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Perceptions of the role of traditional and social media in communicating corruption

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Abstract

Traditional and social media are widely recognised for the role they play in communicating corruption, while even influencing the way in which corruption is perceived. Knowing that not all corruption is perceived the same, due to its various forms and manifestations, the authors flip the question and explore how the perceived severity of corruption influences people’s views on the role that traditional and social media play in communicating it within the context of sport. The authors collected data from 18 focus groups, involving a total of 99 participants in the UK, thereby uncovering the wide spectrum of perceived roles that traditional and social media play in communicating corruption in sport, ranging from informative to misleading, and from democratic tools that enhance self-reflection to broadcasters of ‘fake news’ respectively. What is also highlighted in the study is the reverse analogy observed between the perceived severity of corruption and people’s positive predisposition towards both traditional and social media. Apart from expanding the understanding of the perceived role of traditional and social media in communicating corruption, this study underlines that the volatility of perceptions towards the media can impact people’s future interest in and engagement with traditional and social media.

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... The concept of corruption has generated discussions among researchers (Bratu & Kažoka, 2018;Mancini et al., 2017;Manoli & Bandura, 2020): corruption has not historically meant the same thing, nor have its expressions over time and space been identical. Thus, there are differences depending on cultures, attitudes, and environments (Bratu & Kažoka, 2018;Park, 2012). ...
... These can be individual events or standard practices in organizations, both public and private (Breit, 2010;Camaj, 2013;Park, 2012); and the benefit sought can be direct or indirect, material or immaterial (Matkevičienė, 2017). From the foregoing, it is observed that corruption is configured as an umbrella term that hosts many acts of different nature (Manoli & Bandura, 2020). Therefore, corruption "can be political, electoral, bureaucratic, institutional or cultural. ...
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The concept of media populism originally assumes a relationship between the way journalistic media operate and populism, and in a more narrow sense, refers to the idea that media outlets and actors can convey a populist ideology or discourse. This contribution shortly reviews the history of the concept and reviews different understandings. It then discusses various challenges, both methodological and in terms of transferring the concept to social media and new political issues. The article concludes with some remarks on the problem of conceptual overstretching, ambiguity, and contestedness.
... The role of media in communicating corruption within the realm of sports is a subject of particular significance within academic literature (Akani 2017;Manoli and Bandura 2021). Corruption, whether in the form of match-fixing, doping scandals, or financial mismanagement, has the potential to erode the very essence of fair play and integrity in sports. ...
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... However, the perception of corruption could be influenced by the content and the repeated news coverage, as news media may report corruption cases as they favor (Park and Lee, 2017) and make people less aware of corruption in real life via repeating reporting cases (de Lancer Julnes and Villoria, 2014). After investigating people's perception of news media and corruption, Manoli and Bandura (2021) claim that the more people believe in news media reporting corruption, the more severe they perceive corruption. Given Canada's free press ranked number 14 among 180 countries in 2021 (Reporters Without Borders, 2021), it is imperative to investigate whether citizens' perception of corruption is related to their corruption information sources. ...
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This study attempts to estimate the effects of internet adoption on reducing corruption by using a panel consisting of 70 countries covering the period from 1998 to 2005. The results of Granger causality tests reveal that, while causality running from internet adoption to corruption reduction can be established, the causality between internet adoption and corruption is bi-directional. To deal with the problem of endogeneity, the dynamic panel data (DPD) models are employed. The estimation results show that the effects of internet adoption on corruption reduction are statistically significant but not too substantial. Our findings suggest that the internet has shown a capacity for reducing corruption, but its potential has yet to be fully realized.
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The annual Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI), published by Transparency International (TI), has had a pivotal role in focusing attention on corruption. Despite recent critiques of the CPI, it remains highly influential on research into the causes of corruption and is also extensively used to galvanise support for measures to fight corruption. In this article we explore the CPI in more depth in order to highlight how the index has been used for political ends which may not always turn out to be supportive of anti-corruption efforts. The argument is developed in four sections: in the first, we focus on Transparency International's definition of corruption, highlighting some conceptual difficulties with the approach adopted and its relationship to the promotion of ‘good governance’ as the principal means of combating corruption. In the second section, we outline some methodological difficulties in the design of the Corruption Perceptions Index. Although the CPI has been much criticised, we demonstrate in the third section that the index continues to exercise great influence both in academic research and in the politics of anti-corruption efforts, particularly as exercised by Transparency International itself. In the final section we argue that the CPI contributes to the risk of creating a ‘corruption trap’ in countries where corruption is deeply embedded, as development aid is increasingly made conditional on the implementation of reforms which are impossible to achieve without that aid.
Article
In recent years, many governments have worked to increase openness and transparency in their actions. Information and communication technologies (ICTs) are seen by many as a cost-effective and convenient means to promote openness and transparency and to reduce corruption. E-government, in particular, has been used in many prominent, comprehensive transparency efforts in a number of nations. While some of these individual efforts have received considerable attention, the issue of whether these ICT-enabled efforts have the potential to create a substantive social change in attitudes toward transparency has not been widely considered. This paper explores the potential impacts of information and ICTs – especially e-government and social media – on cultural attitudes about transparency.
Article
A meta-analysis of 42 empirical studies was conducted to quantitatively summarize the corruption literature within a holistic theoretical framework. In general, variables within the political/legal, economics, and socio-cultural categories were equally correlated with national corruption; however, there have been twice as many studies examining the causes of corruption than those that examine the effects of corruption. Furthermore, we found that some measures of corruption are more robust than others. Finally, we identified some insights which future researchers might want to explore further. Overall, this study summarizes previous research, and serves as a guide to future research on corruption.
Article
This paper tests the proposition that a free press may be a powerful control on corruption. We find evidence of a significant relationship between more press freedom and less corruption in a large cross-section of countries. This result is robust to specification and sample and the relationship is not sensitive to the choice of a particular measure of corruption or of press freedom. Furthermore we present evidence which suggests that the direction of causation runs from higher press freedom to lower corruption.
Article
Summary Transparency is increasingly viewed as central to curbing corruption and other dysfunctions of resource-rich developing countries. The international development community has pushed transparency in resource revenues through such initiatives as the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI). Despite the popularity of the transparency concept, its role in reducing corruption and averting the resource curse is poorly understood. This paper reviews the main mechanisms through which transparency can reduce corruption. It argues that transparency is insufficient in itself, and needs to be complemented by other types of policies. Transparency reform should focus on the areas most important to alleviating the resource curse. In view of the resource curse literature, the emphasis of the EITI on revenues rather than on expenditures appears misplaced.
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