-served with

excessive content, leaving other audience segments underserved. Empirical research in this

regard found that demographics are the proxy used by both advertisers and the media for

audience valuation (Monistere & Zimmerman, cited in Napoli, 2003). Usually the over-served

audiences are members who are perceived to be spenders targeted by advertisers, mostly younger

adults and people of higher income (e.g., Koschat & Putsis Jr, 2000).

Compared to implications of the audience factor on what programs or contents are aired

or printed, fewer studies are dedicated to its effect on how the news is covered. One of the few is

a study of media representation of public opinion in the 2001 British general election (Brookes,

Lewis, & Wahl-Jorgensen, 2004). That study found that the British television news consistently

favored “horse-race” polls over the more substantial public opinions on policies, and it is

common in the TV that the views of individual members of the public are made to stand in for

general public opinion.

Overall, the research in audience influence seems to suggest that if the public opinion is

not monolithic, then the media framing will probably favor the views of the high-value audience

over other audience segments.

13

2.1.2.4. Interest groups and news content

Interest groups are composed of individuals who want to communicate their stance on

one or more issues to the public. They seek to influence legislation as well as media content. For

example, Callaghan and Schnell (2001) documented how the National Rifle Association and

Handgun Control, Inc. both attempted to play an “active and deliberate role in defining the issue

of gun control as the debate heated up”(p. 192). In Baron’s case study (2005), the Sierra Club, an

environmental activist group, competed with the automobile industry for media framing. After a

legislative effort in 2002 failed to raise the corporate average fuel economy (CAFE) standards

for light vehicles, the Sierra Club viewed winning the media framing as a vital strategy to win

the public opinion.

Interest groups often provide “guidelines” – a form of framing – for covering topics of

interest to their groups (Andsager, 2000; also see Shoemaker & Reese, 1996). Such efforts,

however, are not always successful (e.g., Tankard Jr., Middleton, & Rimmer, 1979).

Organized interest groups will protest and try to pressure the media if they consider the

news unfair or inaccurate on issues they have taken an interest in (Gans, 1979). Direct influence

on media executives and journalists is usually limited, but successful interest groups are able to

gain leverage from other powerful groups, such as politicians and advertisers. If the politicians or

advertisers believe that members of the interest groups are important constituents or targeted

audience, they will pass the pressure on to the media executives (Gans, 1979; Gitlin, 1994;

MacNeil, 1968).

An example of such effort to pressure was given by Donald Wildmon, the founder and

chairman of the American Family Association (AFA). The AFA was highly critical of the NBC

14

television program “Saturday Night Live,” which the group believes to be “truly vulgar and

obscene.” In early 1989 Wildmon wrote to AFA supporters:

General Mills was a sponsor of “Saturday Night Live.” …I contacted General Mills and asked them why they sponsored this show. After receiving my letter, General Mills canceled close to a million dollars of advertising they had planned to spend sponsoring “SNL.” That’s what our boycott can achieve (quoted in Shoemaker & Reese, 1996, p. 185).

However, the power of the interest groups varies. As Gans (1979) pointed out, pressure from

powerless groups is often ignored. While few studies have directly answered why some interest

groups are more powerful than others, a bulk of the research in this regard, taken together,

explains at least partially that the power of an interest group depends, to a large degree, on the

power of its members and supporters, and the resources that are available to them.

2.2. The stakeholder approach

The stakeholder approach is a comprehensive theoretical framework developed in the

management scholarship. It starts by viewing an organization as part of a system that consists of

multiple stakeholders that the focal organization must deal with. A summary of the stakeholder

approach by Donaldson and Preston (1995) reports that the stakeholder theoretical framework

has been developed from three general perspectives. The descriptive/empirical perspective holds

that a corporation’s strategy, activity, or performance is determined by the various stakeholder

situations in its environment. For example, Brenner and Cochran (1991) used the stakeholder

approach to describe the nature of the firm. Wang and Dewhirst (1992) applied the theoretical

framework to interpret how boards of directors think about corporate constituencies. They found

that directors have high stakeholder orientations and they view some stakeholders differently

depending on their occupation and type. Other researchers empirically advanced the stakeholder

15

approach by examining how some corporations are actually managed (Clarkson, 1991; Halal,

1990; Kreiner & Bambri, 1991).

The instrumental perspective of stakeholder approach proposes that if the organization

wants to achieve (avoid) XYZ, then it must (not) do ABC. Kotter and Heskett (1992) studied a

sample of highly successful companies. They concluded what made these firms successful was

that they all share a stakeholder perspective, finding that “[a]lmost all managers care strongly

about people who have a stake in the business – customers, employees, stockholders, suppliers,

etc.” (p. 59).

The normative perspective argues for corporate social responsibility. It identifies moral or

philosophical guidelines for the operation and management of corporations and it maintains that

a company should heed to the needs of all stakeholders, not just that of the shareholders (Carroll,

1996; Kuhn & Shriver, 1991; Marcus, 1993).

The approach adopted by the current study is an empirical stakeholder approach, in which

the theoretical framework is used to predict the activity of the newspaper, framing, based on the

stakeholder relationships of the newspaper organization.

2.2.1. Definitions of stakeholder

Given the wide variety of perspectives found in stakeholder research, the concept of

stakeholder has also been defined in numerous ways. A review of some widely cited definitions

finds that the concept is mostly defined from two characteristics regarding the type of

relationship a stakeholder has with the focal organization. A stakeholder as “influencer” has the

capacity to affect the workings of the organization. A stakeholder as “claimant” has some sort of

claim on the services of a business, or the stakeholder is affected by what the focal organization

16

does. A definition that requires both characteristics would make the concept quite narrow, and a

definition accepting either characteristic as sufficient would make the concept a rather broad one.

2.2.1.1. Stakeholder defined as either claimant or influencer

R. E. Freeman and Reed (1983) provide both a “wide” and a “narrow” version of

stakeholder definition. Their wide sense of stakeholder is any identifiable group or individual

who can affect the achievement of an organization’s objectives or who is affected by the

achievement of an organization’s objectives. Stakeholders in this sense include public interest

groups, protest groups, government agencies, trade associations, competitors, unions, as well as

employees, customer segments, shareowners, and others are stakeholders.

Similar to this description is the now-classic stakeholder definition by R. E. Freeman:

Any group or individual who can affect or is affected by the achievement of the firm’s objectives

(1984, p. 46). Likewise, Carroll’s definition, put in short, is “any individual or group who can

affect or is affected by the actions, decisions, policies, practices, or goals of the organization”

(1996, p. 74).

Frooman (1999) used R. E. Freeman’s classic definition as a starting point to explore

stakeholder influence strategies. Concurring with Goodpastor (1991), Frooman views

stakeholders who can affect a firm as strategic stakeholders and those who are affected by the

firm as moral stakeholders. He proposed that types of influence strategy adopted by a

stakeholder can be understood in terms of how much power the stakeholder has on the firm,

measured by its relative resource dependency with the firm.

Studying stakeholder in inter-organizational systems using the case of drug-use

management systems, Pouloudi and Whitley (1997) adopted perhaps the broadest approach. In

their study, stakeholders are all participants in the system together with any other individual,

17

groups or organization whose actions can influence or be influenced by the development and use

of the system whether directly or indirectly (p. 2).

2.2.1.2. Stakeholder defined as claimant

Some researchers (e.g., Post & Frederick, 1996) have criticized R. E. Freeman’s

definition for being too broad to be of analytical value. Freeman1 (2004) himself later restated

the concept as “groups and individual who benefit from or are harmed by, and whose rights are

violated or respected by, corporate actions” (p. 58). This definition, compared to the 1984

definition, put emphasis on stakeholder being affected than its ability to affect in its relationship

with the focal organization.

Hill and Jones (1992) view stakeholders of a firm as groups of constituents who have a

legitimate claim on the firm. Each of these groups supplies the firm with critical resources and in

exchange each expects its interests to be satisfied (by inducements). The size or magnitude of

their stake in the firm is a key variable in this definition. This magnitude is a function of the

extent to which a stakeholder’s exchange relationship with the firm is supported by investments

in specific assets that cannot be redeployed to alternative use without a loss of value.

Another variable derives from Hill and Jones’ definition is power differential, by which

they mean a condition of unequal dependence. For the firm and a stakeholder, power differential

is in the firm’s favor when the stakeholder depends upon the firm more than the firm depends

upon the stakeholder. By this sense, these researchers do not view stakeholders as necessary

influencers of the firm.

Clarkson’s (1994) narrower definition, cited in Mitchell, Agle and Wood (1997), views

stakeholders as voluntary or involuntary risk-bearers. “Voluntary stakeholders bear some form of

risk as a result of having invested some form of capital, human or financial, something of value, 1 In some earlier editions, eg., 1988 Ed., Evan and Freeman coauthored.

18

in a firm. Involuntary stakeholders are placed at risk as a result of a firm’s activities. But without

the element of risk there is no stake” (1994, p. 5).

For Donaldson and Preston (1995), stakeholders are “identified through the actual or

potential harms and benefits that they experience or anticipate experiencing as a result of the

firm’s actions or inactions” (p. 85). They called for a clear distinction between influencers and

stakeholders: some actors in the enterprise (e.g., large investors) may be both, but some

recognizable stakeholders (e.g., the job applicants) have no influence, and some influencers (e.g.,

the media) have no stakes. They hold that a stakeholder must have a legitimate interest in the

firm but may or may not have influence.

In the view of Lampe (2001), conflict in interests “gives the stakeholder concept meaning

and a reason for being” and “when the interests of all stakeholders affected by a particular issue

align with the organization in respect to that issue, the role of the stakeholder concept is

diminished” (p. 165).

Reviewing of the stakeholder concept, Kaler (2002, 2003, 2006) concluded that for the

purpose of business ethics, stakeholders are claimants towards whom businesses owe perfect or

imperfect moral duties beyond those generally owed to people at large. The whole point of

claims, he argued, “is the obtaining of benefits or protection from harm” (2002, p. 92). As a

stakeholder can only be benefited or protected by something that can affect it, a capacity to be

affected by something is a necessary (but not sufficient) condition for having a claim against it.

Kaler’s view on stakeholder claims, in particular, provides a proper definition for the

concept of stake, or stakeholder interest, that is adopted by the current study. Such stakes, as

Alkhafaji (1989) pointed out, may be either economic, political interests or social welfare.

19

2.2.1.3. Stakeholder defined as influencer

The Stanford Research Group (SRI), who was given credit for first use of the term

“stakeholder” in management research (R. E. Freeman, 1984; R. E. Freeman & Reed, 1983)

viewed stakeholders as those groups without whose support the organization would cease to

exist. As mentioned, R. E. Freeman and Reed (1983) offered both a wide definition and a narrow

definition for stakeholder, their narrow sense of stakeholder – any identifiable group or

individual on which the organization is dependent for its continued survival – is certainly putting

emphasis on the influencer attribute.

Roome and Wijen (2006), for their purpose of studying the connection between

stakeholder power and organizational learning, took a restrictive definition of stakeholders as

“individuals or groups who significantly affect an organization’s behavior” (p. 236). These

authors viewed that influence is the equivalent and a materialization of power, which if not

exercised is insignificant. Influence occurs when a stakeholder makes another actor behave in

ways that (s)he would not otherwise do (Dahl, 1957; Mitchell, Agle, & Wood, 1997).

Berman, Wicks, Kotha and Jones (1999) viewed each of these two elements – affect or

affected – in the stakeholder-firm relationship as the foundation for a model of stakeholder

management. First, if a stakeholder can affect the firm, it suggests the possibility of an

instrumental posture toward stakeholders on the part of the firm, with the firm seeking to manage

those stakeholders in order to maximize profits. This is the Stakeholder Orientation 1, resulting

in what they called “strategic stakeholder management model.” Second, if stakeholders are

affected by the firm, it suggests the possibility of a normative obligation to stakeholders on the

firm’s part. This is the Stakeholder Orientation 2, resulting in the “intrinsic stakeholder

commitment model” (p. 491).

20

Berman and colleagues put empirical tests over both models using key stakeholder

relationships and firm strategy as the independent variables, and financial performance as the

dependent variable. Their results yield support for the strategic management model but not the

intrinsic commitment model. In other words, a stakeholder-affected-by-firm type of relationship

does not significantly impact managerial decision making, which in turn, impacts financial

performance. Their findings imply that stakeholders who can affect the firm are those who really

count in the perception of managers.

2.2.1.4. Stakeholder defined as both claimant and influencer

The Scandinavian versions of stakeholder concept fall into this category. For example,

Rhenman (1964) said “stakeholders in an organization are the individuals and groups who are

depending on the firm in order to achieve their personal goals and on whom the firm is

depending for its existence” (quoted in Nasi, 1995, p. 22).

Alkhafaji clearly adopted a narrow definition by stating that stakeholders refers to those

groups who have a direct interest in the survival of the organization and without their support the

organization would cease to exist (1989, p. 36).

Likewise, Savage, Nix, Whitehead and Blair (1991) viewed stakeholders as “individuals,

groups, and other organizations who have an interest in the actions of an organization and who

have the ability to influence it” (p. 61) For these researchers, power, together with opportunities

and willingness, are key elements that determine the potential of a stakeholder to threat. Power is

a function of the organization’s dependence on the stakeholder. Generally, the more dependent

the organization, the more powerful the stakeholder is. Conversely, the more dependent the

stakeholder is on the organization, the higher its willingness to cooperate.

21

Clarkson (1995), after defining stakeholder in general, further differentiate primary and

secondary stakeholders. By his definitions, stakeholders are persons or groups that have, or

claim, ownership, rights, or interests in a corporation and its activities, past, present, or future.

Primary stakeholders are the ones without whose continuing participation the corporation cannot

survive as a going concern. Secondary stakeholders are those who influence or affect, or are

influenced or affected by, the corporation, but they are not engaged in transactions with the

corporation and are not essential for its survival. These differentiated definitions provide options

for both executives and scholars – his general definition implies stakeholders must have stakes,

consistent with the definition found in Clarkson (1994), which emphasizes the element of risk to

denote stake. His secondary stakeholders are certainly defined in a rather broad sense, as

possession of influence is not a necessity. But to be a primary stakeholder, it must be both

influencer and claimant.

Mitchell et al. (1997) reviewed the stakeholder concept in the literature and described

three stakeholder attributes – power over the organization and legitimacy in the relationship are

recognized as the core attributes, and urgency in its claim, “virtually ignored” in the stakeholder

literature, was added by these researchers to “move the model from static to dynamic.” In their

stakeholder typology, although groups who possess either of these attributes can be viewed as

stakeholders in a broad sense, they argued that the salience of the stakeholder (whether or not it

really counts as perceived by managers) is determined by how many of these three attributes it

possesses.

Agle, Mitchell, and Sonnenfeld (1999), used data from CEOs of 80 large U.S. companies

collected in a survey to test the theory of stakeholder identification and salience proposed by

Mitchell et al. (1997). To measure each of the constructs proposed by Mitchell and colleagues –

22

power, legitimacy, urgency – used as independent variables, as well as the construct of salience,

used as dependent variable, Age and colleagues developed in the questionnaire separated items,

each rated on a 7-point likert scale. The results support that, for different stakeholder groups, the

salience of shareholder, customer and community are significantly related to all of the three

stakeholder attributes – power, legitimacy and urgency. The salience of employee is related to

power and legitimacy, and the salience of government to power and urgency.

Building upon the idea of Mitchell et al. (1997), Kochan and Rubinstein (2000) suggested

three dimensions/variables of stakeholders. One, the extent to which they contribute valued

resources to the firm; Two, the extent to which they put these resources at risk and would

experience costs if the firm fails or their relationship with the firm terminates; And three, the

power they have in or over the firm. While possessing any of these three makes a group a latent

stakeholder, a stakeholder high on all three dimensions is called a definitive stakeholder, a term

also used by Mitchell et al. to label stakeholders possessing all three attributes they identified –

power, legitimacy and urgency.

For some researchers who have shown a primary interest in identifying stakeholder

influence, the underlying assumption is that the claimant characteristic may be necessary for a

stakeholder, but it does not make the stakeholder an important one. To the focal organization,

what matters is the stakeholder influence. Rowley concurred with Brenner and Cochran (1991),

viewed that organizations are required to address a set of stakeholder expectations, thus,

management choice is a function of stakeholder influences. Consequently, the main objectives in

stakeholder research have been to identify who the stakeholders are and what types of influences

they exert (Rowley, 1997, pp. 889-890). Pajunen (2006) proposed two dimensions for

stakeholder identification – resource dependencies between the stakeholder and organization,

23

and the position of the stakeholder in the network measured by “betweenness centrality” (L. C.

Freeman, 1979). The first dimension concerns the extent to which stakeholders having the

resources needed by the organization, the second concerns the ability of the stakeholder to

control the interaction and resource flows in the network.

For the purpose of this study – understanding news framing from the stakeholder

perspective, stakeholders shall be defined from a claimant approach. If a social actor does not

have an interest or a stake in how the news is framed, any further discussion on “stakeholder

frame” and “frame salience” will be baseless. For this reason, the stakeholder studied in the

current study must first be a claimant, who is affected by news framing to a greater or lesser

degree, but may or may not have the power to be an influencer. Both characteristics, stake size

and stakeholder power, will be examined as independent variables for their effects on the

salience of stakeholder frame in the news.

2.2.5. Resource dependency and stakeholder power

The concept of dependency is central to all types of stakeholder definitions. Stakeholder

researchers, therefore, have utilized the resource dependency theory to measure the power of

stakeholder (e.g., Casciaro & Piskorski, 2005; Frooman, 1999; Savage et al., 1991). The central

proposition of the resource dependence theory states: if actor A is dependent on actor B for

valuable resources more than actor B is dependent on actor A, then actor B has power over actor

A. Power, therefore, “is a property of the social relation; it is not an attribute of the actor”

(Emerson, 1962, p. 32). Most research on resource relationships between focal organizations and

stakeholders refers to Pfeffer and Salancik’s classic volume, The External Control of

Organizations (1978).

24

Hackett and Carroll (2006, p. 20) discussed power as a multifaceted concept that has both

a “positive face,” the individual and collective capacity to develop potentialities and achieve

goals, and a “negative face,” power over or against others. Three dimensions have been

identified to elaborate the “negative” view of power. The first dimension concerns the ability of

A to persuade or defeat B in order to achieve/avoid X. The second dimension results from

institutional practices that limit the scope of decision-making to issues that are innocuous to the

more powerful party. The third dimension references ideology – the power to shape the

perceptions and desires of subordinate groups, so they do not think to challenge existing social

relations (Hackett & Carroll, 2006; Hall, 1982; Lukes, 1974, 2004). Stakeholder researchers have

generally taken the negative view when they talked about stakeholder power.

Mitchell et al. (1997) suggested power can be coercive, utilitarian, or normative. They

defined coercive power as based on physical resources of force, violence or restraint, utilitarian

power based on material or financial resources, and normative power based on symbolic

resources. Normative power, in essence, derives from and is supported by the dominant ideology

of the society. While the media organizations, themselves being ideological institutions, claim

and exercise tremendous normative power over other social actors, the current study focuses its

concern primarily on the other two types when speaking of stakeholder power over the media

organizations.

Types of needed resources vary across types of organizations. Hence they all deal with

different sets of stakeholders. For the media organizations, valued resources typically include

state-of-art technology, information for content production, market comprises of audiences,

advertising revenues, as well as a friendly legislative and regulatory environment (Hackett &

Carroll, 2006; Shoemaker & Reese, 1996). Governments and other established institutions

25

supply most information to the media organizations, and in doing so, promoting their

perspectives to frame the news in such ways that serve their agenda. On the other hand, the

media generally treat them as reliable sources. Government officials control two types of

resources valued by the media organizations – one being information, the other being the

regulatory or legislative power they processed. It should be promptly pointed out that the

government’s regulatory or legislative power differs from its stakeholder power over media

organizations, although they are two related concepts. Stakeholder power, as discussed, is

understood as a relational characteristic defined as the stakeholder having power over the

organization rather than an attribute in the stakeholder itself. The regulatory or legislative power

of government policymakers is a formal power regardless of its possessors’ relationships with

the media organizations. It is only because policies and regulations affect the way media

organizations conduct business as well as their profit potentiality, policymakers are viewed as a

stakeholder who controls a special type of resource that the media want. Hence, the formal

power of government officials translates into a resource power in a stakeholder relationship.

While most resources needed by the media organization, such as information and advertising

revenue, are of the utilitarian type, the regulatory environment controlled by government

policymakers can be said as of a coercive type.

Using the resource dependency theory, Casciaro and Piskorski (2005) developed a three

by three configuration matrix that elaborates the relative dependency and power between two

companies: the dependence Company I on company J occupies one dimension of the matrix, and

the opposite dependence is on the other dimension. Values 1, 2, and 3 are assigned to indicate

low, medium, and high degree of dependence, respectively. Thus, each cell in the matrix yields

two values: the power imbalance value of the cell is calculated as the difference of the two

26

dimensional values; and the mutual dependence value of the cell is the sum of the two

dimensional values. On the diagonal from low-low to high-high, each cell has power imbalance

value of 0, and mutual dependence value of 2, 4, and 6, respectively.

Adding to resource dependency, some researchers (Pajunen, 2006; Rowley, 1997) have

used the “betweenness centrality” (L. C. Freeman, 1979) to measure stakeholder’s power in a

system. What this concept really measures is the extent to which a stakeholder has control over

the resource/information flow in the network. In this sense, it is an extension from the resource-

dependency concept by taking indirect resource into account. In other words, the stakeholder is

depended upon by the focal organization as a path to obtain resources that may be provided by

other stakeholders in the network. While this additional means of measurement may be more

contributive in studying other types of focal organizations, it does not appear to be a necessity in

the case of media organizations. On one hand, media organizations are generally viewed to

occupy the central positions in social network systems and have direct connection to most, if not

all, social actors. On the other hand, the complexity of using this measurement and the associated

research cost can hardly be justified by the minimal contribution it might bring along in such

case. Hence, the current study will not adopt the “betweenness centrality” measurement, but will

rather use the concept of resource dependency to measure stakeholder power.

2.3. A stakeholder approach to understanding news framing

As suggested, the current study needs to define stakeholder in a claimant approach. In the

issue of foreign trade, therefore, a stakeholder to the media organization is a group whose

interest is affected by how the foreign trade issue is framed in the news.

From the perspective of the media organization, the attributes of its stakeholders pose as

influential factors to shape news framing. One of the stakeholder attributes suggested by Mitchell

27

and colleagues (1997) and others is power. Taken as an independent variable in the current study,

stakeholder power is viewed as a relational attribute, so that it is most meaningful to say the

stakeholder has power over the media organization, rather than power as an attribute of the

stakeholder on its own. Hence, the level of stakeholder power refers to the extent to which the

media organization is dependent upon the stakeholder for valuable resources, both directly and

indirectly.

