An exploratory mixed methods analysis of the media framing of crisis stakeholder salience: The case of Singapore Airlines SQ006

Crises disrupt an organisation’s operations and harm its stakeholders. How an organisation-in-crisis is perceived to respond to the needs of affected stakeholders may significantly affect the firm’s recovery and future viability. Stakeholders and observers acquire much of their information about a crisis from news media coverage. This study accepts the principle that media framing can influence audience’s perceptions of reported stories. The research explores how three news media sources in Taiwan and Singapore framed the salience of stakeholders affected by the October 2000 crash in Taipei of Singapore Airlines’ flight SQ006. The study introduces a conceptual framework of crisis stakeholder salience drawn from stakeholder theory, crisis communication and media framing of crises and disasters. Using a mixed methods content analysis approach, the framework is applied to investigate the news media framing of SQ006 stakeholders in the sampled media texts. The findings show that the SQ006 crisis stakeholders were framed as salient through more dimensions than the three attributes of power, legitimacy and urgency recognised in a seminal stakeholder theory model of stakeholder salience. The findings have implications for further research and applications for crisis management practice, which are discussed.