The study “Unmasking greenwashing – the role of the news media in giving voice to whistleblowers in sustainable finance” by Vesile Cinceoglu and Nadine Strauß from University of Zurich looked at how news media gave a voice to whistleblowers in sustainable finance (SF from now on).
Awareness of climate change has also led investors to have interest in channeling their capital in SF. However, the SF has faced recent criticisms from NGOs, financial journalists and academics. This is in addition to whistleblowers such as Desiree Fixler from Deutsche Bank’s asset management firm DWS or Tariq Fancy, former head of sustainability at BlackRock.
The authors argue that whistleblowers can be seen as opinion leaders in the corporate realm. According to Katz (1957), opinion leaders are characterized by three criteria. First, they embody certain values. Second, influence is associated with competence. Third, influence is associated with strategic social location, e.g. who one knows. Whistleblowers fit all the criteria.
There were two research questions:
RQ1 From the perspective of financial experts and whistleblowers themselves, what is the role of the news media in giving voice to whistleblowers in sustainable finance?
and
RQ2 How has (a) Tariq Fancy’s and (b) Desiree Fixler’s whistleblowing on sustainable finance been covered in international financial news media online?
Likewise, two qualitative research methods were employed. Eight expert interviews were conducted, including one with Desiree Fixler who agreed to have her name disclosed. They were then transcribed and analyzed. The second method was qualitative content analysis of 74 news items from five major financial news sites (Forbes, MarketWatch, Bloomberg, Reuters, The Economist), two top international business news outlets (Financial Times and Wall Street Journal), and two ESG investment news outlets (Bloomberg Green and Responsible Investor).
According to the results and particularly the interview with Fixler, the news media served a dual purpose of not only giving her the platform to air grievances but also being used by the DWS to discredit her. According to her, a smear campaign was conducted to ruin her reputation completely, so she decided to go to the media directly.
Other expert interviewees also concurred that news coverage of whistleblowers was a useful tool for highlighting industry issues and initiating discussions about SF/ESG. Based on these, it became clear that the news media played a central role in raising attention to ESG issues in the financial sector.
The coverage of the case of Desiree Fixler and Tariq Fancy was analyzed next. Fancy, in an op-ed on US Today, alleged that ESG is an “expensive placebo” with no real-world impact. This was covered by all the nine media outlets analyzed. Most of the articles (34) featured other voices such as think tanks or professors, only one was written by Fancy and another co-authored by him.
Less than 6 months after these, an article was published in WSJ on 1 August, 2021 about Fixler’s allegations against DWS – that DWS had overstated its sustainability efforts. Considerably follow-up media attention followed with Bloomberg leading the charge with 16 out of 38 articles, or 18 with Bloomberg Green added. All of the articles focused on the aftermath of the accusations such as lawsuits. It needs to be taken into account that Fixler’s allegations were not against SF/ESG as whole but a specific company.
The research revealed a mutually beneficial relationship between whistleblowers and journalists that also benefited the public and society. Whistleblowers often choose media over other institutions due to lack of trust in them. Journalists, in turn, can initiate and amplify discussions and provide the public with valuable information of wrongdoings. The news media analysis also revealed that the media extensively covered whistleblowers, taking a “passive watchdog” role.
In conclusion, the study proved that the news media provided a platform for whistleblowers in SF to raise their voices and spread criticism in the public realm. In addition, the theoretical framework supported the claim that whistleblowers function as opinion leaders (OLs) in the field. However, the authors caution that the sample size was small and was focused extensively on two financial institutions, DWS and BlackRock.
The article “Unmasking greenwashing – the role of the news media in giving voice to whistleblowers in sustainable finance” by Vesile Cinceoglu and Nadine Strauß was in Journalism. (open access).
Picture: Untitled by Annie Spratt.
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