Another stakeholder attribute is the size of the stake. There is both a difference and a

linkage between how the concept of stake is generally defined in the stakeholder literature and

how it is operationally defined in the current study. The general definition stake in the literature

is an interest of the stakeholder in the focal organization. This interest is either a voluntary

interest resulted by stakeholder investment in the focal organization or an involuntary risk placed

by the activities of the focal organization. In the current study, the stake of the stakeholder begins

as an interest or risk in free trade. A conceptual linkage takes the operational definition of stake

to an interest in how the newspaper covers free trade issues, because media effect research

establishes that news coverage as an activity of the focal organization can influence public

opinions on free trade and trade policies.

Mitchell and colleagues suggested that legitimacy of the stake affects how the size of a

stake is perceived. When the actual sizes of two stakes are roughly equal, the one with higher

legitimacy perceived by the focal organization is the one that matters more than the other.

Therefore, in the current study, the independent variable stake size refers to the size of a

legitimate stake. And it is the extent to which the legitimate interest of a stakeholder is affected,

either positively or negatively, by how the trade issue is framed in the news.

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CHAPTER THREE

HYPOTHESES

As defined in Chapter 2, stakeholders concerned in the current study all have a legitimate

stake in the news coverage of foreign trade issues, although the sizes of the stakes vary for

different stakeholders.

Based on the stakeholder research literature, a stakeholder relationship from the

standpoint of the media organization has an effect on news frames about foreign trade issues,

whether the stakeholder actively seeks to influence the media. As indicated, the size of the

legitimate stake and the level of stakeholder power are two key attributes of the stakeholder

relationship, and they are hypothesized as determinants of frame salience, a concept defined in

Chapter 2.

3.1. Exemplar: Newspapers in Auto manufacturing Communities

Testing the effects of stake size and power level of the stakeholder on frame salience

requires comparison between media organizations where variances in the independent variables

can be found. Some U.S. newspapers with major automobile manufacturers as their stakeholders

meet that criterion and provide the opportunity for such tests in the current study.

Four local daily newspapers, all from east of the Mississippi River in the United States,

are chosen for comparison in terms of their relationships with three types of stakeholder in their

respective communities – the automaker, the United Auto Workers union and the local

government. In the current study, the automaker as a stakeholder refers to both the local auto

assembly plant and the parent corporation. It is more of a local entity in terms of stakeholder

29

power to the local newspaper; and it is more of a national or transnational auto company when

stake size in free trade is the subject. Likewise, the UAW as a stakeholder refers to the

organization and its membership at both national and local level. It is more of a local entity in

terms of the union’s stakeholder power to the local newspaper; and it is more of a national

organization when one speaks about the union’s stake size in free trade. For local government as

a stakeholder, both city government and county government are examined according to their

relevance to the study and analyzed as a combined entity.

The four newspapers are the primary daily newspapers in their respective communities,

all of which are family-owned newspapers. All four auto plants are large employers in their

respective communities, each hiring employees in the thousands. Two of four auto plants are

owned by U.S. automakers, and workers are organized by the United Auto Workers union. The

other two auto plants are non-union plants fully owned by foreign automakers. As such, the

purposive sample of four communities will provide as least some variance in terms of the power

of the UAW union. Given the in-depth nature of the fieldwork required in each community, a lot

of other qualified auto manufacturing communities are left out for the purpose of parsimony.

In the initial plan and the investigating process, the researcher attempted also to examine

the group of autoworkers in each community as a separate stakeholder. However, after fieldwork

and preliminary analysis of the interview data, it became clear that this group is hardly a

stakeholder on its own. The editors either had insufficient knowledge about the characteristics of

this particular group and their perspectives on free trade, as in the non-union foreign auto plants,

or looked at them as members of the UAW, who voice their views on free trade through the

union.

30

Constrained by limited resources, this study could not implement an opinion poll among

the autoworkers in each community. Instead, the researcher surveyed the existing poll data from

several online databases, including Polling the Nations, PollingReport.com and the Roper Center

for Public Opinion Research Websites. These online databases are pools of polls by many

different polling agencies. The researcher hoped to identify existing polls on free trade that were

conducted in places geographically approximate to the studied communities. By analyzing the

demographic variables in the existing poll data and singling out the poll subjects who share the

autoworkers’ demographic characteristics, the researcher could identify a good proxy of the

opinions of the autoworkers in each community. Ultimately, this attempt failed to identify the

desired data because of two reasons. One was the difficulty of identifying unique demographic

variables of the autoworkers besides higher income compared to the average labor force. The

second reason was the lack of geographic approximation in the existing polls on free trade.

Without independent data on the autoworkers, the journalists’ accounts became the only

available information. Questions regarding the autoworkers were asked in the interviews. Based

on a preliminary analysis of these accounts, the researcher came to the understanding that

autoworkers in union plants are most appropriately seen as part of the UAW union as a

stakeholder, and that autoworkers in non-union foreign plants are largely intangible as a

stakeholder group, although the large number of auto employees indicates the stakeholder power

of the automakers. The decision was made that the autoworkers will not be examined as a

separate stakeholder. Nonetheless, information regarding the autoworkers is an indispensable

part in the analysis on other stakeholders.

For a clarification on terminology, the term “community” used in the current study refers

to the primary market area of the daily newspaper. In each of the four cases, the community as

31

defined largely overlaps the county. However, the researcher looks at both the county and the

city to determine which government unit is more important to the newspaper and the auto plant.

3.2. Hypotheses

Drawing upon the stakeholder literature, both stakeholder power and stake size in the free

trade coverage are examined in the current study as independent variables. Regardless how much

power a stakeholder may have, the size of the stake may determine how much of the possessed

power is to be exercised. Assuming a few stakeholders have the same level of power over the

media organization, the one who has a bigger stake is expected to exert its power more than

another who has only a moderate or minor stake involved. In addition, a large and legitimate

stake may also invoke editors’ sense of social responsibility or responsibility to the community

in handling the coverage, leading to a news frame more favorable to that stakeholder.

The purposive sample based on auto plant unionization ensures a difference in the UAW

union’s stakeholder power. This may lead to a difference in frame salience.

Hypothesis 1A: Stake size being equal, if the UAW union is a more powerful stakeholder

to Newspaper A than it is to Newspaper B, then Newspaper A will give more salience to the

frames sponsored by the UAW than Newspaper B does.

Hypothesis 1B: Stakeholder power being equal, if the UAW in Community A has a bigger

stake size in free trade than it does in Community B, then Newspaper A will give more salience

to the frames sponsored by the UAW than Newspaper B does.

Similar hypotheses can also be made on the automakers and local governments,

respectively.

32

Hypothesis 2A: Stake size being equal, if Automaker A is a more powerful stakeholder to

Newspaper A than Automaker B is to Newspaper B, then Newspaper A will give more salience to

the frames sponsored by Automaker A than Newspaper B does to Automaker B.

Hypothesis 2B: Stakeholder power being equal, if Automaker A has a bigger stake size in

the free trade issues than Automaker B does, then Newspaper A will give more salience to the

frames sponsored by Automaker A than Newspaper B does to Automaker B.

Hypothesis 3A: Stake size being equal, if Local Government A is a more powerful

stakeholder to Newspaper A than Local Government B is to Newspaper B, then Newspaper A

will give more salience to the frames favored by Local Government A than Newspaper B does to

Local Government B.

Hypothesis 3B: Stakeholder power being equal, if Local Government A has a bigger

stake size in the free trade issues than Local Government B does, then Newspaper A will give

more salience to the frames favored by Local Government A than Newspaper B does to Local

Government B.

In addition, the stake size is expected to have an interaction effect with the level of

stakeholder power.

Hypothesis 4: The effect of stake size on frame salience will become greater as the level

of stakeholder power increases.

Two new hypotheses that were not initially planned became relevant for the current study

thanks to a major event in the automobile industry – a UAW national strike in late September.

Although the negotiations between the union and the Big Three U.S. automakers on renewing

contracts began as early as July 2007, and most pundits in the national media recognized that

both the union and the automakers have high interests in a successful talk, few had anticipated a

33

real strike until the union issued an ultimatum after extended negotiations. The strike against the

General Motors began from September 24. Although it lasted only two days, it marked the first

national strike by the UAW in three decades and surprised many. One can reasonably expect that

such a dramatic development may change how the editors perceive the union’s stakeholder

power level and its stake size. One of the key interests of the UAW in negotiations with the

automakers is to keep union jobs and memberships, which had dwindled for years. This is

partially because U.S. auto companies outsourced jobs to countries where labor costs are

substantially lower, a phenomenon made possible by U.S. free trade agreements with foreign

nations. One can argue that the national strike could possibly change how the editors perceive the

stake size of the UAW in free trade as well as its stakeholder power. But such a change can go

both ways, because the strike can be seen as a demonstration of power or a sign of weakness. No

matter in what direction it changes the editors’ perception, it should lead to a change in the

salience of the union’s stakeholder frame in the post-strike news coverage in the same direction.

Hypothesis 5A: If the editor’s perception about UAW union’s stakeholder power changes

after the national strike, then the level of UAW frame salience in the newspaper will change in

the same direction after the strike.

Hypothesis 5B: If the editor’s awareness of UAW stake size in free trade changes as a

result of the strike, then the level of UAW frame salience in the newspaper will change in the

same direction after the strike.

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CHAPTER FOUR

METHODS

To measure the independent variables, stakeholder power level and stake size, this study

used in-depth interviews and supplemental existing data. To measure the dependent variable

frame salience, interviews with stakeholder representatives and press releases of the stakeholders

were first analyzed to identify stakeholder frames. Then, news stories from the local newspapers

were content-analyzed to measure the frame salience in free trade coverage.

Recent newspaper coverage rather than longitudinal coverage was deemed more

appropriate for this study. Another issue in determining the period of news coverage is the

different availability of each newspaper. Some newspaper copies were directly purchased from

the newspaper companies during the fieldwork. Others come from microfilms via the interlibrary

loan system. Not all papers were made into microfilms and most newspaper companies keep

only a few months of back issues for resale. Based on the availabilities, newspapers published in

the first ten months of 2007 were chosen in this study.

4.1. Data and measurement for independent variables – stakeholder power and stake size

During the period, from September 10 to November 6, 2007, the researcher made two

fieldwork trips, visiting the four communities. In the fieldwork, in-depth interviews were used to

gather qualitative data that measure stakeholder power and stake size. Both independent,

objective data and perceptual data were collected and analyzed, but the perceptual data were

taken as paramount, because what matters more directly to the news coverage is how the editors

perceive the stakeholder power levels and the stake sizes rather than what they really are. While

35

the perceptual data were gathered by interviewing the editors, the objective data come largely

from existing databases, independent auditing agencies and supplemental information provided

by community sources.

The communities, organizations and persons involved or interviewed in the current study

will be identified only by pseudonyms for confidentiality reasons, with the UAW union being the

only exception. The UAW strike in September targeted General Motors. One of the auto plants

in this study belongs to General Motors. Table 4.1 shows the pseudonyms used for the

communities, organizations and key interviewees.

Interviews with the primary decision-makers in the newsrooms were considered the most

important because their perspectives on the stakeholders have a principal influence on how the

newspaper framed the free trade issues. The official title of this newsroom head figure varies

across newspapers. In the relatively large newspapers, Adams Daily and the Baldwin Daily, the

managing editors were the de facto primary decision-makers in the newsrooms. The owners and

publishers of these two newspapers also held the title of editor-in-chief, but they maintained only

minimal involvement in the newsroom operation. The other two daily newspapers were rather

small in size. While the managing editors do run the day-to-day newsroom business, the

publishers and editors-in-chief maintained more important roles as the primary decision-makers.

TABLE 4.1

Matching pseudonyms for places, organizations and people

County/City Newspaper Newsroom head Automaker Adams Adams Daily Aaron, m.ed. Adams Automobiles Baldwin Baldwin Daily Barry, m.ed. Baldwin Automobiles Chaplin Chaplin Daily Charlie, pub./ed. Chaplin Automobiles Dawson Dawson Daily David, pub./ed. Dawson Automobiles

36

In the remaining part of this report, the newsroom head is also generally referred to as

“the editor” regardless of his or her real title, unless specified otherwise. Wherever applicable,

other key journalists, such as the business editors or correspondents, also were interviewed for

supplemental information. They will be referenced with their specific titles.

Interviews with the editors and other journalists followed a general guideline designed to

generate an understanding of the newspapers’ perspectives on stakeholder power levels and stake

sizes. Specific questions are not necessarily identical across newspapers, given the various

community situations. Samples of generic interview questions are attached in Appendix A. In

addition to conducting interviews, the researcher also observed journalists working in the

newsrooms and attended budget meetings.

The general guideline for interviewing the newsroom heads required probing the specific

ways the newsroom operated, how the editors and reporters worked together, how the reporters

were evaluated, what their workloads were, and so on. This information is important because the

journalistic procedure will influence the extent to which journalists rely on the routine sources

from governments or other entities and the amount of time they can afford to put in quality

journalism, which in turn translates into the stakeholder power of the local government as an

indispensable news source.

The newsroom head was asked what he or she understood as the auto company’s standing

in free trade, how it was affected by free trade, and the importance of the auto company to the

community and to the newspaper. Questions regarding the local government’s standing on free

trade and the impact of free trade on local economy also were included. Similarly, the

perspectives of the UAW, its stake in free trade and its status in the community were discussed

with the journalists.

37

At the end of the interview, the newsroom head was asked to assign a rating point from

one to ten to each stakeholder – the auto company, the UAW union and the local governments –

in terms of how important each was to the newspaper itself.

When the UAW workers struck against the auto manufacturer, the researcher had just

concluded the fieldwork in Adams and was preparing to go to the others. As stated in Chapter 3,

Hypotheses 5A and 5B were added to the research as a result of this happening. In the fieldwork,

the researcher found that these two hypotheses were appropriate for the two union plant

communities but did not apply to the non-union communities. Questions were designed to gauge

whether the views of the editors in the two union plant communities have changed as a result of

the UAW strikes on GM and on Chrysler. At the end of the fieldwork, the researcher returned to

Adams and interviewed the Adams Daily managing editor again.

Supplemental to the interview data, the reporters’ average weekly workload in each

newspaper also was computed and used as a proxy to measure the local government’s

stakeholder power. As Gandy (1982) suggested, the stakeholder power of the local government

to the newspaper mostly derives from the latter’s daily dependence upon the government for

convenient and reliable “information subsidies,” a critical resource wanted by the newspaper to

keep the cost of news gathering low. Newsroom policies regarding reporters’ workload and

evaluation-reward mechanism are key factors affecting the extent to which the newspaper relies

on government news sources. Both heavy workloads and reward mechanisms based on

quantitative productivity discourage reporters from doing high-quality but necessarily time-

consuming journalistic work, and from making efforts to pursue a greater variety of news

sources. Instead, reporters under these conditions are prompted to resort to more convenient use

of government sources. Hence, one indicator of the government stakeholder power to a

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newspaper is the average weekly workload put on a reporter, measured by a space/reporter ratio

– the ratio of total news space (in number of column-inches) in a week to the total number of

reporters. Newspapers with higher space/reporter ratio are viewed as in greater need for handy

government information, therefore in greater dependence on government officials.

The reporters’ average workload was computed by dividing the column-inches of staff-

written editorial content in a constructed week by the number of reporters in each newspaper.

Sports content and sports writers were excluded from this analysis. Each day of the constructed

week was selected randomly from the first ten months of 2007 by following the method

described in Appendix B.

The automaker’s stakeholder power as an advertiser also can be assessed by computing

the percentage of the newspaper’s total ads that is contributed by the auto company. A

constructed month’s newspaper, Adams Daily, for example, was sampled, and both the ad

revenue contributed by Adams Automobiles and the total ad revenue of the newspaper were

estimated by multiplying the column-inches with the published ad rates. (For the random

procedure used for the constructed month, please see Appendix C.) The newspaper’s monthly

income from subscription also was estimated by multiplying its subscription rate with its total

subscription published by SRDS Circulation. Adding the subscription income to the advertising

income gives an estimation of the newspaper’s total revenue in a typical month. A percentage

that indicates the advertising power of Adams Automobiles was then computed by dividing the

dollar contribution from the automaker by the newspaper’s total revenue.

4.2. Data and measurement for the dependent variable – frame salience

As defined in the current study, frame salience is the relative weight of a stakeholder

frame in the total news frame that may include elements from one or more different stakeholder

39

frames. Frame salience was analyzed in this study as the dependent variable determined by both

stakeholder power and stake size.

4.2.1 Identifying the stakeholder frames

The stakeholder frames on free trade are identified primarily by using two sources of

data. Interviews with stakeholder representatives and, if applicable, press releases from 2006 to

October 2007. A good part of the interviews with the stakeholder representatives directly address

the concerns of these organizations in the free trade issues, and a small number of press releases

from the UAW and some automakers are found to be related to free trade. In addition, the

knowledge of the journalists, what they knew about the stakeholder viewpoints on free trade,

serves as a supplemental data source.

Stakeholder frames were qualitatively analyzed, guided by the four elements in the

framing definition by Entman (1993). In this process, multiple viewpoints were identified as

frame points from each stakeholder. A set of frame points from each stakeholder is referred to as

a stakeholder frame in this analysis. Although some frame points were shared by different

stakeholders, no two stakeholders of one newspaper have two identical sets of frame points to

form their stakeholder frames.

4.2.2 Content analyzing the newspaper coverage

After the analysis of stakeholder frames was completed, frame points from all

stakeholders were compiled together, resulting in a list of 23 frame points. The 23 frame points

were the specific variables to be looked for in the content analysis of news stories. (See

Appendix D for the list of frame points.)

News stories used in the content analysis were all relevant stories published in the four

newspapers from January 1 to October 31, 2007. The researcher reviewed every issue, every

40

page, every headline, and first couple paragraphs if necessary, to determine whether each story is

related to free trade. As a result, 48 stories from the Adams Daily, 81 stories from the Baldwin

Daily, 29 stories from the Chaplin Daily and 26 stories from the Dawson Daily were selected.

These stories included both news and editorials, and included both staff stories and wire stories.

However, letters to the editors and local contributors’ columns were excluded. The selection and

editing of the letters to the editor every day first and foremost was restricted by what were

written and sent by the local readers and contributors, which differs among the four newspapers.

Hence the differences in which letters were printed and the frames they contained should not be

understood as an effect of either stakeholder power or stake size.

The total of 184 stories was defined as the population for content analysis. Because this

number is modest, no sampling procedure was used. The relevant stories selected into the

universe cover a variety of topics related to trade. These include stories about the automotive

companies’ decisions or actions to close or open plants, about politicians’ trade policy initiatives

and trade talks with foreign leaders, or about disputes on trade issues between the Republicans

and the Democrats. There are also stories about foreign investment in U.S. communities. Toward

the end of September and Much of October in 2007, stories about the UAW negotiations and

strikes became a major topic. More stories in Adams Daily and Baldwin Daily are about plant

closing and job loss than in Chaplin Daily and Dawson Daily. In total, wire stories outnumber

staff stories.

Each individual story was a unit of analysis. The coders were asked to read the headline

first, then the first two paragraphs, then the rest of the story. They were asked to look for the 23

frame points in the headline, in the first two paragraphs, and in the rest of the story, respectively.

In each of the three portions, a frame point was either present, coded 1, or absent, coded 0.

41

Four coders were recruited for coder training. Prior to formal reliability test, the initial

training process used free-trade-related stories in the Baldwin Daily outside the studied period.

One coder who had substantially more disagreements with other coders was terminated in this

process. The formal inter-coder reliability test used 70 stories, all related to free trade. The first

35 of the 70 stories were extra Baldwin Daily stories outside the studied period. Because no extra

stories were collected from the other three newspapers, the remaining 35 stories in the reliability

test were randomly chosen from the studied population, including 15 Adams Daily stories, 10

Chaplin Daily stories and 10 Dawson Daily stories. In other words, these 35 stories were used

both in the reliability test and in the data analysis. Disagreements among coders must be resolved

for the purpose of data analysis. The plan was to use the rule of majority among three coders.

However, one coder left for personal reasons in the midst of the reliability test. In order to

resolve the disagreement between the two remaining coders, the researcher served as the judge in

such cases. Fortunately, with fairly high inter-coder agreements, the researcher’s own

involvement was minimal.

When judging whether the frame points were present or absent in the headlines, the two

remaining coders, one undergraduate student in business administration and one graduate student

in mass communication, found 100% agreement on 20 of the 23 frame points. Holsti’s

Coefficient of Reliability on the other three frame points was 0.986 each, a result of only one

disagreement in 70 headlines. When coding the frame points in the first two paragraphs, the two

coders had 100% agreement on eight of the 23 frame points. Holsti’s Coefficients of Reliability

on all the frame points were higher than 0.9. When coding the frame points in the rest of the

stories, Holsti’s Coefficients of Reliability on all the 23 frame points are higher than 0.85.

42

Among them, only three frame points had coefficients lower than 0.9. Table 4.2 gives the

complete report of Holsti’s Coefficients of Reliability on all the frame points.

After 35 of the 184 stories were coded by both coders, the remaining ones were assigned

to the coders by alternating in their time sequence in 2:1 ratio. Each coder has stories spanning

from January to October, but two thirds of these stories were coded by the mass communication

graduate student, who was able to contribute more time in this task.

Several other indicators were recorded by the researcher. These include the date of

publication, section and page number, whether the story appears on the upper or lower part of the

page, the type size of the headline and number of columns it spans across, the relative size of the

headline compared with other headlines on the page, and whether there are art elements (photo,

charts, graphics, maps, etc.) going with the story. In this analysis, small mug shots were not

considered art elements. These visual indicators matter because they affect the extent to which

readers’ eyeballs will be drawn to the story. However, they are supporting indicators. The

researcher considers the frame points themselves the primary indicators.

The complete coding scheme and coding form can be found in Appendix D.

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TABLE 4.2

Holsti's Coefficient of Reliability

Frame Point In headline In first 2 paragraphs In rest of the story

1 0.986 1 0.943 2 1 0.957 0.914 3 1 1 0.957 4 1 1 0.957 5 1 0.986 0.971 6 1 1 0.986 7 1 1 0.929 8 1 1 1 9 1 0.986 0.971 10 1 0.971 0.914 11 1 1 0.929 12 1 0.986 0.986 13 0.986 0.929 0.9 14 1 0.957 0.871 15 1 0.971 0.957 16 1 0.986 0.9 17 1 0.957 0.914 18 1 1 0.986 19 1 0.986 0.914 20 1 0.971 0.857 21 0.986 0.957 0.886 22 1 0.986 0.929 23 1 0.986 0.971

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CHAPTER FIVE

DATA ANALYSIS I – INDEPENDENT VARIABLES

The analysis of independent variables preceded the analysis of dependent variable.

