Corporate Social Responsibility in the Media Industry: Setting the Benchmark or Falling Behind?

The chapter discusses theoretically and empirically to what extent CSR is on the agenda of the management of the big European media outlets. While internal CSR instruments are used by most big European media companies, the media industry as a whole obviously does not set the benchmark for competing with integrity. The debate on CSR seems to be limited to criticizing others and lacks reflection within the media industry in general and within media corporations in particular. Furthermore, media companies in Europe don’t yet fully communicate their CSR efforts and seem to underestimate the potential of CSR for its business.