機構的風險責任與公共論述－傳媒呈現香港滙豐控股負面消息的個案研究

社會風險似乎無日無之－由涉及人類命運的氣候變化、核能及輻射問題，到日常生活中的食物安全或投資失利。有社會學家嘗試以「風險社會」理論去解說上述現象：原本為人類提供安全和便利生活的制度和機構，正反過來為我們帶來越來越多意料之外、影響更大的風險。不過社會對風險的意識，卻不一定必然與制度或機構的風險責任有關，因為社會風險意識涉及公共論述的詮釋爭論：不同持份者和專家對社會現象的演繹、新聞行業的運作及社會現存的一些普遍看法，都影響了公共論述對社會風險，尤其是制度與機構的風險責任的呈現。本文以香港傳媒論述如何呈現有關香港一所上市公司－滙豐控股的負面消息，探究社會風險意識在甚麼情況下，會扣上機構和制度的風險責任問題。

關鍵字

風險意識；風險社會；風險責任；傳媒論述；可見性；金融海嘯

並列摘要

Society is exposed to various risks: global threats such as climate change and nuclear crises and daily vulnerability to food safety and investment failures. Sociologists coined the term ＂risk society＂ to capture the endless risks faced by human beings. Social institutions for risk management and control are ironically the origins of new, unintended, and less controllable risks. Social risk consciousness, however, is not essentially tied with the accountability of social institutions, owing to discursive contestation in the public discourse. Expert opinions and interpretations by stakeholders, media, and prevailing cultural perceptions are all variables to the question of how risk and risk causation is contemplated in the public discourse, and hence who is accountable. Focusing on a case study-negative news about HSBC Holdings (a listed company in Hong Kong, hereafter HSBC)-this article aims to unravel under what conditions risk accountability is pertinent for social institutions in public debate. Against the backdrop of a global financial tsunami that began with the U.S. subprime mortgage crisis in 2007, HSBC is a transnational banking corporation that was not exempt from the resulting credit crunch worldwide. The causes of the financial tsunami remain controversial, as does the attribution of the risk accountability of related business difficulties. Both were subject to interpretations in the public debate about the stakeholders and other parties involved. Through content and qualitative textual analysis, the media representation of negative news about the business operations of HSBC is scrutinized and HSBC's business risks and attribution of affiliated risk accountability are examined. The research findings suggest that the high visibility of HSBC as a news source in the media discourse was a pivotal factor in the public discussion of its business risks and hence the allocation of risk accountability. HSBC's presence and reading of its own business situation substantially shaped the news angles of media coverage and set significant parameters for the local expert community. Comparatively speaking, media representations became more diverse when HSBC kept silent about all speculation about its business, and pluralistic news angles, news sources, and contested expert opinions strikingly diluted the issue of risk accountability in the media discourse. The findings brought forward noteworthy considerations for research with regard to the social formation of risk consciousness in two ways: the manipulation of visibility by prominent social institutions and to what extent risk perceptions in the public discourse were in line with those of the private sphere in general.

並列關鍵字

social risk consciousness ； risk society ； risk accountability ； media discourse ； visibility ； financial tsunami

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機構的風險責任與公共論述－傳媒呈現香港滙豐控股負面消息的個案研究

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