Specifically, identification of stakeholder frames was completed early, so that the coders can

start coding of the newspaper content even before the researcher completed analysis of the

independent variables. But the analysis of frame salience did not begin until analysis of the

independent variables was done, except a preliminary check of the data. In short, this sequence

ensured that analysis of the independent variables was not influenced by the result of frame

salience.

The primary source of data for measuring the two independent variables is the in-depth

interviews with the journalists and stakeholder representatives in the communities. The goal of

this analysis is to measure the stakeholder power and the stake size in a way comparable both

within and across the newspapers. For this purpose, both independent variables are ordinal

variables with three categories. Each stakeholder has either a small stake, medium stake or large

stake in free trade, and has either low level, medium level or high level of stakeholder power.

The values of both variables are determined by the analysis of the interviews and supplemental

measurements. The following passages will first examine the basics of the studied newspapers

and their communities before the analysis on stakeholders.

5.1. The background: the local newspapers and their communities

The four local newspapers, all located in county seats, vary drastically in size primarily

because they are located in communities of various sizes. For convenience, this report assigns the

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same pseudonym to both the county and the city. Among the four communities, Baldwin is the

largest in population. It is also the only one that has witnessed population decrease rather than

increase. Adams is much smaller but the city is big enough to be designated the center of a

metropolitan statistical area defined by the U.S. Census Bureau. Adams and Baldwin are the

homes of two U.S. automobile plants. Chaplin and Dawson are both small towns located in

largely rural counties. They are the homes of two major foreign-owned automobile plants. All

the four newspapers are independent, family-owned newspapers and are the only daily

newspaper in their respective communities.

5.1.1 The Adams Daily and Adams County

According to SRDS Circulation (2007), the Adams Daily had a daily circulation of

20,286, of which 15,329 copies were sold in Adams County. Its annual subscription rate was

$145.00, according to Editor & Publisher International Year Book (2007). Based on these

figures, the newspaper’s revenue from circulation is estimated to be $2,941,470.

The Adams Daily had five news reporters and three sports writers.

As described in Chapter 4, a constructed month containing 31 days was selected from the

studied ten-month period using a stratified random process. All the advertisements printed in the

constructed month were measured. Based on this one-month measurement, the total size of ads in

a year was estimated to be 571,488 column-inches. With an open inch rate of $19.64 (Editor &

Publisher, 2007), The Adams Daily’s annual advertising revenue is estimated to be $11,224,024.

For the sake of simplicity, this study estimates the total revenue of the Adams Daily as the sum

of advertising dollars and circulation dollars, or $14,165,494.

The American Community Survey by the U.S. Census Bureau (2006) reports that as of

July 1, 2006, Adams County had an estimated population of 102,238, a 10.5% increase from the

46

Census 2000 population of 92,522. Labor force was 53.7% of the population in 2006, or 54,912

people, and the unemployment rate was 6.9%. There are 3,789 people in the Adams County

labor force without a job.

As of 2006, median household income in Adams County was $43,507.

5.1.2 The Baldwin Daily and Baldwin County

The Baldwin Daily is the largest of the four studied newspapers. According to the

managing editor, the newsroom had 34 news reporters and eight sports writers. SRDS

Circulation 2007 reports that the Baldwin Daily had a circulation of 133,765, of which 47.1%, or

86,149 copies, was in Baldwin County. Over half of the newspaper’s circulation reaches 19

surrounding counties. The annual subscription rate of the Baldwin Daily was $135.20 (Editor &

Publisher, 2007). Based on these figures, the newspaper’s revenue from circulation is estimated

to be $18,085,028.

Estimated from measurement of the constructed month, the total size of all ads in the

Baldwin Daily is 808,633 column-inches. Because the open inch rate was $136.20, the Baldwin

Daily’s annual ad revenue is estimated to be $110,135,815. Adding the circulation revenue, the

newspaper’s total revenue is estimated $128,220,843 a year.

Data from the U.S. Census Bureau show that population in Baldwin County declined

every single year since 2000. The 2006 American Community Survey estimated the county’s

population was 444,230. This is a 2.38% decrease from the Census 2000 population of 455,054.

The survey also reports labor force of 2006 was 51.2% of Baldwin County population, or

227,500 people, and the unemployment rate was relatively high at 9.4%. It is estimated that

21,385 people in the Baldwin labor force were out of work.

As of 2006, median household income in Baldwin County was $42,296.

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5.1.3 The Chaplin Daily and Chaplin County

The newspaper of Chaplin has become a daily newspaper only since October 2006. As a

small-town paper, the Chaplin Daily had only three news reporters and two sports writers. As of

2007, the newspaper was not yet audited by SRDS, but the Editor and Publisher International

Year Book (2007) estimated it had about 5,780 circulation. Its 12-month subscription rate was

$90, according to the newspaper’s Website. Therefore, Chaplin Daily’s estimated revenue from

circulation is $520,200.

Based on the measurement of the constructed month, the total size of all ads in the

Chaplin Daily is estimated to be 363,382 column-inches. With an open inch rate of $9.15, the

advertising revenue of the Chaplin Daily is estimated $3,324,945 a year. And the total revenue of

the newspaper is $3,845,145 a year.

As a largely rural county, Chaplin was not included in the Census Bureau 2006 American

Community Survey. The county’s population in 2006, survey by Applied Geographic Solutions

and reported by the state’s office for economic development, was 40,210, a 21.6% increase from

33,061 in Census of 2000. The same report also estimated 52.3% of the county population, or

21,064 people, were in the civilian labor force in 2006, of which 20,056 were employed and

1,008 were not. The unemployment rate was 4.8%. The state report, retrieved in 2008, estimated

Chaplin County’s median household income in 2007 was $59,040.

5.1.4 The Dawson Daily and Dawson County

The Dawson Daily is equivalent to the Chaplin Daily in size. It also has only three news

reporters. SRDS Circulation 2007 audit shows it had a circulation of 5,670, all of which were in

Dawson County. Its 12-month subscription rate was $104 (Editor & Publisher, 2007), based on

which the circulation revenue can be estimated as $589,680.

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Based on the measurement of ads in the constructed months, the Dawson Daily had an

estimated total of 188,180 column-inches of advertisements in a year. Its open inch rate for the

ads was $10.85 (Editor & Publisher, 2007). Therefore, its advertising revenue is estimated to be

$2,041,753 a year. The total revenue equates to $2,631,433 a year.

Like Chaplin County, Dawson County was not included in the Census Bureau 2006

American Community Survey, either. A County Profile prepared by the state’s Office of

Strategic Research estimated its 2006 population was 46,702, a 14% increase from 40,909 in

Census 2000. The County Profile estimated that civilian labor force in 2006 was 24,900, or 53%

of its population. The unemployment rate was 4.6%. About 23,700 people in the civilian labor

force were employed, and about 1,100 were not.

5.2. Independent variable – stakeholder power

5.2.1 Ratings on how important the stakeholders are to the newspaper

General interview questions were used to guide the interviews, but specific follow-up

questions are not uniform across communities. The researcher asked every editor to rate each

stakeholder on a 1-10 point scale in terms of its importance to the newspaper as a measurement

of stakeholder power level. On this 1-10 point scale, the number one represents the least

important groups or entities, while ten represents the most important ones. This rating is one

indicator of the stakeholder power. Although it produces a numerical value for each stakeholder

(Table 5.1), it is only one piece of the puzzle in the analysis of stakeholder power. The narrative

accounts by the editors and other journalists are paramount for the analysis.

Clearly, there are personal differences in how the editors ranged the ratings just as there

are differences in how professors handle student grades distribution. To illustrate this difference,

one may compare the range of ratings given by the Adams newsroom head and the range of

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ratings given by his Chaplin counterpart. The importance of the UAW was rated the lowest by

each of the two editors, but the UAW in Adams had a lower rating than in Chaplin. Given the

fact that the Adams Automobiles is unionized and the Chaplin Automobiles is not, it will be

difficult to interpret the rating difference as reflecting the real difference in the importance of the

UAW to these two newspapers. One possible explanation could be that the Chaplin Daily editor

has a personal tendency of giving all ratings on the higher portion of the scale. No matter what

reasons have caused the discrepancy, this example illustrates the need to look at what the editors

actually said about the stakeholders.

TABLE 5.1

Editor's ratings on stakeholder importance to the newspaper Newspaper Title Automobiles Autoworkers 1 UAW Local Gov. Adams Daily 5 5 2 9 Baldwin Daily 8 6 Refused 6 Chaplin Daily 7 9 5 9 Dawson Daily 10 9 1 9

Note 1: Although ratings on autoworkers were collected, this group is not analyzed as a stakeholder.

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5.2.2 Stakeholder power of automobile companies

For the local newspapers, both the local automobile plants and the companies that own

the plants may be an advertiser. To the newspaper, if the automaker is a big advertiser

contributing substantially to the revenue, it would be an indisputable powerful stakeholder.

However, a few accounts from the newspaper publishers indicate that the local newspapers

generally get little advertising from the automakers. The publisher of the Adams Daily said they

got “very, very little, almost no advertising” from the Adams Automobiles. For the Chaplin

Daily publisher, Chaplin Automobiles is “an average industrial advertiser” while most of his

advertising comes from retail outlets, not industrial. To test the truthfulness of these accounts and

assess how much direct advertising power the automobile company may possess over the local

newspaper, ads of the constructed month placed by the local plant and parent company were

measured and recorded separately from other ads.

For each newspaper, the total column-inches of the automaker’s ads measured from the

constructed month were multiplied by 12 to estimate the total of a year. With a known open inch

rate of each newspaper, the ad revenue contributed by the automaker as well as the percentage it

contributes to the newspaper total annual revenue can be estimated. Table 5.2 shows that the

automaker advertising money only contributed to a tiny fraction of each newspaper’s total

revenue. In the Dawson Daily, no ads from Dawson Automobiles were even found in the

constructed month.

The publishers’ accounts on automaker advertising were found to be true. Interviews

from the fieldwork also found no indication of a sour relationship between the newspaper and the

automaker in any community, which further excludes the possibility of the automaker

withholding its ads as an exercise of threat or punishment on the newspaper. Therefore, the

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stakeholder power of the automakers, if any, did not come from advertising power. Nonetheless,

the importance of the automaker evaluated by the editor in every case was either in the medium

range or higher. Clearly, much of the importance came from other factors.

In the purposive sample of four cases, the auto plants are known to be an important part

of their respective communities and local economy. Accounts from the journalists as well as

representatives of the automakers and local governments confirm this knowledge and indicate

that the importance of the automakers to the communities translates into their importance to the

newspapers. However, the status of these automakers in their respective communities is not all

the same.

TABLE 5.2

Percent of automaker advertising in newspaper's total revenue

Newspaper Annual revenue $ from automaker ad % by automaker

Adams Daily $14,165,494 $14,141 0.10% Baldwin Daily $128,220,843 $617,667 0.48% Chaplin Daily $3,845,145 $35,677 0.93% Dawson Daily $2,631,433 $0 0%

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5.2.2.1 Stakeholder power of Adams Automobiles

The auto plant in Adams is the smallest of the four. Nonetheless, it is one of the top local

employers. The local chamber of commerce reported that it has around 1,200-1,500 employees.

The plant is owned by a U.S. automaker and primarily produces a vehicle model called ATLAS

(pseudonym), which is deemed by many as an American icon. The local assembly plant,

therefore, is often called the Atlas plant. Aaron, who is the Adams Daily managing editor and

head of the newsroom, described the Atlas plant as “a real economic boost for the community”

that offers “lots of high-paying jobs with stability” and never had layoffs at the local plant “due

to the popularity of the product.”

Aaron also recognized that the Atlas plant “obviously is attracting automotive related

industries to the Adams community.” He reasoned that the local auto parts suppliers thrive even

against the backdrop of global sourcing because auto manufacturing is “trending towards on-

time-delivery” to keep a very low inventory, which gives local suppliers an advantage over long-

distance shipping from overseas suppliers. The observation of the newsroom head was shared by

his business reporter as well as the mayor. Although there are other reasons that also attract auto

parts suppliers who have multiple assembly plants in this region as their clients, such as the

convenient locale and logistics, these interviewees believed that some of the suppliers chose to

locate in Adams County primarily because of the Atlas plant. A report from the local chamber of

commerce shows that, besides the Adams Automobiles, at least 20 other auto-related

manufacturers located in Adams employ a total of 3,300. The vast majority of these employees

live within the county line.

The magnet effect of the Atlas plant, however, should not be overstated. Over the years,

local parts makers who traditionally supply to plants of the Detroit Three have diversified their

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client bases. For some of the parts suppliers, their largest clients today are the giant foreign auto

assembly plants in this or neighbor states. The major highway right outside of Adams city allows

the parts suppliers to ship to those auto plants within a day.

The economic benefit of having the Atlas plant in the community was often cited by the

interviewees as a ripple effect. This is mostly because jobs in the auto sector, particularly in the

automobile plant, are high-paying jobs compared to the average wage. According to the

president of UAW local, the weekly wage in the Atlas plant ranged from about $920 for entry-

level workers to $1,200 or higher for the skill trade workers. In comparison, the county’s average

weekly wage was $630, surveyed by Applied Geographic Solutions of California and reported in

a local Chamber of Commerce document. With the buying power of the auto employees, those

dollars trickled down to the other sectors of the economy. The publisher of the Adams Daily

noted that these high-paid employees have the money to buy the newspaper, and when they buy

other goods and services in the community, “…those dollars circulate around. Some of them end

up here at the newspaper, indirectly, through our advertisers from which the workers buy

products.”

The high-paying jobs in the Atlas plant and in the auto sector in general have also

contributed significantly to the city’s tax income as an important source for what is known as

“occupational tax.” According to the mayor of Adams, all residents of the city pay 1.85%

occupational tax off their pay check, which constitutes about 60% of the city’s revenue. Because

the auto jobs are high-paying jobs, the Adams Daily business reporter estimated that about 30%

of the city’s tax dollars come from the auto sector, and the Adams Automobiles alone is 20 out

of that 30%.

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The Atlas plant is also an attraction for tourists, stemming from the fact that the Atlas

vehicle has a special place in the American motor culture and appeals to fans all over the world.

The city of Adams, as the only place in the world to produce this vehicle, has been known as the

“home of Atlas.”

Throughout the fieldwork and the researcher’s follow-up effort, the Adams county chief

was not available for an interview, but the mayor met with the researcher and discussed the

issues. The Adams mayor told the researcher that “our identity right now is aligned with the

Atlas.” There is even an Atlas Museum in the city. It promotes several events every year in

conjunction with the Atlas plant, including an annual home-coming event for the fans and

owners of the icon vehicle who gather in Adams from around the nation. On a daily basis, the

museum and the plant tour open to the public also attract many tourists to the city. The local

chamber of commerce reported that more than 46,000 people participated in the Atlas plant tours

in 2006 alone.

The automaker is also a community donor, but mixed evaluations were given by the

interviewees in that regard. Both the Adams Daily publisher and the business reporter said that

both the company and the employees make generous contribution to the community. Aaron, the

newsroom head, also acknowledged the automaker made donations, but added that the

corporation “has not been particularly active” when compared with other businesses in the

community and compared with its own employees.

Overall, the above analysis shows that the automaker is an important but not dominant

player in the Adams community. It has significant contribution to the local economy and

indirectly contributed to the bottom line of the newspaper. However, the local economy is rather

diverse. Although it is one of the largest employers in Adams, the Atlas plant only contributes a

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small percentage to the local employment. Its magnet effect of attracting auto-related business

was well-recognized but also somewhat neutralized by other factors.

5.2.2.2 Stakeholder power of Baldwin Automobiles

In Baldwin County, one of the Big Three U.S. automakers, Baldwin Automobiles, has an

assembly plant and a machinery plant. Around 4,000 people were employed in the assembly

plant, where the vehicle brand BUSTER is manufactured. Another 1,500 were employed in the

Baldwin Automobiles machinery plant. In a joint interview with the Baldwin Daily’s managing

editor and business editor, both said they believed that just the Buster plant alone is probably the

largest private employer in the community.

Workers in the Baldwin Automobiles plants were paid very well. Barry and his business

editor estimated the pay rate was about $28 an hour, and $35 an hour for the skill trades. By

contrast, other industry sectors in the community pay workers at an average rate of $12 an hour.

In this sense, the presence of the Baldwin Automobiles generates a large number of high-income

workers. Most of them live in the primary market of the newspaper. They, as Barry put it, have

the money to get the newspaper and can “be utilized by our advertisers.” The spend-off factor

from the autoworkers’ income, as the business editor observed, was very important to other

businesses in the community.

At the same time, the employment in the Baldwin automobile plant and the corporate

property generate a significant amount of tax revenue for the local government, even though the

automaker is not paying full tax because tax incentives were created by both the state and local

governments to keep the automaker happy so it would stay there. In recent years, Baldwin

Automobiles invested billions of dollars in building two new facilities in the community for the

Buster plant.

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The long history of the iconic Baldwin Buster plant is also legendary and sometimes

rocky, rendering the automaker a symbolic power. Like the Atlas plant for Adams, both the

Buster plant and the Buster vehicles are a great pride for the Baldwin community.

Overall, the Baldwin Automobiles plays an important role in the community in some

ways similar to the Adams Automobiles in the community of Adams. Baldwin does not have a

diverse economy, according to the managing editor, and the community heavily relies on the

auto industry. The Buster plant was the flagship of Baldwin’s auto sector and the crown jewel of

the Baldwin Automobiles. Even though the auto company was suffering losses and was in its

restructuring process, the Buster plant was profitable and “the model plant,” according to the

president of the UAW local that represents the workers here. This unique status of the Buster

plant helped amplify the importance of the automaker to both the community and the newspaper.

In short, the above analysis demonstrates that Baldwin Automobiles is very important to

both the community and the Baldwin Daily, more so than Adams Automobiles is to the Adams

Daily.

5.2.2.3 Stakeholder power of Chaplin Automobiles

Chaplin Automobiles is a foreign automaker. It has a very large assembly plant in the

largely rural Chaplin community. The plant hired around 7,000 employees, keeping the

unemployment rate of Chaplin and the surrounding areas very low.

Ever since the auto plant began its operation almost 20 years ago, the population of

Chaplin has doubled. Charlie is the publisher, editor-in-chief and president of the newspaper

Chaplin Daily. In a discussion with the researcher, He offered two points that explains the

impressive population growth in Chaplin. First, in the early years of the auto plant’s operation,

the Chaplin Automobiles not only hired people from this county and its immediate neighbors,

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but also had to hire from several counties afar because they needed such a large number of

workers. Over the years, many of those workers have moved into Chaplin or adjacent counties.

Some brought along their families as well. Second, these high-paid autoworkers have begun to

attract service industries and other small business to move into the community. As a result, new

shopping centers and restaurants are open to hire more people. A lot of businesses, as Charlie

observed, rely on the auto plant to make a living.

Charlie was the de facto newsroom head of this small town newspaper, even though

many of the daily routines of the newsroom were run by his newly appointed managing editor.

Speaking of the importance of the Chaplin Automobiles from the newspaper’s standpoint,

Charlie explained that the newspaper was very interested in how the automaker is doing because

of the influences and impacts on their readers. “In that it’s important to the community, it’s

important to the newspaper.”

Workers at the automobile plant here are a big part of the Chaplin Daily’s subscriber

base. “And they are certainly the people that our advertisers are interested in,” said the editor.

Although the Chaplin auto plant is not unionized, jobs in the plant nonetheless are high-

paying jobs compared to the average $10 to $15 hourly rate in the community. The autoworkers’

pay rates are even comparable with the rates in the other two unionized plants. According to a

Chaplin Automobiles representative and the mayor of the city, workers in the Chaplin auto plant

were paid in a range between $25 an hour for the unskilled trades and up to $35 an hour for the

skilled trades.

Both Chaplin city and county collect a one-percent net profit tax from businesses in the

community and a one percent payroll tax from their employees no matter where they live. The

large number of high-paying jobs constitutes a lion share of local tax base. For both the city and

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the county, 50% to 60% of the tax base comes from the Chaplin auto plant between the two types

of taxes. Charlie observed that the local government “relies very heavily on the auto plant and its

success.”

Words of the local officials are rather telling. “(The auto plant) is our bread and butter…

It is the majority of our economic base, and without this plant our economy would probably be in

almost the level of collapsing,” the city mayor told the researcher in an interview. “We have been

blessed by the auto plant being here,” said the county chief.

The Chaplin Daily editor also noted that the automaker “gives a lot back to the

community through donations, contribution, volunteer work…” The mayor of Chaplin praised

the automaker as “definitely a good neighbor.” According to both the city mayor and the county

chief, a lot of Chaplin Automobiles employees were active in community events. The company

also made frequent donations to many local entities and helped set up an education foundation.

Most impressive to the mayor, the automaker gave $4 million to help build a business park that

aimed to attract other companies into the community. Although efforts have been made since

several years ago to diversify the local economy, Chaplin Automobiles nevertheless remains the

dominant economic force in the community.

With his observation, Charlie commented that the automaker “clearly has a lot of

influence… If that were all to go away, it would obviously have a very big impact on the

community,” the editor said.

Clearly, this analysis shows that Chaplin Automobiles is very important to the Chaplin

community and the Chaplin Daily, given its status as Chaplin’s single dominant employer and

economic forces. This is attested by the accounts from both the Chaplin Daily editor and Chaplin

local government officials.

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5.2.2.4 Stakeholder power of Dawson Automobiles

Dawson Automobiles is another foreign automaker. It has a very large assembly plant in

Dawson County, hiring about 6,000 employees.

The researcher’s fieldwork found that the automaker’s standing in the Dawson

community is very similar to its counterpart in the Chaplin community. The story about the rapid

and steady growth of the previously depressed community in the past two decade, as a result of

the arrival of the automaker, was strikingly similar to the story of Chaplin. Like Chaplin,

Dawson’s population has more than doubled in the past two decades. Many autoworkers who

used to be commuters eventually moved into or near the county.

In a joint interview, the editor-in-chief and his managing editor told the researcher that

Dawson Automobiles is the driving engine for the community. Because the automaker does not

stockpile its inventory, many related businesses have developed around it to supply components

to the assembly plant.

Dawson Automobiles hires a lot of people, and it pays the employees at a good rate

equivalent to that of Chaplin Automobiles. Unemployment rate in the county has always been

one of the lowest in the state for many years, usually between 4% and 5%, compared to around

13% before the automaker came to the community, according to the mayor of the city. At the

same time, the effort to diversify the economy by both the city and the county government has

not kept up with the steady growth of the auto plant. Other businesses that came for the customer

base would also have to pay a salary somewhat matching the Dawson autoworkers’ pay rate in

order to find employees.

