Seeing a crisis through colored glasses: How partisan media leads to attribution of crisis responsibility and government trust

• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1002/pa.1950
• Date: 01 November 2019
• Published date: 01 November 2019
• Author: Myoung‐Gi Chon,Elisabeth Fondren

ACADEMIC PAPER

Seeing a crisis through colored glasses: How partisan media

leads to attribution of crisis responsibility and government trust

Myoung‐Gi Chon

1

|Elisabeth Fondren

2

1

School of Communication and Journalism,

Auburn University, Auburn, Alabama

2

Manship School of Mass Communication,

Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge,

Louisiana

Correspondence

Myoung‐Gi Chon, School of Communication

and Journalism, Auburn University, 237

Tichenor Hall, Auburn, AL 36830.

Email: mzc0113@auburn.edu

This study uses a real national crisis, South Korea's 2014 Sewol ferry disaster, to

examine how publics exposed to partisan media perceive the attribution of crisis

responsibility and government trust differently. The study also investigates the medi-

ating role of the attribution of crisis responsibility on the relationship between parti-

san media and government trust. The results demonstrate that citizens' partisan

selective exposure influence their polarized perceptions of crisis responsibility and

their trust in government. The attribution of crisis responsibility partially mediated

the effects of partisan media on government trust. This study suggests the impor-

tance for government public relations to understand partisan media users so that

public relations managers can engage and communicate effectively with all citizens

during a national crisis.

1|INTRODUCTION

When a national crisis or catastrophe occurs, governments struggle to

protect their reputation and maintain trust. This process is often a

public one because citizens pay attention and respond to how their

governments navigate through a crisis (Atkeson & Maestas, 2012). In

judging governmental crisis management, people form their opinions

through information presented in the news media. From the perspec-

tive of government public relations (PR) managers, it is essential to

have and solidify a high level of government trust from citizens. Peo-

ple in a multiple channel environment, however, may see a given

national crisis through differently colored glasses, meaning their parti-

san and political positions. This paper offers new insights in how gov-

ernment PR can overcome a national crisis by examining the

relationship between partisan media outlets and the attribution of

responsibility. In order to adjust their crisis management strategies,

governments need to pay attention to the relationship between

people's opinions, media outlets, and the levels of trust in organizations.

Scholars have long indicated that partisan media, which provide a

slanted presentation of the news, have become a culprit in that they

limit the diversity of information available to citizens and polarize their

individual‐level attitudes about social issues (Iyengar & Hahn, 2009;

Stroud, 2010; Sunstein, 2009). In moments of crisis, news media are

especially important because they tend to investigate and interpret

the unfolding events (Atkeson & Maestas, 2012) and often hold

authorities accountable. More importantly, news media are the final

arbitrator of framing a crisis (Coombs, 2007).

Although scholars have studied government PR, the literature has

not yet illuminated how partisan media may influence the perception

of publics and their ability to see a crisis and safeguard trust in govern-

ment (Liu, Horsley, & Levenshus, 2010; Napawan, 2018; Waymer,

2013). In the context of an organizational crisis, the attribution of cri-

sis responsibility plays a vital role in suggesting crisis response strate-

gies such as situational crisis communication theory (SCCT; Coombs,

2012). The issue of government trust, moreover, has been considered

as a critical factor because it leads to individuals' attitudinal and

behavioral consequences between the public and organizations

(Huang, 2001; Ki & Hon, 2007). Consequently, trust results in an

increase in citizens' corporative behavior and their compliance with

government decisions (Kim, 2005) and to follow government policies

(Tsang, Burnett, Hills, & Welford, 2009).

However, how can government agencies improve their crisis man-

agement and enhance public discourse in a fragmented media environ-

ment? Using the issue of a national marine disaster in South Korea—

the 2014 sinking of the Sewol ferry, which resulted in over 304 casu-

alties—this study attempts to examine how audiences' information

selectivity in South Korea's media environment is related to the attri-

bution of crisis responsibility to government authorities and govern-

ment trust. Furthermore, this study tests how the attribution of

crisis responsibility appears to mediate the effect of partisan media

Received: 14 March 2019 Accepted: 31 March 2019

DOI: 10.1002/pa.1950

J Public Affairs. 2019;19:e1950.

https://doi.org/10.1002/pa.1950

© 2019 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

wileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/pa 1of9