Corporation-bashing in documentary film: A case study of news media coverage organizational response

This case study compares/contrasts news coverage of two crisis communication responses – corrective action and defiance/attacking-the-accuser – by examining print news coverage of McDonald's Corporation and Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. in conjunction with documentaries Super Size Me (2004) and Wal-Mart: The High Cost of Low Price (2005). Discussed are crisis communication dynamics associated with this new brand of documentary filmmaking and journalism's role in the debates.