Perhaps the following account by one of the chief county officials can best describe the

economic and employment situation in Dawson:

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Either you work at Dawson Automobiles’ plant, a supplier of them, or somebody that does work with them. Or you own a business and you can keep that business because there are people working at the auto plant with money to support your business.

This was echoed by the editors of the Dawson Daily, who explained why the automaker

is so important, not only to the community, but also to the newspaper itself. “(If the auto plant

moved out,) other businesses would start to close their doors. That’s when our advertising dollars

would be affected,” said the managing editor.

With the presence of Dawson Automobiles and its employees in the tax base, both the

county and the city have maintained a good shape financially in the past two decades.

Like its Chaplin counterpart, Dawson Automobile was a big community donor. The

automaker “has put out literary millions of dollars for charitable causes into this county every

year,” according to one chief official of the county. The school system was the biggest winner

from the auto company’s donation. Other local organizations such as a mental illness facility, the

Health Department, the 911 service and the library are all beneficiaries from Dawson

Automobiles. The Dawson Daily editor said that the auto company also encouraged its

employees to donate. When the employees donated to the United Way, the company would

match a good portion of it.

Dawson Automobiles’ employees, from both the management team and the assembly

line, also served on various boards and committees of the county. This was seen as a unique type

of contribution by the county’s officials because “they have a whole problem solving process of

how to break down an issue into parts and think sequentially. It’s the engineering in them.”

It is worth pointing out that, in both Chaplin and Dawson, the auto employees’ voluntary

contribution to the community was largely seen by the interviewees as a blessing brought by the

auto companies. This was not the typical way of interpreting in the Adams and Baldwin cases.

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Autoworkers volunteering in those two communities were more likely to be seen as organized or

encouraged by the union, given that the workers are UAW members. But the auto plants in

Chaplin and Dawson were non-union plants and the culture of these two communities was

largely not in favor of unionization. Rather, the corporate culture of these foreign automakers

was one that aims to increase employee loyalty, or “ownership” in the word of one Dawson

County official, even though the workers might not have a stock in the company. In either union

or non-union plants, the employees themselves certainly got the credit for their goodness. It is

who gets the privilege of and the credit for organizing the workers’ contribution that differs.

In short, the importance of Dawson Automobiles was very high to both the community

and the Dawson Daily. Its status in Dawson community, equivalent to Chaplin Automobiles in

the Chaplin community, was dominant.

5.2.3 Stakeholder power of the UAW

This research design includes two unionized auto plants and two non-union auto plants

for comparative case study. The intent was to make sure there is variance in at least the UAW

union’s stakeholder power as the independent variable. For the purpose of comparison, in case

no other variances can be found in either stakeholder power of stake size, this will be the safety

net to guarantee the comparative case study can still be carried on.

5.2.3.1 Stakeholder power of the UAW in Adams

In Adams, the researcher found that even though the Atlas plant owned by U.S.

automaker Adams Automobile is unionized, the stakeholder power of the UAW was rated low

by the Adams Daily newsroom head, Aaron. There are several reasons. First, even though there

is a union auto plant in the community, Adams is by and large a non-union community. Ninety

percent of the jobs are non-union jobs. Second, the size of the Atlas plant is rather small

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compared to most auto assembly plants in the nation. Even though the 1,200 to 1,500 employees

is a significant figure when one thinks in terms of local employment, the actual unionized

workers’ number is less than one thousand. In Aaron’s word, it was “not enough to sway the

(local) elections.” Third, although the UAW local in Adams is well received among its members,

it has not had much support from the community. There was even some legacy resentment

toward the union from some locals, because few jobs in the plant have ever been offered to the

locals since the plant moved into Adams from another city some twenty years ago. Dictated by

UAW contract, when assembly line jobs become available in this plant, they must first be offered

to laid-off UAW members in the automakers’ other plants. As a result, some Adams locals see

these union workers as a “privileged class” from outside.

“The UAW is here…I think it’s, sort of, accepted as a fact of life,” said Aaron, when the

researcher probed the extent to which the community and local officials were supportive to the

union, if any.

“A fact of life” was a careful choice of words by the head of the newsroom. The business

reporter was more open and offered a more revealing view. Speaking of the many auto parts

suppliers in the community, the reporter said, “I don’t think many of them here are union. I mean

it’s kept their cost down…but I think suppliers here recognize that people need a living wage…”

That most of the parts suppliers in this community were not unionized was a fact confirmed by

the president of the UAW local and the mayor of Adams.

Accounts from these different perspectives also confirmed that union activity did not

have much support from the community leaders. The UAW local president told the researcher

that the mayor, a Democrat who ran for office on a non-partisan ground, was “more in the

middle” and “pretty fair” in union affairs compared to her Republican predecessor. As for the

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county chief, the UAW leader said he was “not supportive” to the union because of his

Republican philosophy on the economy, but “not terrible either” because the county chief also

owned a shopping center where the high-wage union workers were welcomed customers.

The mayor of Adams told the researcher that there has been very low union activity

because the community has good corporate citizens by and large. There were some instances

where there have been attempts to unionize, and those have been turned down. Low union

activity, in the view of the mayor, is positive to the local economy, as she explained

straightforwardly:

If we were a heavy union activity community, it would be harder for us to recruit (automotive companies), particularly internationally… My preference is that we bring in good companies that treat their employees well, that provide good compensation, and that we don’t create an environment where we have to bring in a union to protect the workers. Although Adams was chosen in this study as one with union presence and a level of

medium to high stakeholder power was initially expected, the researcher’s field study found

otherwise. The analysis of all evidence available, in accordance to the managing editor’s rating

of 2 on the importance of the UAW to the newspaper, suggests that the UAW in Adams had a

low stakeholder power to the newspaper.

The first field trip to Adams occurred before the UAW national strike against GM. The

researcher interviewed Adams Daily newsroom head Aaron once again after both UAW strikes

on GM and Chrysler. Questions included whether he thought the strike was a good or bad

decision for the union itself, whether the union’s stake in the negotiations deserved a strike, and

whether the strike showed the union’s strength or weakness. Aaron’s response hardly provided

any evidence to suggest there were changes in how he perceived stakeholder power of the UAW

and its stake size in free trade. “I did not really think about those… The strike is big news, so

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let’s do the story.” The managing editor also said he did not hear anyone in the newsroom having

discussions on those questions. However, two possibilities should be acknowledged. First, if

there was any change in the editor’s perception, it could be so subliminal that the editor himself

did not realize it. Second, by the end of the fieldwork, the managing editor might have guessed

about the relationships that the researcher sought to test based on previous conversations. It

could well be that the editor felt the issue somewhat sensitive and did not feel comfortable to

respond.

5.2.3.2 Stakeholder power of the UAW in Baldwin

Baldwin is a heavily unionized community. In Baldwin, labor unions have a presence in

various industries and trades. The Baldwin Daily newspaper itself is unionized and has eight

bargaining units representing the journalists and different workers. Several months before the

researcher’s field trip, the newspaper just went through a “very contentious two years of labor

negotiations,” Barry, the newsroom head, told the researcher.

The Baldwin Daily’s own union situation was relevant information because it could have

impact on how the editors saw the power of labor unions in general. The UAW was not one of

those bargaining units in the newspaper, but the autoworkers’ union threw its support behind the

unions in the newspaper, putting pressure on advertisers, including car dealers, to boycott against

the newspaper. At the peak of the contention, a negotiation impasse prompted the newspaper to

“lock out” five of the eight unions. That lock-out lasted almost a year and was detrimental to

both the newspaper and labor unions. In the end, all eight unions accepted a pay cut. The

Newspaper Guild union that represents journalists was not one of those locked out, but Barry

said the prolonged labor tension and pay cut caused many of his top-rated journalists left for

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other jobs. The newspaper’s circulation also suffered from a labor union boycott campaign,

which Barry said has not come back.

Barry, who was recruited as managing editor by the Baldwin Daily several years ago

from a non-union Southern state, said the highly visible union presence in this community “blew

me off” soon after his coming. Then, as the head of the newsroom supervising a team of

unionized journalists, he found that “as soon as it somewhat gets into the discipline area, the

union will get involved.”

The newspaper veteran wanted to implement formal written evaluations on his reporters

and copy editors, something he was used to at previous newspapers, but the Newspaper Guild

did not allow the formal evaluation cause in the contract. The frustration was clear when Barry

was discussing this subject. “I think professional workforce should never be unionized. We pay

the journalists better than the other departments (in the newspaper), and we expect people to

work harder,” he said.

The UAW is one of the largest labor unions in Baldwin, thanks to the presence of

Detroit-based auto companies. Not only that the Baldwin Automobiles has its Buster plant and a

machinery plant in the community, there are also several other plants that manufacture engines,

transmissions and other key automotive components. All these plants are under U.S. automakers,

and workers of these plants are organized by the UAW. In Baldwin, there are two UAW locals.

One of these is an amalgamated local that represents not only the Baldwin Automobile plants but

also a diverse group of trades in parts production, food services, financial services, health care,

and so on. The two UAW locals together had around 13,000 members in the community.

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The UAW has used its political funds to back certain candidates for key government

posts, including the current mayor and county chiefs. They bought ads and made donations to

their campaigns, according to Barry and his business editor.

One UAW local president told the researcher that the union had “total government

support,” from the mayor of the city to the county chiefs to the governor and the U.S. Congress

member who represents this district. At the time of the study, all these key officials were

Democrats.

The local officials did try to help their union supporters in many ways, according to the

editors. However, when it comes to the automakers’ business decisions that may affect the union

workers, most of the time there is really nothing they can do.

The stakeholder power of the UAW in Baldwin also resided in the large number of

members they had in the community. In a positive light, the business editor told the researcher

that the UAW often organized workers in philanthropy donations or contributing to other

community causes. By contrast, autoworkers who donated in the other three communities were

often mentioned as “Adams Automobile workers”, “Chaplin Automobile workers” or “Dawson

Automobile workers” as opposed to “UAW workers.”

To the group of autoworkers, Barry gave a rating of 6 in terms of their importance to the

newspaper. But when asked to rate the UAW union, he passed that question to his business

editor, who responded with the following:

I look at UAW because they have so many members in our area and there are certain things you cover because of that. In terms of its importance to our paper, I have never tried to put it on a scale 1 to 10… I never really look at them that way.

The business editor observed that most autoworkers viewed that the union was one having gotten

them everything they have – their pay, their benefits to their job security. To them, the UAW is

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“very important.” This view was echoed by one Baldwin County chief official who viewed the

union as crucial in elevating workers’ quality of life. The county chief official told the researcher

in an interview that he believed non-union jobs in those foreign automakers’ plants were merely

“better than Wal-Mart.” He saw that as high-paying union jobs left and replaced by non-union

auto jobs, workers were paid not as much and received fewer benefits. “That has been a big

factor in the shrinking of middle class in places like Baldwin,” said the county chief official.

The evidence from different sources together shows that the UAW did have a great

amount of influence in Baldwin because of its large membership base in the community. The

support it had from local government also lent extra strength to the union. Whether the

newspaper editors liked it or not, this analysis shows that the UAW was seen as a powerful

stakeholder despite the editors’ reluctance to assess a rating to it.

When asked the questions regarding the UAW strikes on GM and Chrysler. Barry, the

managing editor, told the researcher that he was not comfortable to answer those questions

because of his position, and directed them to the business editor. In his careful response, the

business editor recognized that “they (the union) certainly think it (the strike) shows strength.”

Understanding the union’s concern about continuous loss of auto jobs, he said that having a

strike is the union’s ultimate weapon and it risks hurting the union-management relationship. “If

they don’t get what they want, there’s not much else they can do. And they had to persuade

members to accept it.”

The account of the business editor on UAW strikes was mixed. To the best, it reveals a

minimal increase in his perception of UAW stakeholder power and stake size in free trade.

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5.2.3.3 Stakeholder power of the UAW in Chaplin and Dawson

For two decades, the UAW has continued its effort to unionize the giant auto plants in

both Chaplin and Dawson. It has not been successful so far. Among the four communities in the

current study, only Baldwin had a strong union culture. Even though the UAW had a presence in

Adams at the Atlas plant, it was due to the national contract between the UAW and the parent

automobile company rather than an indicator of community support of union activity.

Chaplin and Dawson had the same non-union culture as communities. Workers in the two

plants, according to all interviewees in these two communities, were mostly satisfied with how

the foreign automakers paid them and treated them. In Dawson, the union has once called for a

vote among the autoworkers to organize, but failed to garner a majority. It has never made

substantial progress since then. At the time of the researcher’s fieldwork, the union effort to

organize the Dawson Automobiles plant was even suspended. In Chaplin, the UAW has never

had enough workers to sign the union card in order to call for a vote. The researcher’s requests

for interview were declined by the organizing personnel in these communities.

Local officials in Chaplin and Dawson made it clear that they did not favor unionization,

nor did they want to be involved. The union leader interviewed by the researcher in Baldwin

accused these foreign automakers for “obstructive efforts” against unionization. This point of

view had no support in Chaplin and Dawson. The mayor of Chaplin said she was not pro-union

because she has seen the effect the union had on other auto companies, and because Chaplin

Automobiles has given the workers just about anything they asked for, both the company and the

employees were just doing fine without the union coming in. “We’ve never had a walk-out,” she

said, in reference to the UAW national strikes on GM and Chrysler not long before. Chaplin’s

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county chief shared this unfavorable view on unions, citing past union strikes in the community

that was believed to have caused one big employer to move business to other places.

At the time of the interview, Chaplin Daily’s editor Charlie was not sure whether the

UAW had an organizing office in Chaplin at the moment of not, but he knew they were

constantly trying to organize. Charlie did not think the union has a good foothold in the

community. The newsroom head offered his take on the union in the community, as fair and

balanced as he can:

We don’t even have a dog in that fight. You know, if the employees go union, I trust they know what they are doing. If they don’t, I trust they know what they are doing. I think right now the unions do not have a good reputation. You see what’s going on with GM, with Ford. A lot of their problems are because the union got some contracts probably the management should not have agreed to… And I think there is a benefit to other business coming into the community that is non-union…Having said that, I think everything cycles. Someone has to hold the management accountable to the employees. That’s what the union has done in the past. What happened though is that sometimes the union goes overboard, in favor of helping employees to the extent detrimental to the health of the business…

If the above comment reflects, on one hand, that the editor held a fair attitude and open approach

to unionization, in contrast to local government officials, it also contains recognition of the lack

of union stakeholder power and that the autoworkers and the community did not need it, at least

for the time being. Although Charlie assessed a rating of 5 to the UAW, right in the middle on a

one to ten scale in terms of its importance to the Chaplin Daily, the evidence suggests that the

editor tended to avoid the lower spectrum of the scale, and the rating of 5 was really a low rating

compared to other stakeholders.

The standing of the UAW in Dawson was quite similar. Neither the mayor nor the county

chief officials expressed support for the union. Despite the fact that one U.S. automotive-related

company had a relatively small plant in the city that was a UAW union plant, it really did not

have much influence beyond that plant. The mayor told the researcher that the community is

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better off without having unions because “any work stoppage and so forth that come with a union

environment would be detrimental to the community.” At the county government, one chief

official recalled the early years when union strikes occurred in other plants in the community. “It

went on for a long time. It got mean, and people got hurt.” At the end of the day, the county

official said, one company closed its plant and the community lost 1,000 to 1,500 jobs.

As years went by, union membership as well as influence in the Dawson community has

diminished. At the Dawson Daily, the editor David and his managing editor were not ready to

call the community “anti-union” yet, but clearly confirmed that the UAW did not have much

support from either the community or the Dawson Automobile workers.

5.2.4 Stakeholder power of local government

The editors’ ratings on the importance of local governments to their newspapers were

generally high in most cases, with the exception of the Baldwin Daily newsroom head, who

assessed a moderate rating of 6 on the local government, compared to 8 on the Baldwin

Automobiles.

Accounts of Barry on the local government suggest that the newsroom head indeed

perceived only a moderate stakeholder power of the local government. Speaking of the city

government, Barry said they understand the importance of the newspaper to get their message

out. “They rely on us and we rely on them… but they need us more than we need them.”

One important factor that discounted the stakeholder power of the local government was

their incompetence in the view of the newsroom head. Barry put a lot of blame on both the city

and the county governments for the declining local economy, for their failing to plan ahead to get

other industries and jobs into the community when the domestic auto industry was declining and

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moving jobs out. The economic development plans in the past few years have been a failure, he

observed.

In each of the other three newsrooms, however, local government was seen by the editors

as the entity that has great impact on the community and on people’s lives, and therefore, what

they say and what they do are always important stories for the newspaper to cover. Unlike in

Baldwin, the researcher did not find these editors to have negative views on their local

government.

The editors were mindful of making clear that the governments were important to them

only because they were important to the readers. “They pass laws and ordinances. They raise or

lower taxes. They pave or don’t pave streets and roads. That impacts many people,” Aaron, the

newsroom head in Adams Daily said, but added that government did not have any impact on the

newspaper.

Accounts from Charlie were almost identical. The Chaplin Daily editor said the local

government was very important because:

We rely on it for policies and procedures and ordinances…but they are important only because they are important to our readers and to our advertisers. Yeah! I don’t want to say they are not important, but they don’t have impact on our day-to-day operations. In Dawson, the editor said he felt that as a small city and county they had excellent

people serving in both the city and the county. To the editor, it was important to have good

government “to maintain services, growth, to make the automaker stay here, etc., the whole nine

yards.”

One objective indicator this study uses to supplement the editors’ accounts is the average

volume of text by column-inch in a week’s newspaper that was produced by news reporters. The

heavier the reporter’s workload, the more he or she has to depend upon the local government’s

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“information subsidies” (Gandy, 1982). Fieldwork and interviews in the newsroom found that

reporter evaluation systems were similar across all four newspapers. There were only general

expectations on the quantity of stories a reporter would write in a week, and these varied

according to the complexity of the stories in any given period of time. None of the newspapers

had story quota on reporters. None of them compensate reporters solely based on quantity of

stories. Quality of stories and work attitudes, among others, were cited by all editors as important

factors in evaluating reporters. For example, the Adams Daily newsroom head told the

researcher: “I would much rather have fewer good stories than a lot of bad stories.” In principle,

this view may be shared by all editors. Reality, however, may be different from newsroom to

newsroom. The pressure to produce local stories in large quantity does not require a story quota.

Under such pressure and expectation to produce more stories, quality of the stories inevitably

will suffer.

The procedure of measuring the average column-inches per news reporter in a

constructed week was described in Chapter 4 and Appendix B. The weekly workload was 182

column-inches in print for an Adams Daily reporter, 62.5 column-inches for a Baldwin Daily

reporter, 439 column-inches for a Chaplin Daily reporter, and 179 column-inches for a Dawson

Daily reporter. These figures reveal a pattern that smaller newspapers were usually more short-

staffed and reporters on average had to produce greater amount of news text in a typical week.

Both Chaplin Daily and Dawson Daily had only three news reporters, but there was a big

difference between the weekly column-inches per reporter. This may be explained by the fact

that Dawson Daily used a lot more wire stories. Particularly, many wire stories printed in

Dawson Daily remained long and barely trimmed. As a result, less room in the paper was left for

staff stories.

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The weekly workload indicator suggested that the Baldwin Daily reporters may be least

dependent upon government information among the four newspapers, and when they obtained

government information, they would have the leisure of doing more investigation rather than

print the government information as provided. The account from the newsroom head actually

confirmed that Baldwin Daily reporters were expected to do as much investigative work as they

could, a tradition that the newspaper took pride in.

Taking together the analysis of the interviews, the ratings on importance by the editors

and the weekly workload indicator, the governments in Adams, Chaplin and Dawson were rather

important entities from the perspectives of the local newspapers. In comparison, the Baldwin

government was not as important to the Baldwin Daily for reasons both on the part of the

government and on the part of the newspaper.

5.2.4 “Standardized” stakeholder power of all stakeholders

The “standardized” approach is the effort to synthesize the analysis on each individual

stakeholder, so that the stakeholder power level, as well as stake size, of each stakeholder may be

placed in one three-by-three chart for comparison across the four communities and between

different types of stakeholders. The chart will have the independent variable stakeholder power

on the vertical dimension and the other independent variable stake size on the horizontal

dimension. There are nine cells in the three-by-three chart for independent variables.

Thus far, this report has presented evidence and analysis of stakeholder power on each

stakeholder to the four local newspapers. In the effort to compare stakeholder power, the

following rules were followed, which also apply to stake size. Firstly, on each set of stakeholders

rated by the same editor, the assessment of ordinal values, e.g., low, medium or high, should not

reverse the sequence of the ratings, even though spacing between ratings might be adjusted by

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analysis of the interviews. Secondly, a preliminary value, either being high, medium, or low, was

assigned at this point. This value was close to the concept of absolute value rather than relative

value, hence the possibility exists for two or three stakeholders of the same newspaper to have

the same value in stakeholder power or stake size. Thirdly, the distribution of the independent

variable values was compared across the communities. In this step, the spacing between the

preliminary values was assessed based on the evidence, and adjustment was made to ensure the

spacing was relatively comparable across communities. The evidence presented thus far in this

chapter shows that the stakeholder power values and the stake size values in Adams were most

evenly distributed across high, medium and low, and across large, medium and small,

respectively. The spacing of the independent variable values in Adams was then used as a

reference to adjust the spacing for other communities. In such adjustments on the other

communities, a medium and a high stakeholder power value with small space in-between, for

example, may be re-categorized into one value by comparing them with the stakeholder power

value distribution in Adams.

Rating distribution by the Adams Daily newsroom head is largely in accordance with

interview accounts and various indicators. Compared within the community, the local

government has the highest stakeholder power, Adams Automobiles has a medium level of

stakeholder power, and the UAW has the lowest stakeholder power to the newspaper.

Ratings given by the Baldwin Daily newsroom head all clustered between 6 and 8.

However, analysis of the interviews suggests this concentration on the higher half of the scale

actually reflected the reality of the stakeholder power situation. The managing editor was

reluctant to rate the UAW, but rated the group of autoworkers 6. Evidence suggests that the

union was very active in Baldwin. With a large number of members in the community and its

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power to organize and mobilize its members, as well as ability to exert pressure on other entities

in the community, the UAW union should possess higher stakeholder power than just a group of

autoworkers. The Baldwin Automobiles was rated 8 by the managing editor. Analysis of

interviews also suggests the automaker is very important to both the community and the

newspaper, so it has a high stakeholder power, too. The Baldwin government was rated lower at

6 and blamed by the managing editor for failing economic development plans. Moreover, the

weekly workload indicator shows that the newspaper did not heavily rely on government

“information subsidies” to produce news content. Hence the Baldwin government is assessed a

medium stakeholder power.

