Newswise — EVANSTON - A professor from the Kellogg School of Management and one from Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism, Media, Integrated Marketing Communications are available to talk about CNN being under fire because of the resignation of three of its journalists after CNN removed a story connecting a Trump ally and Wall Street financier Anthony Scaramucci to the $10-billion Russian Direct Investment Fund. President Trump has made the retraction a rallying cry against “fake news.”
Brayden King is the Max McGraw Chair of Management and the Environment and a professor of Management and Organizations. Professor King's research focuses on how social movement activists influence corporate social responsibility, organizational change and legislative policymaking. He also studies the ways in which the reputations and identities of businesses and social movement organizations emerge and transform in response to their institutional environments. King’s research also examines social media and its influence on individual and organizational reputations.
Quote from King: "In this highly charged political environment, many companies are in danger of becoming politicized – seen as too far to the left or too far to the right of their consumers. No companies suffer from politicization more than media companies/news organizations. It is imperative that in this political context media companies maintain a reputation for objectivity if they are to be trusted by news consumers. Responding to a controversy quickly and decisively is a smart move by CNN inasmuch as it demonstrates a commitment to its core values as a news organization.”
Rachel Davis Mersey is an associate professor at the Medill School of Journalism, Media, Integrated Marketing Communications. Her work examines the influence of digital media on community-building, identity salience and media use and audiences and their information needs. Mersey has served as an advisory member to the Knight Commission on the Information Needs of Communities in a Democracy. Her book, "Can Journalism Be Saved? Rediscovering America’s Appetite for News," was published by Praeger in 2010.
Quote from Mersey: "The news media have always had to deal with the weight of their mistakes, but that burden is amplified in an environment where the industry is both under siege and operating at hyper-speed all day, every day. Errors, such as the one we saw at CNN, reveal cracks present in story-production processes and the role of bias in the news media. Today, if your organization has cracks, someone will exploit them. The standards of accuracy and integrity cannot be violated for timeliness or humor. Everyone in the organization has to understand how his or her work reflects on the brand and the industry."
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