Negative coverage in news articles in 2016
34,971 news articles in 50 days
A statistical analysis of negative coverage in eight selected Danish news media
The study was conducted from 17 January to 6 March 2016.
At SAFEonNET, we have once again this year – for the second year in a row – set out to investigate which and how many companies have been subjected to negative coverage in eight nationwide media outlets during a random period of 50 days.
The analysis reveals, among other things, that once again over 4% of all news articles contain negative coverage about one or more companies. This means that approximately every 24th article in the major, established media contains negative coverage about companies. And once again, the analysis shows that the larger the company, the higher the likelihood of being negatively mentioned in the media.
The analysis further shows that it is particularly companies within the 'Office industry', including mortgage institutions and banks, that have been subjected to negative coverage in the media at the start of 2016. Last year, SAFEonNET’s analysis painted a picture that it was Passenger Transport, including airports/airline companies, that was the most exposed industry. In this regard, the diversity of companies is much greater this year compared to the analysis figures from 2015. Something suggests that no industry or company can consider themselves safe from negative coverage in the media.
Still, there are actually two specific companies that for the second year in a row top the top 10 list of companies with the most negative coverage in the media. They are SKAT and SAS.
Below you can see whether your company is one of the companies with the most negative coverage during the period and read more about the overall results of the analysis.
At SAFEonNet, we know that negative coverage in the larger, established media can have far-reaching consequences for both large and small companies. The media generally has a strong presence on the internet and in Google's search engine. Therefore, if the media chooses to publish online articles where companies are mentioned in connection with, for example, poor consumer experiences and general negative coverage, it could mean that a large number of potential customers, partners, or new prospective employees choose to avoid the companies because the stories that appear at the top of search engine results are negative. It is therefore more relevant than ever for companies to 'arm themselves' against negative coverage online and to be aware of the opportunities available to mitigate existing negative coverage.
The media is eager to report negative stories – these are what sell. A trend that SAFEonNET's analysis supports, whereby negative news about both private and public companies – but especially the large companies with 250+ employees – again this year constitutes up to 4.5% of total media coverage over a period of just 50 days.
4.25% of all articles contain negative reviews
1,488 out of 39,971 articles contain negative reviews about one or more companies
This corresponds to every 24th article
On a daily basis, there are about 30 articles,
that contain negative reviews out of about 400 articles.
The figures show that 8 out of 10 companies are large or medium-sized enterprises. These figures are identical to SAFEonNET's survey last year.
You can read SAFEonNET's results from 2015 here.
Branches are categorized based on the Working Environment Authority's 36 industry classifications.
See the different industries here: http://arbejdstilsynet.dk/da/brancher/arbejdstilsynets-36-branchegrupper
30 % of all companies that have received bad publicity,
are companies in the category 'Office Sector'.
The 'Office' sector is categorized based on the Danish Working Environment Authority's industry classification.
See which trade branches belong to the office sector here.
The table reveals that both SKAT and SAS are once again among the 10 companies in Denmark with the most negative publicity. In 2015, a total of 31 articles containing negative publicity about SKAT were published, and this year there are 39 articles. In 2015, as many as 140 articles were published containing negative publicity about SAS, and again this year the number of negative mentions about SAS is high with 39 articles in the 50-day period.
This year, 385 different companies have been mentioned with negative publicity. Compared to last year, that number was 200 different companies, which means that the negative publicity is spread across 185 more different companies.
“Negativ omtale spænder hver dag ben for både nystartede og veletablerede virksomheder, og den dårlige omtale spiller derfor en afgørende rolle i virksomheders vækstmuligheder”
William Atak, CEO
Between 22/02/2016 and 23/02/2016, the biggest shitstorm of the year occurred.
The case of the mortgage institution Nykredit, which chose to increase their contribution rates from 1 July 2016.
Between 02/03/2016 and 03/03/2016 was the period when there was the most negative coverage in the media. On the day with the most negative coverage, 7.15% of all news was negative coverage.
Berlingske.dk/business.dk and DR.dk are the media outlets where negative coverage of companies is most prominent.