The two small towns, Chaplin and Dawson, are also booming towns thanks to the

presence of giant foreign automakers. Analysis of interviews shows both Chaplin Automobiles

and Dawson Automobiles are very important to the communities and have high stakeholder

power to the newspaper. Local governments also possess high stakeholder power. For one thing,

what the governments do affects whether the auto companies will happily stay in the

communities and affects local economic growth in general. For another, they are important

sources of “information subsidies” for these short-staffed small town papers. Although the

Dawson Daily uses a greater amount of wire content to substitute for local stories, the

importance of the local government remains very high for various reasons. The UAW does not

have good standing in either community. The ratings given by the Dawson Daily editor are in

accordance with evidence from the fieldwork, including interview accounts. However, the

Chaplin Daily editor rated the UAW union in the middle of the 10-point scale, contrary to all the

other evidence that shows the UAW has very low stakeholder power. It appears that the Chaplin

Daily editor has a personal tendency of assessing higher ratings to all stakeholders. The

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fieldwork evidence was used to adjust the editors’ ratings. As the final assessment, the UAW

only has a low stakeholder power to both the Chaplin Daily and the Dawson Daily.

Taking all four cases together, the 12 stakeholders are first assessed on their standardized

stakeholder power at the vertical dimension of the three-by-three chart for independent variables.

The assessment of stakeholder power in Chart 5.1 was checked by comparing stakeholders of the

same type across communities. Editors’ ratings do not apply in this type of comparison. Chart

5.1 shows the stakeholder power of Adams Automobiles was not as high as that of its

counterparts in Baldwin, Chaplin and Dawson. This is comfortably supported by analysis of the

fieldwork evidence. That the stakeholder power of the UAW was much higher in Baldwin than

in other three places was also supported by fieldwork evidence. Finally, although local

governments generally have high stakeholder power to the local newspapers, some unique

factors in Baldwin lowered the government’s stakeholder power by one level to the medium

category.

CHART 5.1

Standardized Stakeholder Power

High Baldwin Automobiles Chaplin Automobiles Dawson Automobiles Baldwin UAW Adams Government Chaplin Government Dawson Government Medium Adams Automobiles Baldwin Government Low Adams UAW Chaplin UAW Dawson UAW

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5.3. Independent variable – stake size

Stake size, as defined in this study, is the extent to which the legitimate interest of a

stakeholder is affected, either positively or negatively, by how the trade issue is framed in the

news. However, evidence from the fieldwork suggests that vested interests negatively affected by

free trade usually were more salient to the editors than positive gains brought by free trade.

Analysis of stake size in free trade is similar to that of stakeholder power. The analysis is

primarily based on the interviews with editors and with representatives of the stakeholders,

allowing both perspectives to be considered.

5.3.1. Stake size of automobile company

Aaron, the newsroom head of Adams Daily, viewed free trade as a good thing in general.

It had negative impacts on some industries, Aaron said, but positive impacts outweighed the

negative. However, the newsroom head claimed that he was not an expert on the auto industry

and did not have any good sense of how much the Adams Automobiles were affected in free

trade. Inquiries to the publisher and the business editor generated similar uncertain responses. At

the minimum, these journalists noted some other auto plants under the same automaker have

closed because of the impact from free trade and the automaker has lost market share to foreign

competitors. But they also thought the automaker could take advantage of the opportunity

provided by free trade.

A corporate representative at Adams Automobiles’ Washington D.C. office told the

researcher in a telephone interview that the Detroit-based automaker generally supports free

trade and has supported most U.S. free trade agreements with foreign nations so far. Free trade

was both opportunity and challenge, the automaker’s representative said. Although free trade

brought along competition in home market, Adams Automobiles believed that they were making

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the necessary adjustment to deal with the challenges. For several times the corporate

representative diverted from the researcher’s question on the automaker’s lost domestic market

share to foreign-based competitors. Rather, mindful of the company’s image, this representative

told the researcher that his company is one of the only two global automakers “in a true sense,”

along with another top Asian auto company. With free trade opportunities, the automaker has

managed its sourcing, production and marketing more efficiently and is “doing very well in the

global market.”

Taking the journalists’ perspective and the corporate perspective together, Adams

Automobiles’ stake size in free trade is assessed to be medium.

Stake size of the other Detroit-based automaker, Baldwin Automobiles, was similar to

that of Adams Automobiles. Barry, the newsroom head, directed the researcher’s questions

regarding free trade to his business editor. The essence of the business editor’s observation was

that Baldwin Automobiles generally supported free trade as it opened up new opportunities for

business but also complained that market access was not totally equal, in favor of foreign

automakers coming into the U.S. market. “They feel when they go to ship things to Japan or

other countries they get tariffs or other restrictions on their products. But it doesn’t work vice

versa,” said the business editor.

Like Adams Automobiles, Baldwin Automobiles also supports free trade in general and

has supported most U.S. free trade agreements with foreign nations so far, a corporate

representative in Washington D.C. told the researcher in a telephone interview, offering reasons

similar to those of Adams Automobiles. Taking both the business editor’s observation and the

corporate perspective, Baldwin Automobiles’ stake size in free trade is also assessed to be at the

medium level.

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Chaplin Automobiles and Dawson Automobiles are the two large foreign automakers.

They began to build plants and make cars in America during the 1980s to ease the political

pressure over the increased imports of their cars. The irony is that many industry pundits

believed that the foreign automakers’ investment in plant building in America was partially the

result of anti-free trade sentiment in America in those years. Publicly, these automakers said it is

their philosophy to build cars where they sell. If one defines free trade broadly to include free

flow of capital, or free investment, like the interviewees in Chaplin and Dawson did, then the

consensuses in Chaplin and Dawson were that free trade has greatly benefited both the foreign

automakers and their communities.

The editors of Chaplin Daily and Dawson Daily understood that the foreign automakers

were doing well in their businesses, and the reasons were that they implemented efficient

management in both cost control and quality control. The Chaplin Daily editors Charlie believed

that Chaplin Automobiles was “a very forward-thinking company and so far has made all the

right moves.” And as long as the company continues the make right moves, it will remain

successful. To Charlie, the risk could only come from abandoning good management. With good

management, free trade is a good thing for business rather than a risk. Interviews in Dawson

found the very same confidence that was best conveyed by a county chief official: “If there were

free trade, my guess is they (Dawson Automobiles) could still compete very well because they

make great cars.” In the minds of these interviewees, a stake in free trade hardly came up as an

issue.

In separate telephone interviews, corporate representatives of both foreign automakers

told the researcher that free trade is good for business and good for the economy. Their

companies supported all free trade agreements and would like to see more of them in the future.

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Taking the editors’ perspectives and the corporate perspectives together, Chaplin Automobiles

and Dawson Automobiles are found to have small stake size in free trade.

5.3.2. Stake size of the UAW

The researcher designed this study with prior knowledge that the United Auto Workers

union is a vocal stakeholder regarding current U.S. free trade policy and free trade agreements.

Public speeches of top UAW officials and press releases in the past few years indicate that the

union has fought against almost all free trade agreements between the United States and other

nations.

The UAW is understood as more of a national organization in terms of stake size in free

trade, as stipulated in Chapter 3. In this sense alone, it will be reasonable to assess large stake

size to the UAW in all four cases. However, the researcher’s fieldwork found differences in

Chaplin and Dawson in terms of how salient the UAW stake size was to the newspaper editors.

Hence, the researcher made the decision to leave room for adjustment based on the differences.

The UAW stake size was adequately salient to the newsroom heads in Adams Daily and

Baldwin Daily. The Adams Daily managing editor Aaron recognized that Detroit-based

automakers like the Adams Automobiles have closed plants in the United States and moved them

to Mexico and other places in the world. This has caused loss of automotive jobs in America and

dwindling UAW membership. Although Aaron believed that workers in the Atlas plant were

unlikely to be affected the same way because the popularity and uniqueness of the Atlas model

ensured profitability of the plant, the managing editor noted the autoworkers and union local

were against free trade. Likewise, the editors in Baldwin Daily recognized that the UAW and

union workers were harmed by free trade, either because U.S. automakers were losing market

share to foreign automakers or because domestic union plants lost production and jobs to

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overseas. In short, evidence from Adams and Baldwin shows that the UAW stake size in free

trade was large to both newspapers’ editors.

In comparison, fieldwork in Chaplin and Dawson found that the stake size of the UAW

was hardly salient to the local newspaper editors. Rather, the editors spent much time talking

about how the communities have benefited from the foreign automakers that have done well in

the global economy.

More importantly, the non-union characteristic of these foreign automakers was seen as a

competitive edge by these editors, casting doubt on the legitimacy of the UAW claim of a high

stake in free trade. The Chaplin Daily editor, Charlie, for example, observed that sometimes the

union went overboard, in favor of helping employees to an extent detrimental to the health of the

business. In Dawson Daily, the editor, too, suggested that the UAW has gone too far in claiming

their stake: “Look what Chrysler had to go through. And look what it cost General Motors.

That’s quite a bit.” These interview accounts shows that the UAW stake size in free trade was

less legitimate to the Chaplin and Dawson editors. Based on the evidence, the UAW stake size is

determined to be medium in these two cases.

5.3.3. Stake size of local government

Stake size of local government is found to have most variance among the three types of

stakeholders. In the auto manufacturing communities, the researcher’s fieldwork found that stake

size of the local government in free trade, as perceived by local editors, is determined by the

level of economic reliance on the auto industry and whether the local economy is affected in the

negative or positive direction.

Among the four communities, Adams was the only one that had a diverse economy,

according to both the editors and the Adams mayor. In the past, the community has witnessed

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that other industries suffered, and plants closed as a result of free trade impact. Since then,

Adams has successfully transformed its economy. Currently, the automotive industry is an

important sector. Also important is the health care industry and service industry. The city also

has a public university as one of the top employers. Despite the status of Adams Automobiles as

a large employer and its magnet effect in the local economy, it did not have the same kind of

dominance or semi-dominance as the other three automakers in their respective communities.

As previously discussed, the Atlas vehicle model, only manufactured in this plant, was a

popular American icon and remained profitable, making the managing editor confident that the

plant was unlikely to suffer negative impact from free trade regardless of the impact on the

parent auto company.

Moreover, the Atlas plant was only part of the reason why many auto parts suppliers were

attracted to this community. Many suppliers also had as their clients other automakers, including

large foreign automakers. And the convenient locale of Adams allowed these suppliers to ship to

other clients rather quickly. The Adams Daily newsroom head believed that the trend toward

“on-time-delivery” or “zero-inventory” in automobile manufacturing gives advantage to local

auto parts suppliers over foreign suppliers. Thus, free trade had little impact on the local auto-

related industry, and overall, the managing editor did not see much free trade impact on the

diverse local economy. As such, the stake size of the Adams government is determined to be

small.

The reverse situation was found in Baldwin. Barry, the managing editor, lamented that

the community was heavily relying on the auto industry, and complained that local government

failed to plan ahead to bring in other industries when the community suffered from a downturn

for domestic auto industry. As discussed, Baldwin is the only one of the four studied

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communities that went through a decline of its economy and population in the past decade.

People moved out as companies closed their plants.

Auto industries in Baldwin were mostly U.S. companies. As the U.S. automakers lost

ground to foreign competition, Barry also blamed the local government for failing to bring in the

growth-promising foreign automakers. Because of the failures of the local government, the

newsroom head was concerned that “there will be far more buildings shut down and far more

people leaving the area” and if Baldwin Automobile would decide to move the Buster plant to

Mexico, “the economy in this area will be very bad.”

However, the business editor told the researcher that leaders of the local government

attributed job loss and economic suffering to free trade, which they said has allowed companies

to manufacture products cheaply in other countries, and ship them back to this country. “There is

certainly some truth to that,” said the business editor. Collaboratively, one Baldwin County top

official said the community suffered most due to “unfair” trade agreements and the unlevel field

in which the U.S. automakers had to compete with non-union foreign auto companies that don’t

have the legacy cost of the Detroit companies.

From these editors’ accounts and other fieldwork evidence, the stake size of the Baldwin

government in free trade is determined to be large.

Chaplin and Dawson were on the opposite side of the story. Editors of both local

newspapers, as well as local government officials, believed that their communities have

benefited greatly from free trade and the investment of the foreign automakers. Because of the

investment and the economic growth it brought along, local governments in both communities

had a large tax base and were in a good shape financially.

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Chaplin Daily editor Charlie told the researcher that to the local community Chaplin

Automobiles was very much an American company regardless of its nationality. “We have a

very vested interest in making sure and hoping that Chaplin Automobiles remains very

successful.”

Dawson Daily editor David said that a majority of the community’s growth was due to

Dawson Automobiles, and he praised the local government officials for working hard to make

sure Dawson Automobiles stayed in the community. One county chief official told the researcher

the community as whole took “ownership in the financial, business, quality and production

success” of Dawson Automobiles. Local government officials in both communities also were

highly aware of the importance of helping the automakers to maintain the success.

At the same time, officials said they also tried to bring in unrelated industries to diversify

the local economy, knowing that with the giant automakers dominating, the community will be

devastated once the automakers move out. The effort to diversify has been difficult because the

giant automakers have consumed a large share of the labor force, according to one Dawson

County chief official.

Clearly, the editors as well as local government officials in Chaplin and Dawson believed

that the communities and governments have gained from free trade. The stake was to maintain

the positive gain. On one hand, the editors and local officials understood that because the local

economy was dominated by the giant automakers, the communities were susceptible to economic

hardship if the automakers move out or become not so successful. In that sense, the size of the

stake to protect that vested interest was large for both local governments. On the other hand, they

were confident that the automakers in their communities will remain “well run” and stay

competitive. Free trade may have negative impact on other industries or other auto companies,

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but it is blessing “their” automakers and their communities. In that sense, the likelihood of

having a downturn is very small and remote. In balance, the stake sizes of the Chaplin

government and Dawson government were both assessed to be medium.

Chart 5.2 summarizes the stake sizes of all stakeholders of the four local newspapers, and

Chart 5.3 puts together both stakeholder power levels and stake sizes of these stakeholders and

places each of them in a pigeon hole based on the values of the two independent variables.

CHART 5.2

Stake Size in Free Trade

Small Medium Large

Chaplin Automobiles Adams Automobiles Adams UAW Dawson Automobiles Baldwin Automobiles Baldwin UAW Adams government Chaplin UAW Baldwin government

Dawson UAW Chaplin government Dawson government

CHART 5.3

Hig

h Chaplin Automobiles Dawson Automobiles Adams Government

Baldwin Automobiles Chaplin Government Dawson Government

Baldwin UAW

Med

ium

Adams Automobiles Baldwin government

Stak

ehol

der P

ower

Low

Chaplin UAW Dawson UAW Adams UAW

Small Medium Large

Stake Size

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CHAPTER SIX

DATA ANALYSIS II – STAKEHOLDER FRAMES

The dependent variable in the current study, frame salience, is defined as the relative

weight of a stakeholder frame on free trade compared to the total frames from all stakeholders.

The analysis of frame salience was conducted in two steps. First, a set of viewpoints sponsored

or favored by each stakeholder was identified. Second, a content analysis was conducted to

examine each stakeholder’s set of viewpoints in the news stories.

In the first step, press releases from the stakeholders and interview accounts from their

representatives on free trade were qualitatively analyzed to identify specific viewpoints of the

stakeholders. These include viewpoints on a variety of issues – issues about free trade, issues

created by free trade, or issues that have become important particularly because of free trade.

The journalists’ knowledge about the stands of the stakeholders, if available, also was included

in the analysis. In addition to the interviews, five press releases and executive speeches from

Adams Automobiles during the period from 2006 to October 2007 were identified from its

corporate Website as related to free trade or containing content that addressed the issue. Three

such items were identified from Baldwin Automobiles Website, and four were identified from

Chaplin Automobiles Website. All press releases from Dawson Automobiles were reviewed but

none of them was found to address free trade issues. On the UAW Website, many more releases

were found to be more or less related to free trade. A brief review identified 12 items to be most

relevant. On the local governments’ official Websites, only the government in Baldwin has

posted documents that contain views on free trade issues.

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6.1. The frame of U.S. automakers

The two U.S. automakers in the current study shared a lot of views on free trade and are

found to offer the same frame on free trade. Corporate representatives of both Adams

Automobiles and Baldwin Automobiles told the researcher that the companies viewed that free

trade agreements increased stability of the economy and allowed the automakers to expand in

overseas markets.

The Detroit automakers saw that the U.S. market has been very open compared with

many foreign markets. Fundamentally, the automakers believed free competition is a good thing

and has benefited American consumers. But they also held that free trade should mean equitable

access to markets, according to the corporate representatives. Because of the perceived

inequitable market access, one auto company was against the recently negotiated free trade

agreement with South Korea. The other automaker was neutral on the South Korea trade deal for

similar reasons except the stronger partnership it already has in that country.

At the same time, they both said the companies generally support free trade. Both U.S.

automakers view themselves as global companies, and much of their growth has come from

emerging markets outside of North America. “We can compete very successfully if we have

equitable access to markets,” said the Adams Automobiles representative. In defense of

outsourcing and moving production to overseas plants, both the Adams Automobiles

representative and the Baldwin Automobiles representative said the companies’ goal is “We

build where we sell.” The stated reasons were primarily two – to have a closer touch and direct

impact on the market, and to reduce the risk of currency exchange rate variation. The motivation

of labor cost reduction, often cited by labor unions, some industry analysts and media pundits,

was left out by these corporate representatives.

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The U.S. automakers’ representatives complained that the “artificially suppressed value

of the Yen (Japanese currency) has given Japan’s automakers a distinct advantage.”

The U.S. automakers also considered that their huge cost on health care created another

major disadvantage to their competitiveness. Although a new contract with the UAW recently

removed that burden to a large degree, said the representatives, the companies still have a great

interest in national health care policy reform on the part of politicians.

Review of the automakers press releases found collaborating evidence. Four of the five

releases from Adams Automobiles contained paragraphs or language that endorses free trade and

open markets. The Baldwin Automobiles declared in one of its press releases that it had

supported every free trade agreement negotiated by the U.S. government except the U.S. – Korea

Free Trade Agreement, which has disappointed the automakers by not doing enough to reduce

trade barriers to “the most closed market in the industrialized world.”

All of the five Adams Automobiles releases included the idea that free trade should also

be “fair” without barriers and restrictions, and the playing field should be level. Three of them

specifically charged that Japan’s “severely undervalued Yen” gives Japanese automakers an

unfair competitiveness. One Adams Automobiles release even used five consecutive paragraphs

to discuss the Japanese currency problem. In a Baldwin Automobiles press release, the CEO of

the company, in a speech delivered to the Detroit Economic Club, criticized the Japanese

government for manipulating the Yen/Dollar exchange rate in order to maintain a trade

advantage for Japanese manufacturers. “Why doesn’t our government do the same for us?” the

CEO asked. He then suggested that a change in U.S. currency policy to improve national

competitiveness is all it would take.

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Also, four of the five Adams Automobile releases contained language that addresses the

automaker’s concern on healthcare cost. In one press release, the automaker’s North America

president urged policymakers to take a closer look at the U.S. health care system and pointed out

in particular that foreign automakers are not typically burdened with the health care cost, which

gave the “already fierce competitors” an extra edge in competitiveness. This cost disadvantage in

the U.S. automaker’s home market, he said, is “a challenge we don’t face in other markets

around the world.” In a Baldwin Automobiles press release, the CEO of the auto company told

the U.S. Senate that U.S. automakers were “not afraid to do battle on a free and level playing

field,” but they were not able to offset rising health care costs. The health care issue is a major

barrier to competitiveness, this CEO said, and public policy can make a difference.

Based on analysis of the evidence presented above, there was little difference in the

views of the two U.S. automakers on issues regarding free trade. Guided by Entman’s definition

of framing and the four frame elements in it, a list of viewpoints advocated by the two U.S.

automakers was identified, as assembled in Table 6.1.

TABLE 6.1

Viewpoints in U.S. automakers' frame on free trade 1. Free trade is generally good for the economy. 2. Free trade increases exports from this country. 3. Free competition helps improve products. 4. Outsourcing helps American companies become more competitive in the global marketplace. 5. The U.S. automakers’ health care legacy costs are too big a burden for them. 6. The federal government should help domestic companies unload their health care cost. 7. Problems are results of unfair practices of foreign nations, e.g., currency manipulation, other trade

BL barriers. 8. America needs fair trade agreements to compete on level playing field with foreign nations.

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On what “particular problems,” or what aspects of the free trade reality were selected, the

U.S. automakers held that free trade helps increase exports, that competition results in better

products, that global sourcing and production help business grow and stay competitive. One

negative aspect of free trade is that rising health care cost puts U.S. automakers at a

disadvantage. The remedy for this problem depends on federal policymakers to help remove this

burden so that U.S. automakers can compete with foreign competitors on a “level playing field”

in this aspect. Another negative aspect is that some foreign governments keep trade barriers or

manipulate currency exchange rates, which gives their own auto industries an upper hand. These

practices were deemed unfair from the U.S. perspective. The remedy for this problem also

depends on the federal government to negotiate better terms into trade agreements and to reform

currency policies to combat foreign currency manipulation, so that U.S. automakers can compete

on “level playing field.” Philosophically, these automakers believed free trade and open market

is good for the economy.

6.2. The frame of foreign automakers

The two foreign-owned automakers shared views on free trade and offered the same

frame, but they have differences from the U.S. automakers. The list of the viewpoints in the

foreign automakers’ frame is assembled in Table 6.2.

TABLE 6.2

Viewpoints in foreign automakers' frame on free trade 1. Free trade is generally good for the economy. 2. Free trade increases exports from this country. 3. Free competition helps improve products. 4. Foreign companies operation in America adds good jobs

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Unlike the U.S. automakers, who have suffered loss of domestic market share, the foreign

companies embraced all U.S. free trade agreements whole-heartedly.

A Chaplin Automobiles representative told the researcher that the biggest advantage of

free trade was that it removed artificial barriers to allow more balanced competition. Free trade

agreements, like the North America Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), for example, allowed the

company to move products to Canada and Mexico free of duty. But he contended that this factor

did not have impact on the company’s decisions on where to build its products and where to

source auto parts. The Chaplin Automobiles representative admitted that more components of

their automobiles have come from overseas in recent years, not because the automaker decided

to outsource, but because some of their suppliers have moved productions outside of this

country. The corporate representative said the auto company developed long-term partnership

with suppliers and would not abandon them just because they changed their locations. Free trade

agreements allowed the automaker to import from the overseas partners free of duty.

