In 2001, the German pharmaceutical company Bayer withdrew an
anticholesterol drug - Baycol/Lipobay - because the product was
suspected to be connected to several deaths. The alleged side-effects of
the drug caused a big PR crisis for Bayer that forced the company to
respond in order to protect its image. The research of framing in public
relations crises is a developing area. While previous studies analyzed
how organizations frame crisis events, little research has been done on
media framing of crises. This study employs quantitative content
analysis to analyze coverage of the Bayer crisis in two major newspapers
each from Germany and the United States. Billgen analyzes the frames
used by journalists and company officials, but also focuses on the
sources journalists cited when covering the crisis. Her results indicate
that Bayer's crisis communication was indeed quite successful. It also
poses the question whether the newspapers under investigation always
adhered to ideal journalistic practices. Her research is particularly
interesting for media specialists and journalists, as well as for PR
practitioners or anyone involved in strategic communications.