The Intractability of Reputation: Media Coverage as a Complex System in the Case of Martha Stewart

Abstract

This study examines media reputation—the representation of a person or organization in the media—from the standpoint of complex systems. It analyzes news releases and print media coverage about Martha Stewart from 1982 through 2007 using computer-assisted semantic network analysis. The study concludes that Stewart's media reputation showed characteristics of a complex system, including the gradual emergence of patterns of representation, the buildup of internal dissonance, a crisis point followed by the emergence of new patterns, and resistance to outside influences. These characteristics constrain efforts to shape reputation but can also provide warnings about a changing reputation long before it becomes obvious in media coverage.

Notes

Note. Only US media were counted for all dates of coverage. For news releases, only PR Newswire and Business Wire releases were used, and only those originating from Stewart herself, her lawyers, MSLO, or business partners such as K-Mart or Macy's. Coverage was not available for Stewart's 2001 election to the NYSE Board of Directors, and releases were not available for the debut of her television show, The Apprentice (2005) or the publication of her books, Entertaining (1982), The Martha Rules (2005), and The Martha Stewart Baking Book (2005).

¹I am indebted to one of the paper's anonymous readers for this suggestion.