Views of Dawson Automobiles were in the same line. A representative of the company

told the researcher that free trade increases competition and results in better products, better

services and better prices from a consumer perspective. From a manufacturer perspective, it

allows companies to enter markets without artificial constraints and increase predictability for

business. As a result, those that make good products will succeed. Philosophically, the company

believed that free trade is good for everybody and good for the economy. The company

supported all free trade agreements and would like to see more of them to come.

Like the U.S. automakers, the foreign auto companies also claimed the “We build where

we sell” philosophy. The Chaplin Automobiles representative said his company would consider

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outsourcing an option if it makes business sense, but insisted that they would also considered

many practical factors, such as ensuring product quality and respect for employee perspectives.

In fact, the foreign automakers were keenly aware of the importance of public image in

doing business in the United States. In an era when the Detroit automakers increasingly moved

automobile production to emerging industrial nations, both Chaplin Automobiles and Dawson

Automobiles were running public image campaigns, telling the American public that their

investment and operation in multiple plants in America have directly added tens of thousands of

good jobs to this country and were indirectly responsible for hundreds of thousands more jobs

through dealers and suppliers. During the interviews with representatives from the auto plants, a

Chaplin Automobiles plant representative and a Dawson Automobiles plant representative each

spent a good amount of time telling the researcher about the positive economic impact their

companies have brought on the county, on the region, and on the state. Collaborative evidence

was found in three of the four Chaplin Automobiles press releases on free trade, where the

company’s leadership repeatedly cited the growing numbers of Chaplin Automobiles jobs in the

United States.

In summary, the foreign automakers’ views on free trade were similar to those of the U.S.

automakers in that they all supported free trade, held that free trade is good for the economy and

good for consumers by increasing competition. They also held that free trade helps increase

exports.

Differing from the U.S. automakers, the foreign automakers emphasized they added good

jobs to America, and they did not share the concerns about “unfair” practices of foreign

governments. The foreign automakers had a relatively simple frame on free trade.

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6.3. The frame of the UAW

The UAW was a vocal stakeholder against current U.S. free trade policy. It offered a

wide range of viewpoints regarding free trade, some of which are related to the union’s own role

in this matter, as shown in Table 6.3.

The UAW frame finds agreement with that of U.S. automakers only on the negative

aspects of free trade. The focal point of view in the UAW frame is that current trade policy and

trade agreements are flawed in that they failed to protect domestic manufacturing bases and

manufacturing jobs, and need to be replaced by “fair trade” deals that level the playing field. For

the UAW, which so far has not unionized any major foreign-owned plants in the United States,

the continuing loss of auto jobs means continuing loss of membership and dwindling political

influence. In each of the 12 relevant press releases from the UAW, job loss or the urgency for job

protection was a very important theme. Many other specific problems of free trade were

connected to job loss one way or another.

TABLE 6.3

Viewpoints in UAW union's frame on free trade

1. U.S. automakers’ health care legacy costs are too big a burden for them. 2. Federal government should help domestic companies unload their health care cost. 3. Free trade causes job loss and/or diminishing wages and benefits in America. 4. Outsourcing is a corporate choice for bigger profit over the interest of American workers. 5. America should preserve/strengthen domestic automotive manufacturing. 6. American workers deserve decent wages and benefits. 7. Labor unions are important in protecting workers’ rights, wages and benefits. 8. In non-union plants, workers’ rights are infringed. 9. Problems are results of unfair practices by foreign nations, e.g., currency manipulation, other trade L

L barriers. 10. Problems are results of foreign low wages, lack of workers’ rights, environmental protection, etc. 11. America’s current trade policies are flawed. 12. Current trade and tax policies encourage rather than discourage companies to outsource. 13. America needs fair trade agreements to compete on level playing field.

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The problem of health care cost was discussed in length in 10 of the 12 relevant UAW

press releases.

The UAW held that American workers deserve decent wages, health care benefits and

retirement plans and did not accept the notion that they have to give these up to save the jobs in

this country. Speaking of a downward pressure on American wages and benefits, the UAW local

president in Adams said:

We have a living standard in this country that we’ve earned. They come really hard. They went through the tough times in the ‘30s and ‘40s. And now we’ve built something so people now can have a good education. They can send their kids to college. They can support their churches. They can build houses, have nice cars. And why the hell would we want to go backwards? I don’t want to compete against somebody in Mexico that makes $1.10 an hour. I don’t want to compete with somebody in China or India.

In a speech to the Detroit Regional Chamber at the Mackinac Policy Conference, UAW

President Ron Gettelfinger (2007b) said that ordinary workers need a voice about their pay,

benefits and working conditions, and somebody has to make sure workers’ interests are

protected. That is where unions come in, according to a UAW press release on May 31, 2007. In

a discussion about the non-union foreign auto plants operating in the United States, the UAW

local president in Baldwin told the researcher that it is with “the ones who try to threaten and

intimidate workers from joining the unions where we have a problem.”

But the UAW agreed with the U.S. automakers that the health care system is in crisis,

putting U.S. automakers in a disadvantage as they compete against foreign automakers. The

UAW demanded that the federal government must take the responsibility to implement better

and smarter health care policies that level the playing field among all automakers. According to a

UAW press release, UAW President Gettelfinger told U.S. Senate Democratic leaders that the

health care problem cannot be solved between the union and the automakers, and the UAW

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believed it would be “immoral and irresponsible to abandon the hundreds of thousands of retirees

who helped build GM, Ford and Chrysler.” Instead, Gettelfinger urged Congress to take action

on health care initiatives that can address this problem (Gettelfinger, 2007a).

The UAW concurred with U.S. automakers on the charge against foreign nations’ alleged

unfair trade practices, such as currency manipulation and other trade barriers. Independent of the

views of the automakers, the UAW also accused foreign nations of suppressing workers’ wages

and rights and banning organized labors. Eleven of the 12 press releases made charges about

unfair trade practices on the part of foreign nations. The UAW contended that unfair trade

practices gave overseas operations an advantage in keeping production cost low, which

increasingly caused vehicles and components to be outsourced. As a result, more and more good-

paying jobs in America were lost to low-wage countries. In one press release on January 13,

2006, Gettelfinger sharply criticized one U.S. senator’s comment that outsourcing is a “fact of

globalization.” Gettelfinger contended:

[Outsourcing] is the result of intentional policy choices on the part of business and political leaders, who have decided that boosting corporate profits is more important than protecting the living standards of working people in the United States and abroad (UAW, 2006).

In order to level the playing field between nations, the UAW recommended that the United

States must negotiate “fair trade” agreements that require foreign nations to implement

internationally recognized work safety and environmental standards, comparable wage levels and

fair currency exchange rates. In addition, tax loop holes that in effect reward foreign sourcing

must be corrected and tax incentives need to be created to encourage domestic production of

advanced technology vehicles.

To the UAW, it is ultimately the responsibility of the federal government to make

policies that can preserve and strengthen the manufacturing base in America.

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In sum, the UAW has strong views on many free-trade-related issues, and had most

viewpoints in its free trade frame, as Table 6.3 shows.

6.4. The frame of the Adams government

The researcher’s fieldwork found that whether a local government spoke out clearly on

free trade depended to a large degree upon whether free trade had a clear effect on the local

economy. To some extent, the positions taken by the elected officials, either mayors or county

chiefs, reflected the views and interests of powerful constituents. Hence, in the analysis of

government frame on free trade, viewpoints sponsored by the automakers and those sponsored

by the UAW need to be examined as possible ingredients of the government frame.

Located in a southern state, Adams has benefited from a shift of the auto industry toward

the South in the last decade. The community prospered. Growth was seen in both the automotive

industry and other industries. The Atlas plant owned by Adams Automobiles was the only

automobile assembly plant in the community. Plants that produced auto parts constituted a good

portion of the local automotive economy. In the past decade, Adams has been quite successful in

attracting manufacturers and other businesses to the community. In the areas surrounding

Adams, however, not all counties have been so blessed. Some of them were hit by plant closing

and job loss in the recent past.

The mayor of Adams claimed she did not feel fully she understood the complex effects of

free trade and was reluctant to comment on U.S. trade policy and trade agreements, whether this

reluctance was truly due to lack of expertise or was out of political cautiousness. The mayor did

observe the above-mentioned local reality and shared with the researcher basic information about

the city and her perspective as the mayor. One important aspect of the mayor’s work was to

promote economic development by bringing more businesses into the city. The mayor wanted to

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focus on growth industries. While her government still was bringing in manufacturing, it also

diversified the local economy by going after information technology companies and service

industries. “We also have to change the scope of our tax base and tax incentives and support

mechanism,” the mayor said. New business coming into the city included both domestic and

international companies. The mayor said she worked closely with the county chief and the local

chamber of commerce in recruiting businesses from Japan, Korea and China.

The last time the mayor went to Japan, a pure social event in that country ended up

becoming a $10 million Japanese investment in Adams to produce automobile headliner, adding

100 new jobs that pay salaries higher than average. “How much more important than that can

you get?” the mayor asked.

Adams was by and large a non-union community with a few union plants, one of which

was the Atlas assembly plant. The mayor’s view on union’s role in the economy reflected the

community reality and her vision on local economic development. As already discussed in

Chapter 5, Section 5.2.3.1, the mayor stated that she preferred good companies that treat

employees well and provide good compensation, rather than bringing in a union to protect the

workers. Within the context of the entire interview, a two-part message was conveyed in this

brief statement. On one hand, she certainly thought it is important that employees are paid well

and treated justly, which in turn will bring along a ripple effect on the economy, upgrade the

community’s living standard and create more tax revenue for the city. She also recognized the

union’s role in protecting the workers. On the other hand, she believed that the union way is not

always necessary. Her concern was clear that union activity could jeopardize business

recruitment. So far, the mayor was happy with the non-union employers in her community,

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which were by and large “good corporate citizens.” The mayor’s handling of union issues was

“pretty fair,” according to the UAW local president.

The county chief of Adams did not respond to the researcher’s repeated request for an

interview, nor did the researcher find other direct accounts from him on free trade issues.

According to the UAW local president, the county chief had friends on both sides, Democrats

and Republicans. He subscribed to a Republican philosophy on economic issues. But he was also

a pragmatic local leader who wanted to see jobs stay in the community, union or non-union.

Independent accounts from the Adams Daily business reporter and the “city and county”

reporter both suggested that the county chief worked with the city and the local chamber of

commerce to promote business, and was not particularly anti-union. Based on the limited

evidence, the county chief’s views on free trade issues and approach to the union were not a

drastic deviation from those of the mayor.

Table 6.4 assembles a short list of viewpoints in the Adams government’s frame.

Viewpoint 1 in this table was shared by both Adams Automobiles and the local government.

Viewpoint 3 was shared by both the UAW and the government.

TABLE 6.4

Viewpoints in Adams government's frame on free trade

1. Free trade is generally good for the economy. 2. Foreign companies operation in America adds good jobs 3. American workers deserve decent wages and benefits. 4. Good employers taking care of employees are preferred over labor unions 5. Facing the challenge of free trade, communities should develop service industry or transform to

L a knowledge-, technology-based economy.

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The analysis found no other viewpoints from these two constituents that were clearly

endorsed by the Adams government. Although the Adams mayor recognized the role of unions

to protect workers, a viewpoint held by the UAW, it was not a favorable situation in the view of

the mayor.

6.5. The frame of the Baldwin government

Among the four communities in this study, Baldwin was the one most hit by the negative

impacts of free trade. The economy of Baldwin relied heavily on the automobile and automotive

industries. Although the Buster assembly plant of Baldwin Automobiles operated well and had

no indication of leaving the community, auto parts and components manufacturing has witnessed

a trend of outsourcing. Companies left; factories closed; people are laid off. This is the sketch of

the community’s economic reality. Just as it was the only government stakeholder with a high

stake in free trade, the Baldwin government also had most viewpoints among the four

government stakeholders. The viewpoints in the Baldwin government frame are assembled in

Table 6.5. Most of these viewpoints were shared with the Baldwin UAW.

TABLE 6.5

Viewpoints in Baldwin government's frame on free trade 1. U.S. automakers’ health care legacy costs are too big a burden for them. 2. Federal government should help domestic companies unload their health care cost. 3. Free trade causes job loss and/or diminishing wages and benefits in America. 4. Facing the challenge of free trade, communities should develop service industry or transform to A a knowledge-, technology-based economy. 5. America should preserve/strengthen domestic automotive manufacturing. 6. American workers deserve decent wages and benefits. 7. Labor unions are important in protecting workers’ rights, wages and benefits. 8. In non-union plants, workers’ rights are infringed. 9. America’s current trade policies are flawed. 10. Current trade and tax policies encourage rather than discourage companies to outsource. 11. America needs fair trade agreements to compete on level playing field.

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One of the three county chief officials in Baldwin had an interview with the researcher.

Unlike the mayor in Adams, this Baldwin County chief official was rather open and vocal on

free trade issues. He told the researcher that Baldwin’s auto industry was “definitely” hurt by

free trade and singled out job loss as the primary effect that the community has suffered. The

county official observed many reasons for job loss. Not only did the Big Three automakers lose a

lot of market share to foreign automakers, even for their remaining market share, the Detroit

automakers were increasingly outsourcing the productions and jobs. At the same time, more

vehicles were either imported or built in foreign-owned non-union plants, none of which were in

located in Baldwin. Baldwin also lost jobs in auto parts manufacturing, many of which were

moved to Mexico, said the county official.

In line with the views of the UAW, the county official said that the non-union jobs in

foreign auto plants were not paid as much and carried only limited benefits, which has been a big

factor in the shrinking of middle-class in places like Baldwin. Those jobs “are better than

nothing, better than Wal-Mart,” he said, but added that the jobs in the Big Three were high-

paying jobs and have created a middle-class in the community. When the high-paying union jobs

became fewer and fewer, the non-union jobs that replaced them did not match up.

In a State of the County remarks, available on the Baldwin County official Website,

another county chief charged that “the George Bush economy was tearing away the middle class

fabric” that held this region together. The hard-working people in Baldwin County do not

deserve to watch the best-paying work pack up and go somewhere else, said that county chief in

his State of the County remarks.

Rejecting the notion that the union has driven the labor price too high for the domestic

auto industry, the county chief who was interviewed said that health care cost was the biggest

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factor that made it tough for American manufacturing companies to compete in the global

economy.

The county chief official said these negative consequences can be attributed to a lot of

factors, but he put the blame primarily on the federal government for the flawed policies in trade

and health care. In order to address these problems, the county chief said that the federal

government should provide universal health care to remove the extra cost from domestic

companies, so that they could compete on a level playing field with foreign companies. The

federal government should also help workers by strengthening the ability of unions to organize in

plants owned by foreign companies. In addition, to increase market share of the domestic auto

industry, there should be a massive government investment in partnership with the Big Three

automakers to develop alternative fuel and hybrid technology. Future trade deals should provide

incentives to make it more profitable for companies to make vehicles in the United States and

more difficult to shift jobs overseas.

On the part of the state and local governments, the county chief believed that more

support should be given to alternative energy research. A document on the Baldwin County

Website shows that another chief official of Baldwin County also envisioned that the research

strength of the University of Baldwin, the public university of the city, can be utilized as a

starting point of the community’s transition to a technology-based economy.

The mayor of Baldwin city did not respond to the researcher’s repeated request for an

interview. According to the Baldwin Daily managing editor and business editor, the mayor’s

views were basically in line with the UAW, whether on free trade or on the union’s role in global

economy. In the mayoral election, unions in the city as a whole have supported the current

mayor, who was now in his third term, following a short break after two prior consecutive terms.

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At the same time, the mayor also has maintained a good working relationship with the auto

industry. Based on the journalists’ accounts on the Baldwin mayor, it can be assumed that the

city government and the county government by and large shared the same views on free trade

issues.

The above analysis shows that most UAW viewpoints and several Baldwin Automobile

viewpoints on free trade were shared by the Baldwin government. Amongst the Baldwin

government viewpoints assembled in Table 6.5, Viewpoints 1, 2 and 11 were sponsored by both

Baldwin Automobiles and the UAW. Viewpoints 3, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 and 10 were also sponsored by

the UAW but not the automaker. The analysis found no other viewpoint sponsored by these two

constituents that was endorsed by the Baldwin government.

6.6. The frame of the Chaplin and Dawson governments

The economic paths of Chaplin and Dawson in the past two decades were very similar to

each other. Growth of each community was extraordinary, blessed by the investment and mass

hiring of foreign auto giants. Before the foreign automakers came, both communities, located in

different states, were struggling in a depressed economy. They both had a few other

manufacturing plants in smaller scales. One by one the companies moved out their plants.

Workers were laid off. The departure of those plants for Mexico or Asian countries, according to

local officials, was partially the consequence of union strikes. The Chaplin County chief said that

the foreign automaker came right on the heels of that and provided jobs in large number. “All of

them (jobs that had left) put together weren’t comparable. Nowhere close.” The two

communities began to thrive. During the course of two decades, population has doubled in each

of the two communities.

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The local officials in Chaplin and Dawson today were very pleased with where they are

now. Knowing that they benefited greatly from the foreign investments, their views on free trade

were favorable in general. As for how free trade and the global economy have benefited their

communities, it all comes down to the foreign automakers. They said they did not think many

vehicles made in their communities ended up being exported to the global market. Nonetheless,

they knew that free trade was in the interests of Chaplin Automobiles and Dawson Automobiles,

that free trade made the foreign automakers’ business more profitable. And in turn, the

employees, local taxes and the communities as a whole got a share of that benefit. In short, free

trade is good for the economy, at least in their communities.

The local government officials also were aware that free trade opens the door for the

automakers to go elsewhere with lower cost, but they believed that worst case scenario would not

be likely. The automakers had great support from the communities, the governments and their

employees. Their businesses were doing so well since they arrived. There was hardly anything

that these local officials saw that could cause them to pack up and leave. “I do think the one

thing that makes Chaplin Automobiles stand out is the fact that they are not union. I really think

that has a big impact,” the Chaplin mayor said, in reference to the foreign company’s

competitiveness over the Detroit automakers. In fact, none of the city or county officials from

either community favored unionization. They said the automakers in their communities were

very good employers that have given the employees just about everything they asked for.

Unionization, they feared, could make the foreign automakers just pull the plug.

With the optimism that the auto plant will stay in their communities and that they will

remain strong, the local leaders also understood that the growth of the auto plants in their

communities probably has reached the maximum. To ensure future growth, they made plans and

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efforts to bring in other unrelated businesses. That was not an easy task when the auto giants in

the communities hired a good portion of the local labor force with compensations so much

higher than the average pay rates. Nevertheless, officials in both communities discussed

economic diversification as a long term strategy, with an understanding that the communities

cannot rely on one dominant employer forever.

The benefits of free trade were understood and spelled out in general terms by the local

officials. This is a difference from the fact that more specific viewpoints were offered by the

stakeholders who suffered from free trade. The ones who felt the pain had views on what went

wrong and what should be done. As a result, only a short list of viewpoints on free trade was

found to be clearly endorsed by Chaplin government and Dawson government. As shown in

Table 6.6, Viewpoint 1 and Viewpoint 2 were shared by the foreign automakers and these local

governments, but not a single viewpoint from the UAW was endorsed by these local

governments.

TABLE 6.6

Viewpoints in Chaplin and Dawson governments' frame on free trade

1. Free trade is generally good for economy. 2. Foreign companies operation in America adds good jobs. 3. Good employers taking care of employees are preferred over labor unions 4. The unions are responsible for driving the labor cost too high. 5. Facing the challenge of free trade, communities should develop service industry or transform to

iiiiii a knowledge-, technology-based economy.

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CHAPTER SEVEN

DATA ANALYSIS III – FRAME SALIENCE

The analysis in Chapter 6 identifies the set of viewpoints that were contained in the frame

of each stakeholder. Some stakeholder frames contain more viewpoints than the others. The

UAW frame contains as many as 13 viewpoints. By contrast, foreign automakers’ frame has only

four viewpoints. Intuitively, the more viewpoints a stakeholder has to offer, the greater the

likelihood that some of them may be picked up by the news media. However, the number of

viewpoints is a characteristic of the stakeholder frame, one hierarchy lower than the stake size

variable, which is a characteristic of the stakeholder itself and a relational variable to the

newspaper. Logically, a large stake size in free trade can be the reason that causes a stakeholder

to vocally present a lot of viewpoints on the issue, but not vice versa. Having a lot of viewpoints

is not the reason why a stakeholder has a large stake size in free trade. Therefore, the possibility

that the number of viewpoints can be an extraneous variable is ruled out.

A strong correlation is found between stake size and the number of viewpoints in the

stakeholder frame. Kendall’s correlation coefficient tau_b is .704 and Spearman’s rho is .773.

Because the histogram on “number of viewpoints” shows normal distribution does not exist in

this variable, Pearson’s correlation is not an appropriate method for this analysis. The correlation

and logical order between the variables suggest that the number of viewpoints in stakeholder

frame is a result of stake size. The possibility remains that it can be an intervening variable

between stake size and frame salience. Unfortunately, test for intervening variable by holding

control variables is not feasible in the current study given the small number of stakeholders.

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All together, the stakeholder frames consist of a total of 21 viewpoints on issues related

to free trade. Two additional viewpoints in Table 7.1, Viewpoint 7 and Viewpoint 10, were not

explicitly endorsed by any stakeholders. They were found to be vocally rejected by the UAW as

notions from the U.S. auto industry. Evidence of these two viewpoints was found in some UAW

press releases. In his multiple speeches, the UAW President Ron Gettelfinger repeated the story

line about how some automotive parts workers were laid off. “One morning the workers were

brought together and were told they had priced themselves out of the market, and their jobs were

moving to China” (Gettelfinger, 2006).

TABLE 7.1

Viewpoints that are examined in news stories

1. Free trade is generally good for economy. 2. Free trade increases exports from this country. 3. Foreign companies operation in America adds good jobs. 4. Free competition helps improve products. 5. Facing the challenge of free trade, communities should develop service industry or transform to a

iiiiii knowledge-, technology-based economy. 6. Outsourcing helps American companies become more competitive in the global marketplace. 7. Labor cost in America has become too high for business. 8. The unions are responsible for driving the labor cost too high. 9. Good employers taking care of employees are preferred over labor unions 10. Facing the challenge of free trade, cutting wages, benefits or workforce may be necessary for U.S.

iiiiiii manufacturing companies to regain strength and stay competitive. 11. U.S. automakers’ health care legacy costs are too big a burden for them. 12. The federal government should help domestic companies unload their health care cost. 13. Free trade causes job loss and/or diminishing wages and benefits in America. 14. Outsourcing is a corporate choice for bigger profit over the interest of American workers. 15. America should preserve/strengthen domestic automotive manufacturing. 16. American workers deserve decent wages and benefits. 17. Labor unions are important in protecting workers’ rights, wages and benefits. 18. In non-union plants, workers’ rights are infringed. 19. Problems are results of unfair practices by foreign nations, e.g., currency manipulation, other trade

iiiiiiii barriers. 20. Problems are results of foreign low wages, lack of workers’ rights, environmental protection, etc. 21. America’s current trade policies are flawed. 22. Current trade and tax policies encourage rather than discourage companies to outsource. 23. America needs fair trade agreements to compete on level playing field.

