关键词: 媒体报道, 行政处罚, 公司治理, 议程设定

Abstract: Corporate violations have become increasingly common due to imperfect law and low institutional efficiency. To explore the governance mechanism of media, this paper empirically examines the impact of the net tone of financial newspapers on the punishments received by companies, based on data from listed firms between 2010 and 2023. The results indicate that the more negative the net tone of financial news in newspapers, the more likely listed companies are to face punishment, with the severity of the punishment potentially increasing. Further analyses show that the tone of online financial media news strengthens the influence of newspaper coverage on the punitive supervision of regulatory agencies. The heated discussions about problem companies on “stock forum” partially mediate the relationship newspaper coverage and the severity of corporate punishment. In other words, the net tone of financial news in newspapers intensifies the degree of punishment by stimulating increased discussion on “stock forum”. This paper explores the possible interaction between various types of media and analyzes the corporate governance mechanism of media coverage from a new perspective.

Key words: media coverage, administrative punishment, corporate governance, agenda setting