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Gettelfinger also repeatedly cited these viewpoints as the targets of his rebuttal. For

example, in a speech given to the Automotive News World Congress, the UAW leader said:

There are some who say that the very idea of decent wages, health care and retirement security for workers has been rendered obsolete by the harsh realities of globalization. They argue that the only way to keep manufacturing jobs in the United States is to slash the wages of American workers to near poverty level… The UAW rejects that strategy because no matter how low you go, some other country will go lower – not only in wages but in safety conditions, human rights and environmental standards (Gettelfinger, 2006).

The researcher reasoned that perhaps the U.S. automakers, whether they agreed with these views

or not, have toned down the rhetoric for political reasons. Therefore, the researcher determined

that these two viewpoints are important and worth examining on their own rights. Interestingly,

Viewpoint 7 was expressed by the publishers of two newspapers during the interviews. But

neither viewpoint belongs to any stakeholder frame in this analysis.

7.1 Percentage in stories as frame salience indicator

The viewpoints in Table 7.1 are original variables coded. They were searched in the

headline, in the lead, and in the rest of each story (See Appendix D). Each stakeholder frame is a

constructed variable formed by adding up all viewpoints sponsored by the stakeholder.

The primary indicators of frame salience are the percentage of stakeholder frame

presence in the stories of each newspaper and the percentage of frame presence in the stories’

headlines and leads only. A lead is defined as the first two paragraphs of the story. The universe

of free trade stories within the defined studied period was analyzed and the unit of analysis was

the individual story. The analysis used the SPSS computer program.

The researcher also examined stakeholder frames in just the headlines. Only five

viewpoints with a total of seven counts were found. The presence of viewpoints in headline was

deemed too scarce for analysis of frame salience.

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Viewpoints 7 and 10 were analyzed separate from the stakeholder frames. The crosstab

analysis did not find that the percentage of their presence in full story, or in headlines and leads,

is related to the value of either independent variable.

The result of crosstab analysis on stakeholder frames, shown in Table 7.2, are the

percentages of stakeholder frame presence in full stories and the percentages of frame presence

in the headlines and leads only. Whether in full story analysis or in head and lead analysis, Table

7.2 shows difference in the salience of different stakeholders, indicated as percentage of

stakeholder frame presence.

The effects of the two independent variables, stakeholder power and stake size, were then

tested by comparing the percentages of stakeholder frame presence. With full story analysis in

concern, Chart 7.1 visually demonstrates the frame salience of each stakeholder in relation to

stakeholder power and stake size. The mean values of frame salience in terms of percentage of

presence are also shown in Chart 7.1.

Chart 7.1 allows comparisons of frame salience, indicated by percentage of frame

presence, to test the effect of either independent variable when the other one is constant. The

comparisons are made in two different ways. First, the research design made it a priority to

compare the same type of stakeholders across different cases, e.g., one automaker’s stake size

versus another automaker’s stake size. The hypotheses in Chapter 3 are made on each of the

three specific types of stakeholder. Second, the qualitative analysis of stakeholder power and

stake size in Chapter 5 made efforts to standardize the value of both independent variables so

that comparisons can be made between any two stakeholders.

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TABLE 7.2

Frame salience as percent of stories containing stakeholder frame

Stakeholder Frame In Full Story In Head & Lead Adams Auto frame in Adams Daily 1 33.3 (n = 16) 8.3 (n = 4) Baldwin Auto frame in Baldwin Daily 2 49.4 (n = 40) 11.1 (n = 9) Chaplin Auto frame in Chaplin Daily 3 10.3 (n = 3) 0 (n = 0) Dawson Auto frame in Dawson Daily 4 19.2 (n = 5) 3.8 (n = 1) UAW frame in Adams Daily 52.1 (n = 25) 20.8 (n = 10) UAW frame in Baldwin Daily 74.1 (n = 60) 28.4 (n = 23) UAW frame in Chaplin Daily 31.0 (n = 9) 13.8 (n = 4) UAW frame in Dawson Daily 57.7 (n = 15) 19.2 (n = 5) Local Gov frame in Adams Daily 12.5 (n = 6) 2.1 (n = 1) Local Gov frame in Baldwin Daily 69.1 (n = 56) 27.2 (n = 22) Local Gov frame in Chaplin Daily 10.3 (n = 3) 0 (n = 0) Local Gov frame in Dawson Daily 15.4 (n = 4) 3.8 (n = 1)

Note: 1. N=48 in Adams Daily; 2. N=81 in Baldwin Daily; 3. N=29 in Chaplin Daily; 4. N=26 in Dawson Daily.

CHART 7.1

Frame salience (%) in full stories by stakeholder power and stake size

Hig

h

Chaplin Auto (10.3) Dawson Auto (19.2) Adams Gov (12.5) Mean (14.0)

Baldwin Auto (49.4) Chaplin Gov (10.3) Dawson Gov (15.4) Mean (25.0)

Baldwin UAW (74.1) Mean (74.1)

Med

.

Adams Auto (33.3) Mean (33.3)

Baldwin Gov (69.1) Mean (69.1)

Stak

ehol

der P

ower

Low

Chaplin UAW (31.0) Dawson UAW (57.7) Mean (44.4)

Adams UAW (52.1) Mean (52.1)

Small Medium Large

Stake Size

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In regard to the pair of hypotheses on the UAW as stakeholders, comparisons can be

made on both stakeholder effect and stake size effect. First, in the large stake size category,

Adams UAW only had low stakeholder power while Baldwin UAW had high stakeholder power.

An effect on frame salience was found because the presence of UAW fame in Baldwin Daily is

22 percentage points higher than in Adams Daily. Second, the effect of UAW stake size is found

at the low stakeholder power level, where the UAW had large stake size in Adams but only

medium stake size in Chaplin and Dawson. The UAW frame salience is 52.1% in Adams Daily.

This is 21.1 percentage points higher than in Chaplin Daily, but slightly lower than in Dawson

Daily. Even so, it is still higher than the mean of the other two, which is 44.4%. Hypothesis 1A

on UAW stakeholder power effect is generally supported. Hypothesis 1B on UAW stake size

effect is clearly supported.

A couple of comparisons based on automakers stakeholder relationships also can be made

from Chart 7.1. Adams Automobiles and Baldwin Automobiles both had medium stake size, but

Baldwin Automobiles had high stakeholder power in its relation to the local newspaper while

Adams Automobiles had only medium level stakeholder power. The data show that the frame

salience of Baldwin Automobiles is higher than that of Adams Automobiles by 16.1 percentage

points. Support is found for Hypothesis 2A on the automaker stakeholder power effect. On the

other hand, when stakeholder power is constant at the high level, both Chaplin Automobiles and

Dawson Automobiles had small stake size, compared with the medium stake size of Baldwin

Automobiles. The data show that the frame salience of Chaplin Automobiles and Dawson

Automobiles are 10.3% and 19.2%, respectively, and the mean value of the two automakers’

frame salience is 14.8%. In comparison, the frame salience of Baldwin Automobiles is 49.4%, an

increase by 34.6 percentage point. Hypothesis 2B on automaker stake size effect is supported.

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Finally, with local governments as stakeholders, when stake size is constant, none of the

three stake size categories presents variance in local government stakeholder power. Technically,

there is not sufficient data to test Hypothesis 3A. However, when stakeholder power is constant,

a comparison can be made at the high stakeholder power level. The Adams government had a

small stake size, while both Chaplin government and Dawson government had a medium stake

size. The data show hardly any effect on frame salience. Although the frame salience of Dawson

government is higher than that of Adams government by a meager 2.9 percentage points, the

frame salience of Chaplin Government is actually lower by 2.2 percentage points. The mean

percentage between Chaplin government and Dawson government is 12.85%, higher than that of

Adams government by a razor-thin 0.35 percentage point. Such a small variation cannot be

interpreted as showing the effect of stake size on frame salience, given the qualitative nature of

stake size analysis and the ordinal nature of the independent variable values. Support for

Hypothesis 3B is not found, either.

In further analysis of data in Chart 7.1, comparisons are then made across all types of

stakeholder relationships and are made based upon the mean frame salience of all stakeholders in

each cell, i.e., stakeholders that have the same stakeholder power level and the same stake size.

As mentioned, the mean percentages of stakeholder frame presence in stories are shown in Chart

7.1.

To test the effect of stakeholder power on mean frame salience, stake size was controlled.

Variance in stakeholder power exists in the large and medium stake size categories. When stake

size is large, mean frame salience increases by 17 percentage points as stakeholder power

increases from low to medium. It increases by another five percentage points when stakeholder

power increases from medium to high. Specifically, the entity at the low stakeholder level is

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Adams UAW in the stake size category. The entity with medium stakeholder power is the

Baldwin government and the one with high stakeholder power is the Baldwin UAW, as Chart 7.1

shows.

However, a contradictory negative relation is not found when stake size is at the medium

level. Frame salience is found to decrease steadily when stakeholder power increases. As shown

in Chart 7.1, the mean frame salience is 44.4% when stakeholder power is low, but it is only

33.3% at the medium level of stakeholder power. At the high stakeholder power level, the mean

frame salience lowers further to only 25%. Within the category of medium stake size, the entities

at the low stakeholder power level are Chaplin UAW and Dawson UAW. The entity with

medium stakeholder power is Adams Automobiles, and the ones with high stakeholder power are

Baldwin Automobiles, Chaplin government and Dawson government. When stake size is small,

there is no stakeholder power variation in the current study.

When stakeholder power is controlled, mean frame salience increases as stake size

increases. As Chart 7.1 shows, this positive relation is found in every level of stakeholder power.

When stakeholder power is low, frame salience increases by 7.7 percentage points as stake size

increases from medium to large. At medium stakeholder power level, the increase of stake size

from medium to large leads to an increase of frame salience by 35.8 percentage points. When

stakeholder power is high, the same increase from medium to large stake size results in a sharp

increase of 49.1 percentage points in frame salience. When stake size increases from small to

medium, frame salience also increases by 11 percentage points. In short, the results in Chart 7.1

not only shows the effect of stake size on frame salience, but also shows that the effect of stake

size gets bigger when stakeholder power is higher – increase of frame salience accelerates.

Clearly, there is an interaction effect between stake size and stakeholder power.

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The analysis of mean frame salience provides an overall support for the hypotheses on

the effect of stake size, regardless of the type of stakeholder. It also supports Hypothesis 4 of the

interaction effect between the two independent variables.

When analysis is performed in headlines and leads only, the results shows mostly similar

effects of stakeholder power and stake size on frame salience (Chart 7.2). When analysis is

conducted based on the same type of stakeholders, the comparisons are made on the same pairs

of stakeholders as in the full story analysis. Findings on the effects of stakeholder power and

stake size also are the same as in the full story analysis, rendering further support to Hypotheses

1A through 2B. As in the full story analysis, support for Hypotheses 3A and 3B are not found.

The analysis on mean frame salience in headlines and leads finds only partial support for

the stakeholder power effect, but the analysis finds clear support for the stake size effect as well

as an interaction effect between the independent variables.

CHART 7.2

Frame salience (%) in heads and leads by stakeholder power and stake size

Hig

h

Chaplin Auto (0) Dawson Auto (3.8) Adams Gov (2.1) Mean (2.0)

Baldwin Auto (11.1) Chaplin Gov (0) Dawson Gov (3.8) Mean (5.0)

Baldwin UAW (28.4) Mean (28.4)

Med

.

Adams Auto (8.3) Mean (8.3)

Baldwin Gov (27.2) Mean (27.2)

Stak

ehol

der P

ower

Low

Chaplin UAW (13.8) Dawson UAW (19.2) Mean (16.5)

Adams UAW (20.8) Mean (20.8)

Small Medium Large

Stake Size

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7.2. Visual elements in the story

Another type of indicators of frame salience, besides percentage of presence in the

stories, is the salience of visual treatment of the stakeholder frames. In the current study, the

visual treatment salience is a composite variable including six specific variables: whether the

story that contains the stakeholder frame is in the front page; whether the story is on the upper

portion or lower portion of the page; whether there is art element (photo, graphic, map, etc.)

accompanying the story; how many columns the headline spans across; the type size of the

headline; and the relative size of the headline compared to other headlines on the page.

As shown in Table 7.3, among the universe of 184 stories in four newspapers, nearly one-

third appear on front pages, and nearly two-thirds appear on the upper portion of the page.

Slightly over one-fifth of the stories have art elements accompanying them.

Near half of the 184 stories have headlines of relatively large size compared to other

headlines on the page, and slightly over 20% have relatively small headlines. The remaining 30%

have headlines of average size. Of the 184 stories, about 35% have headlines in type size 36

points or larger, and about 40% have headline type size 24 points or smaller. The remaining 25%

of the headlines are of type size between 24 and 36 points.

TABLE 7.3

Percent distribution of visual variables in all stories

(µ = 184)

Front page Front 32.6 \ \ Other 67.4 Page portion Upper 65.2 \ \ Lower 34.8 With art with art 21.7 \ \ w/o art 78.3 Relative size Large 48.9 Medium 29.9 Small 21.2 Type size 36 or + 34.8 24 to 36 25.5 24 or - 39.7 Headline col. 2 or + 34.2 2 to 4 19 4 or - 46.7

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Also, about 34% of the headlines span across four columns or more, and about 47% of the

headlines take only two columns or less. The remaining 19% are between two and four columns,

as Table 7.3 shows.

The six visual variables were recoded and computed into a composite visual salience

variable. For the “front page” variable, front page was coded 1 and all other pages were coded -1.

For the “page portion” variable, upper portion was coded 1 and lower portion was -1. For the

“art” variable, stories with art elements were coded 1 and those without art were coded -1. For

headline’s relative size, large is coded 1, medium is coded 0 and small is coded -1. For headline

type size, sizes of 36 points or bigger were coded 1, those of 24 points or smaller were coded -1

and those in-between were coded 0. Finally, headlines spanning across four columns or more

were coded 1 and headlines spanning across two columns or less were coded -1. Those in

between were coded zero. Values of these six variables were added up and divided by six. In

other words, the value of the composite variable is the mean value of the six specific visual

variables.

In sum, the composite visual salience variable is a numerical variable with one as the

highest possible value and negative one as the lowest possible value. Each story, as a unit of

analysis, hence has a composite visual salience value for the full story and a separate value for its

headline and lead. Consequently, the value of the stakeholder frame visual salience in terms of

full story and the value in terms of headline and lead are computed as the mean visual salience

value of all stories that contain the stakeholder frame in both terms, respectively. The greater this

mean value is, the greater the stakeholder frame’s visual salience is. The stakeholder frame

visual salience values are shown in Table 7.4. As shown in the Table, the salience value is not

available for Chaplin Automobiles’ frame in the headlines and leads because no story in the

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Chaplin Daily contained that stakeholder frame in the headlines and leads. The same is true for

the Chaplin government’s frame in headlines and leads.

To analyze the visual salience indicators against stakeholder power and stake size, both

the stakeholder frame visual salience values and the mean values of the frame visual salience for

stakeholders in same cells are subsequently compared in Chart 7.3, in terms of full story, and in

Chart 7.4, in terms of headline and lead.

When stakeholder frame presence in the full story is of concern (Chart 7.3), comparisons

are first made between Adams Automobiles and Baldwin Automobiles. Both stakeholders had

medium stake size but the stakeholder power of Baldwin Automobiles is one level higher than

that of Adams Automobiles. Yet the visual salience value of Baldwin Automobiles frame is

lower. The same is true when the frame presence in headlines and leads is in concern (Chart 7.4).

TABLE 7.4

Visual salience mean value from stories containing stakeholder frame

Stakeholder Frame In Full Story In Head & Lead Adams Auto frame in Adams Daily 1 .115 (n = 16) .042 (n = 4) Baldwin Auto frame in Baldwin Daily 2 -.146 (n = 40) -.333 (n = 9) Chaplin Auto frame in Chaplin Daily 3 -.111 (n = 3) N.A. (n = 0) Dawson Auto frame in Dawson Daily 4 .167 (n = 5) -.500 (n = 1) UAW frame in Adams Daily .093 (n = 25) .000 (n = 10) UAW frame in Baldwin Daily -.100 (n = 60) .036 (n = 23) UAW frame in Chaplin Daily -.056 (n = 9) -.083 (n = 4) UAW frame in Dawson Daily -.100 (n = 15) -.233 (n = 5) Local Gov frame in Adams Daily -.278 (n = 6) -.667 (n = 1) Local Gov frame in Baldwin Daily -.089 (n = 56) .023 (n = 22) Local Gov frame in Chaplin Daily -.056 (n = 3) N.A. (n = 0) Local Gov frame in Dawson Daily .375 (n = 4) -.500 (n = 1)

Note: 1. N=48 in Adams Daily; 2. N=81 in Baldwin Daily; 3. N=29 in Chaplin Daily; 4. N=26 in Dawson Daily.

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CHART 7.3

Visual salience value of stakeholder frame in full stories by I.V.

H

igh

Chaplin Auto (-.111) Dawson Auto (.167) Adams Gov (-.278) Mean (-.074)

Baldwin Auto (-.146) Chaplin Gov (-.056) Dawson Gov (.375) Mean (.058)

Baldwin UAW (-.1) Mean (-.1)

Med

.

Adams Auto (.115) Mean (.115)

Baldwin Gov (-.089) Mean (-.089)

Stak

ehol

der P

ower

Low

Chaplin UAW (-.056) Dawson UAW (-.1) Mean (-.078)

Adams UAW (.093) Mean (.093)

Small Medium Large

Stake Size

CHART 7.4

Visual salience value of stakeholder frame in headlines and leads by I.V.

Hig

h

Chaplin Auto (N.A.) Dawson Auto (-.5) Adams Gov (-.667) Mean (-.584)

Baldwin Auto (-.333) Chaplin Gov (N.A.) Dawson Gov (-.5) Mean (-.417)

Baldwin UAW (.036) Mean (.036)

Med

.

Adams Auto (.042) Mean (.042)

Baldwin Gov (.023) Mean (.023)

Stak

ehol

der P

ower

Low

Chaplin UAW (-.083) Dawson UAW (-.233) Mean (-.158)

Adams UAW (.000) Mean (.000)

Small Medium Large

Stake Size

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When comparing Baldwin Automobiles with its automaker counterparts in Chaplin and

Dawson, all three possessing high stakeholder power, the data show no positive effect of stake

size on stakeholder frame visual salience, either. However, when the analysis is performed in

headlines and leads, the visual salience value of Baldwin Automobiles frame is a modest

increase from that of Dawson Automobiles frame, indicating a positive effect of stake size.

Comparison between the Adams UAW and the Baldwin UAW is possible in the large

stake size category, but it fails to find positive effect of stakeholder power on the visual salience

of stakeholder frame in full stories (Chart 7.3). However, a very small effect was found when

stakeholder frame in the headlines and leads is in concern (Chart 7.4).

In full stories, a positive effect of stake size is found when stakeholder power is constant

at the low level. The Adams UAW is found to have a greater visual salience value for its frame

than both Chaplin UAW and Dawson UAW (Chart 7.3). The positive effect also is found in the

analysis of headlines and leads (Chart 7.4).

When local government stakeholder power is constant at the high level, comparison

between the Adams government and its counterparts in Chaplin and Dawson finds positive effect

of stake size in both full story analysis and analysis on headlines and leads.

In summary, the comparisons based on same type of stakeholders finds mixed results.

Further analysis is conducted to compare the mean values of stakeholder frame visual salience in

each pigeon hole. The mean values also are shown in Chart 7.3 and Chart 7.4.

In full story analysis, the mean visual salience values in Chart 7.3 show no relationship

between stakeholder power and the likelihood that the stories containing the stakeholder frame

are given greater visual salience treatment, when stake size is held constant. When frame

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presence in the headlines and leads is of concern, a small effect of stakeholder power is found

only when stake size is large (Chart 7.4).

When stakeholder power is controlled, the full story analysis finds no relationship

between stake size and stakeholder frame visual salience, as Chart 7.3 shows. When the analysis

is within headlines and leads, frame visual salience increases as stake size increases at the low

and high stakeholder power levels, but not at the medium level (Chart 7.4).

Taken together, the analysis in this section shows that stakeholder power does not have a

relationship with frame visual salience. The effect of stake size on frame visual salience also is

very weak in full story analysis but gets stronger when the headlines and leads are of concern.

This evidence suggests that the frame of a stakeholder with larger stake size may receive higher

visual salience treatment in the news coverage, particularly when its frame appears in the

headlines or leads.

7.3. UAW fame salience before and after the strike

As discussed in Chapter 5, Section 5.2.3, after the UAW strikes, the researcher made

effort to gauge the changes in how the editors of Adams Daily and Baldwin Daily viewed the

UAW stakeholder power and its stake size in free trade. This variability was found to be very

difficult to detect, and the change, if any, was probably minimal.

Hypotheses 5A and 5B in Chapter 3 were made based on the assumption that there is a

change in UAW stakeholder power and in UAW stake size. With no variation or minimum

variation in the independent variables, testing the two hypotheses will not be possible. With this

recognition, it is worth exploring the data to find out whether there was indeed a change in the

salience of the UAW frame.

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The 48 stories in the Adams Daily and the 81 stories in the Baldwin Daily are both

divided into a before-strike and an after-strike group. Ten Adams Daily stories and 34 stories in

the Baldwin Daily are in the after-strike groups.

After the strike on GM, seven out of the 10 Adams Daily stories, or 70%, contained the

UAW frame, a sharp increase from 47.4% before the GM strike. Only one story, or 10% of the

after-strike stories, had the UAW frame in its head or lead, down from 23.7% in the before-strike

stories, as shown in Table 7.5.

Before the GM strike, the percent of Baldwin Daily stories containing the UAW frame

was already as high as 72.3%. A small increase by 4.2 percentage points was seen after the

strike. As Table 7.5 shows, an increase was also seen in the UAW frame salience in the headlines

and leads, from 25.5% to 32.4%.

TABLE 7.5

Change in UAW frame salience (%) after strike

Adams Daily Baldwin Daily

Full story Before 47.4 (n=18) 72.3 (n=34) After 70 (n=7) 76.5 (n=26) Head & lead Before 23.1 (n=9) 25.5 (n=12)

After 10 (n=1) 32.4 (n=11)

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CHAPTER EIGHT

DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION

8.1. A brief summary

The current research uses a comparative case study design with a purposive sample of

four auto manufacturing communities and compares the different stakeholder-newspaper

relationships in relation to different stakeholder frame salience in the newspapers. Two attributes

of the stakeholder relationship, stakeholder power and stake size, were tested as independent

variables for their effects on stakeholder frame salience, the dependent variable.

Intuitively, both independent variables are characteristics of the stakeholders. Although

this is true in a common sense, in the current study, both variables are treated as relational

characteristics. Stakeholder power is an attribute of the relation because of how the stakeholder

can potentially or actually affect the interest or working of the newspaper, whether directly or

indirectly. The research fieldwork found that much of the stakeholder power indeed came

indirectly from the stakeholder’s influence on the community.

Stake size in free trade is treated as a relational attribute based on the assumption that

news coverage on policy issues can influence public opinions and policymaking processes.

Therefore, how the free trade issues are covered in the newspapers can affect the stakeholder’s

stake in free trade. The larger the stake size, the more the stakeholder would care about the news

coverage. The local newspapers in the current study probably do not have much direct influence

on Washington’s policymaking processes, but they certainly can influence the communities’

opinions on free trade, which in turn can be heeded by political leaders.

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The stakeholder frame of each stakeholder was identified as a set of viewpoints on free

trade issues. The news stories were then content analyzed and the presence of stakeholder frame

viewpoints in each story was coded. The percent of stories containing viewpoints in a particular

stakeholder frame and the percent of headlines and leads that contain the stakeholder frame

viewpoints are the primary indicators of frame salience.

The overall findings show a positive effect of stake size on frame salience but only a

weak effect of stakeholder power. An interaction effect was also found.

Comparison was first made between stakeholders of the same type. The results show that

the stakeholder power and the stake size of the UAW each has a positive effect on frame

salience, when the other variable is held constant. Hypotheses 1A and 1B are supported.

The results also show the stakeholder power and stake size of the automakers each has a

positive effect on frame salience. Hypotheses 2A and 2B also are supported.

Supports for Hypotheses 3A and 3B were not found. When stake size of the local

governments is held constant, no variation of stakeholder power can be found for a comparison.

When stakeholder power of the local governments is held constant, variance in stake size leads to

little variance in frame salience.

Further comparison was made across all types of stakeholders by comparing the mean

frame salience of each cell, because stakeholders in the same cell have the same stakeholder

power level and the same stake size. This analysis found clear evidence of an overall stake size

effect on free trade when stakeholder power is controlled. However, when stake size is

controlled, the overall effect of stakeholder power was only found when stake size is large.

A supporting indicator of frame salience is the visual salience of the stories that contain

each stakeholder frame. Analysis of this indicator did not find a clear relationship with either

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independent variable. But when stakeholder frame in headlines and leads is of concern, a modest

yet positive relationship was found between stake size and the visual salience. In the view of the

researcher, the difference that exists between the full story analysis and analysis of headlines and

leads may actually signal a stronger effect of stake size than if the same effect were also found in

full story analysis. Suppose a particular stakeholder, for example, the Baldwin UAW, finds its

frame contained in a Baldwin Daily story but not in the headline or the lead. It is likely that this

story also has other frames in it and possibly in the lead. Suppose the UAW frame also is in

another Baldwin Daily story – not only in the story but also in the lead. By giving greater visual

salience to the story that contains the UAW frame in the lead than the other story that does not,

the newspaper is presenting the UAW frame with an overall salience that is stronger than if

equally high visual salience is given to both stories.

In short, the analysis found strong and consistent effects of stake size on frame salience.

The analysis only found limited effect of stakeholder power on frame salience, which occurred

when stakeholders of the same types were compared. The only evidence of a stakeholder power

effect comes from the comparison between the Adams UAW and the Baldwin UAW, and

between Adams Automobiles and Baldwin Automobiles. Overall, the effect of stakeholder

power on frame salience is rather weak. Part of the reason perhaps is that much of the

stakeholder power to the newspapers is indirect.

An interaction effect was also found between stakeholder power and stake size. The stake

size effect on frame salience gets bigger when the stakeholder power level increases.

The current study did not find enough evidence that indicates the editors’ views on the

UAW stakeholder power or stake size have changed as a result of the union strike against GM in

September 2007. Nonetheless, the data still offer something to be learned because an increase of

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UAW frame salience was found in the after-strike coverage in both the Adams Daily and the

Baldwin Daily. As a dramatic event, the union autoworkers’ strike did appear to play a role in

increasing the salience of the UAW frame, whether it was related to stakeholder power or stake

size. Linking this result to the finding that stake size had a strong effect on frame salience, a

reverse analysis would lead one to assume the editors may indeed have increased awareness of

the UAW stake size as a result of the strikes.

8.2. Interpretations and implications

The findings from this comparative case study first and foremost attest influence from

some outside organizations on media content, which belongs to one of the more macro-level

influences in the Shoemaker-Reese schematic (1996). The analysis of stakeholder power and

stake size, the two attributes of the newspaper-stakeholder relationship, provides further insight

on the mechanism of the outside organizational influence, hence addresses the question “why a

media organization adopts Frame A as opposed to Frame B, C, D…”

The findings of a weak effect of stakeholder power and a strong effect of stake size on

frame salience are viewed by the researcher in a positive light. American newspaper journalists

maintain a strong value of journalistic independence and responsibility. Rather than yielding to a

coercive pressure or utilitarian influence, the newspapers are more responsive to a normative

appeal. Even though the stakeholder power is mostly indirect on the newspaper, the business

interests or the daily operation of the newspaper ultimately will be affected if the well-being of

the stakeholder is impaired to the extent that it generates less resource in the community that can

be utilized by the newspaper. Such resource may include segment of readership with higher

income and other advertisers attracted by them, or “information subsidies” controlled by the

stakeholder. The newspaper also will suffer if its relationship with the stakeholder deteriorates.

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An example of this situation was found between the Baldwin Daily and the union, discussed in

Chapter Five.

On the other hand, a strong effect of stake size on frame salience generally means the

media and the journalists take a social responsibility to heed to the needs of various entities

according to their legitimacy and urgency. Certainly, this does not mean they always have full

understandings of those stakes. This is a reason why the current study emphasizes the editor’s

perception on the two variables rather than fully depends on “objective” indicators and

measurement.

Although stakeholder power is found to have only a weak effect on frame salience, its

role in the interaction effect is worth-noting. There are two different angles from which this role

of stakeholder power can be interpreted. First, in the current study, much of the stakeholder

power directly affects the community as a whole and indirectly affects the newspapers. One

could reasonably argue that the newspapers pay greater attention to the stakeholders with higher

stakeholder power because they care about the community’s interests rather than a self interest of

their own institutions. Second, the interaction effect could mean that even though the journalists

heed to the interests of various entities, when those interests compete, the level of stakeholder

power would come into the picture to set priorities for the newspapers’ attention.

The stakeholder perspective taken in this study suggests a promising approach to the

scholarship in news framing research and has a unique contribution in the enrichment of framing

theories. Turow (1997) made a significant contribution to the news construction tradition by

developing a framework for strategic thinking of the media. Although Turow did not use the

term “stakeholder,” in his framework, power plays a crucial role, and the power players upon

which the media are dependent upon for resource, are in essence stakeholders. The findings

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reveal the roles of two important attributes in the newspapers’ relationship with stakeholders.

These findings add to the knowledge of existing literature in news framing because they facilitate

a better understanding of the influence on news content – not only what outside groups influence

the news content, but also how that happens. As such, this study has made a unique theoretical

contribution to the news construction scholarship. Studies in news construction, particularly

those in gatekeeping and news judgment, have observed what categories, topics of stories and

particular information are likely to be selected by journalists (e.g., White, 1950). The findings in

the current study offer an explanation on those observations. Although this study did not find a

strong effect of stakeholder power, hence it does not confirm Turow’s conclusion. The use of

stakeholder framework helps increase the theoretical clarity for a better understanding of

Turow’s analysis, in such way it moves the news construction scholarship one small step further.

Moreover, the finding of stake size effect brings new knowledge to this field.

These findings may offer practical implications to various groups in the society. To the

working journalists who believe in a free and responsible press, the findings in this study

empower them to examine their own community relationships and influences with theoretical

guidance and enhance a greater level of journalistic independence. To the government that has a

primary interest in economic development and setting policies that are amenable to that goal, the

findings about strong effect of stake size and limited effect of stakeholder power also provide

practical suggestions. If the government intends to implement certain policies, they may appeal

to the media and the public more effectively by designing public relations messages that

emphasize how the constituents can be benefited or affected and to what extent. Likewise, if

social groups such as the auto industry or the labor unions have the need to push for policy

change, they can achieve their goals more effectively by presenting the potential benefits or

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harms associated with accepting or rejecting their proposals and linking the benefits and harms to

the largest number of people possible.

In addition, this study also provides insight to the business and management research

community that the three perspectives in stakeholder scholarship, the normative perspective, the

instrumental perspective and the empirical perspective, are not completely separate. The current

research using newspaper companies as exemplars is designed and conducted from an empirical

perspective, but the findings of a strong stake size effect and a weak stakeholder power effect

support a normative stakeholder approach. As a whole, American newspapers seem to maintain

the belief that they benefit in the long run by acting as a free and responsible press. This has

some significant theoretical implications to the stakeholder approach. First, it provides evidence

that a normative stakeholder perspective is adopted by American newspaper companies and does

not support the instrumental perspective. The newspapers are not particularly responsive to

stakeholder power of the outside groups – the coercive pressure or utilitarian influences of

stakeholders. Second, take into consideration that most stakeholder power analyzed in this study

was stakeholders’ direct influence on the communities but indirect influence on the newspapers.

It can be speculated that a direct stakeholder power over the focal newspaper, if found, could still

have a large effect on frame salience. Regardless of the stakeholder power values assessed in the

current study, in the absence of direct stakeholder power such as advertising power, stakeholders

with large stake size can still win the attention of the focal organization. This is evidence of a

normative effect.

In the study of Berman, Wicks, Kotha and Jones (1999), the researchers empirically

tested two models of stakeholder orientation, the strategic stakeholder management model and

the intrinsic stakeholder commitment model. Their results support only the strategic management

128

model, indicating that only stakeholders who can affect the focal company have significant

impact on managerial decision making. The results from the current study, that the stakeholders

affected by the newspaper’s coverage have an impact on the newspaper’s framing, would support

the intrinsic stakeholder commitment model, which was not supported in the study of Berman

and colleagues.

On the methodological front, this study developed a coordinate chart the for two

stakeholder relationship attributes, on which each stakeholder can be located according to the

values of each attribute (Chart 5.3). This has proven to be a useful analytical tool in the current

study and is in itself a contribution to the stakeholder research community. Should there be ways

to measure these attributes as interval variables or ratio variables, the coordinate chart would

have even more analytical power. In the event of having ratio values in both dimensions of the

coordinate, the value of each cell is the product of multiplying the values on the two dimensions.

Because the values of the dependent variable frame salience can be conveniently matched

against the values of the cell, this method also offers a new way of analyzing news framing. In

addition, analyzing stakeholder frame as a set of related viewpoints and identifying the

viewpoints guided by the four elements in Entman’s frame definition (1993) also offer new

means in which framing studies can be performed.

8.3. Limitations

Both stakeholder power and stake size are difficult to quantify. Therefore, in-depth

interviews and qualitative analysis were determined to be the practically appropriate way of

measuring the two independent variables. On one hand, this method generates detail information

that enrich the researcher’s understanding of the community situations in general and the

stakeholder relationships in particular. On the other hand, quantitative precision is not possible

129

using in-depth interview methods. The best possible effort was made to analyze the two

independent variables each as a three-category ordinal variable. The nature of the data has placed

some constraints on analytical methodologies.

Also, partially due to the qualitative nature of the independent variables and partially

because only four cases were chosen, the current study did not analyze many other potential

variables as separate independent variables. One of these, for example, is the size of the

newspaper. With such a small purposive sample, adding more control variables into the analysis

is not possible. Instead, this study assessed many other potential variables as ingredients in the

stakeholder power or stake size formula.

Because there are only four cases examined in the current study, the number of

comparisons can be made between stakeholders of the same type also was limited when one of

the two independent variables had to be held constant. In this effort, chances to compare the local

governments’ stakeholder power effect did not even exist when stake size was controlled.

The mean value of frame salience for each cell in Chart 7.1 and Chart 7.2 was computed

and compared to allow a comparison blind to stakeholder type. Frame salience variation within

each cell is expected to be small. Hence a problem worth-noting is that frame salience values in a

couple of cells have drastic within-cell difference. A clear example is the cell with medium stake

size and high stakeholder power. In this cell, both the Chaplin government and the Dawson

government had a modest frame salience under 20%, but the Baldwin Automobiles had a near

50% frame salience. This could be explained by a couple of factors. First, it showcases the

limitation caused by the imprecise measurement of stakeholder power and stake size and the

difficulty in standardization across stakeholders of different types. The best effort was made by

the researcher to collect and analyze the evidence. However, for different stakeholders, the

130

nature of the evidence is also quite different. Finding a consistent weighing scheme for the

different evidence was an impossible task in the qualitative analysis. In hindsight, the researcher

recognizes the possibility that the concern of the governments in Chaplin and Dawson about

local economy being dominated by a single auto giant might have been overweighed in the

analysis while it was actually a remote concern. A post hoc explanation is that the Chaplin

government and Dawson government might indeed have a small stake size rather than a medium

stake size.

Second, part of the large difference between these stakeholders’ frame salience values

may find explanation in another confounding factor – the fact that Baldwin Automobiles’ frame

overlapped that of Baldwin UAW. Half of the eight viewpoints in the frame of Baldwin

Automobiles were also supported by the Baldwin UAW and the Baldwin government, both of

which possessed a large stake size in free trade. As a result, the high salience given to the

Baldwin UAW frame in the Baldwin Daily was also partially shared by Baldwin Automobiles.

The existence of shared viewpoints may also partially explain why the difference

between the Baldwin UAW frame salience and that of Baldwin government is much smaller than

the difference between the salience of Baldwin government frame in the Baldwin Daily and that

of UAW frame in the Adams Daily. Ten of the 13 viewpoints in the Baldwin UAW frame were

shared by the Baldwin government, which had only one additional viewpoint that it did not share

with either the UAW or Baldwin Automobiles.

The researcher holds that it is inappropriate to divide the shared viewpoints so that there

would be no overlapping of frames. However, part of the stakeholder frame salience is explained

by the frame overlap. Lacking a means to partition the portion of frame salience that is explained

by the overlap exposes another limitation of the current methodology. The high salience of the

131

UAW frame and the Baldwin government frame in the Baldwin Daily may attest the observation

of Jamison and Waldman (2003) that when powerful groups collaborate in framing, the press

usually transmits the agree-upon words to its audience. This potential collaboration effect, if

removed, may leave a smaller remaining effect to be explained by the two tested independent

variables.

The content analysis procedure in the current study did not include coding of news

sources. Heavy use of sources, particularly sources from the stakeholders, is an indicator of

stakeholder frame salience in the news. In addition, coding the sources in the current study

would have been an opportunity to reexamine the relationship between journalists and sources in

a new era when information on the Internet has become readily available to the journalists. The

study of Gans (1979) nearly three decades ago found that source power was of prime

significance among a complicated mix of factors that influence the news content. In today’s

media landscape, with abundance of information available through other channels, it is worth

examining whether official and elite sources remain to be a factor of prime significance.

The decision to forgo this indicator was primarily due to the belief that frame viewpoint

itself is a more significant indicator of frame salience than the source. The researcher was

concerned that adding the source indicator will make the coding process rather cumbersome to

the coders and would potentially increase the likelihood of coder fatigue in the process. The

decision was then made to concentrate on coding the frame presence for the current project. The

researcher intends to further pursue in this investigation and will incorporate the source indicator

in the next step. In particular, the researcher intends to investigate the linkage between frame

viewpoint in the story and the source of the viewpoint. Exploring this linkage will produce data

132

that enhance understanding of how the journalists attribute the viewpoints that are shared by

different stakeholders.

Measurement of the independent variables can be improved even though it may come at a

higher research cost. Both stakeholder power and stake size are comprehensive concepts.

Increased precision in measurement will result in increased analytical power. Ideally, a second

phase investigation can be designed using composite independent variables formed by multiple

indicators with numerical data. The data for some indicators, such as the demographic indicators,

may be acquired either from market research agencies or from independent surveys initiated by

the researcher himself. Analytical power also increases when the number of cases accumulates.

With a large enough number of cases in the study and more precise data to analyzed, it is

possible to separate the collaboration effect due to shared frames between stakeholders from the

main effects of stakeholder power and stake size.

133

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APPENDIX A

SELECTED SAMPLES OF INTERVIEW QUESTIONS TO EDITORS

The following samples are generic questions used as guidelines in the interviews. More

specific questions varied and were generated according to interviewee’s first response.

In general, has your community benefited from free trade or hurt by free trade? How?

Is the local government supportive to free trade or against it, based on what you know?

Speaking of the auto company that owns the local auto plant, how has free trade affected

the automaker?

As far as you know, what is the automaker’s stand on free trade?

Will the local auto plant be hurt by free trade or benefit from free trade?

How has free trade affected the UAW union?

Do you agree with those UAW claims?

How are the local autoworkers affected by free trade?

How important is this auto plant to the community? In what specific ways?

Does the community as a whole support the UAW here? Do the local officials support it?

(In non-union plants,) how much support has the UAW been able to get from the

workers?

I would like to ask you to assess a rating for each of the following local entities on a 1-10

scale, based on how important this entity is to your newspaper. On that 1-10 scale, 1 is

least important and 10 is most important. How do you rate your local government, the

auto plant, the autoworkers as a group, and the UAW?

144

When the strike happened, what was your opinion about it? Was it a good or bad decision

for the union itself?

Did you think the union’s stake in the negotiations deserved a strike?

Did you think the strikes have shown the union’s strength or weakness?

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APPENDIX B

THE “CONSTRUCTED WEEK” PROCESS

The number of Mondays, Tuesdays or Wednesday from January 1, 2007 to October 31,

2007 is 44 each. To select a Monday for the constructed week, an integer n between 1 and 44,

both included, was selected randomly, hence the nth Monday of the year was selected. The same

procedure was then performed to select the Tuesday and the Wednesday.

The number of Thursdays, Fridays, Saturdays or Sundays is 43 each during the studied

period. Therefore, an integer n was selected randomly between 1 and 43 to determine which

Thursday should be in the constructed week. Then, this procedure was repeated for Friday,

Saturday and Sunday.

As such, the seven days in 2007 selected for the “constructed week” are: 2/10 (Sat); 2/28

(Wed); 5/20 (Sun); 5/29 (Tue); 7/23 (Mon); 7/26 (Thu); 10/26 (Fri).

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APPENDIX C

THE “CONSTRUCTED MONTH” PROCESS

The constructed month must first have four constructed weeks using the same random

procedure stipulated in Section 1. Repeating the constructed week process four times generated

28 days. Because there was one more Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday each in the studied 10-

month period than any other day of the week, the constructed month randomly sampled these

three days one more time for each of them.

In other words, the constructed month has 31 days in total, containing five Mondays,

Tuesdays and Wednesdays each, and four Thursdays, Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays each.

These 31 dates are: 1/10; 1/13; 1/20; 1/29; 2/10; 2/12; 2/28; 3/6; 3/11; 3/23; 3/29; 4/4; 4/8; 4/10;

4/13; 4/22; 4/30; 5/16; 5/20; 5/22; 5/29; 6/5; 6/6; 6/7; 7/23; 7/26; 7/27; 8/2; 8/13; 10/26.

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APPENDIX D

CONTENT ANALYSIS CODE BOOK

First, please record these basic information:

Your coder number is _________.

Title of the newspaper _________________________________________.

Date of publication _ _/_ _/_ _ _ _ (mm/dd/yyyy),

Section ___; Page ___.

Headline ________________________________________________________.

Total number of paragraphs in this story ________.

Now, go through the following 23 viewpoints regarding free trade and get yourself

familiar with all of them. Do you find each of the viewpoints present or absent in the

HEADLINE, including the drop head – the small headline running below the main headline, if

there is one.

Then, read the first TWO paragraphs carefully and stop. Do you find each of the

viewpoints present or absent in the first two paragraphs.

Lastly, read the REST of the story carefully. Do you find each of the following ideas

present or absent in the rest part of the story. At this point, you should exclude the first two

paragraphs.

Code 1 if you find a viewpoint PRESENT in the headline, in the first two paragraphs, or

in the rest part of the story; Code 0 if the viewpoint is ABSENT. You probably will not find

148

these viewpoints verbatim in the stories. No matter how they are presented in the headlines or

texts, they should be explicit and easily recognizable to meet the “present” criterion. In other

words, you should make your judgment only based on the text. Do not infer based on your prior

knowledge about free trade, about the auto industry or about the union.

List of frame points:

1. Free trade is generally good for economy.

2. Free trade increases exports from this country.

3. Foreign companies coming to America with good jobs for American workers.

4. Free competition helps improve products.

5. Facing the challenge of free trade, communities should develop service industry or

transform to a knowledge/technology-based economy.

6. Outsourcing helps American companies become more competitive in the global

marketplace.

7. Labor cost in America has become too high for business.

8. The union is responsible for driving the labor cost too high.

9. Good employers taking care of employees are preferred over labor unions.

10. Facing the challenge of free trade, cutting wages, benefits or even workforce may be

necessary for U.S. manufacturing companies to regain strength, stay competitive.

11. U.S. automakers’ health care legacy costs are too big a burden for them.

12. The federal government should help domestic companies unload their health care cost.

13. Free trade causes job loss and/or diminishing wages and benefits in America.

14. Outsourcing is a corporate choice for bigger profit over the interest of American workers.

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15. America should preserve/strengthen domestic automotive manufacturing.

16. American workers deserve decent wages and benefits.

17. Labor unions are important in protecting workers’ rights, wages and benefits.

18. In non-union plants, workers’ rights are infringed.

19. Problems are results of unfair practices of foreign nations, such as currency manipulation

or other trade barriers.

20. Problems are results of foreign low wages, lack of workers’ rights, environmental

protection, etc.

21. America’s current trade policies are flawed.

22. Current tax policies encourage rather than discourage companies to outsource.

23. America needs fair trade agreements to compete on level playing field.

On the next page, please find the form you will use to code the stories assigned to you. Use one

form for each story.

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Viewpoint In Headline In Paragraph 1-2 In Rest of the story 1

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If you notice anything worth my attention, please write

here:

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