Media Accountability and Administrative Responsiveness in Public Management: An Institution–Communication Co-Construction Analysis

Abstract

This paper examines the relationship between media accountability and administrative responsiveness in public management through an institution–communication co-construction perspective. In mediated governance environments, administrative response is shaped not only by internal procedures and formal accountability rules, but also by media exposure, public opinion, open data infrastructures, and government communication. Using heat and hot water service interruptions in New York City public housing as a case, the study combines single-case analysis, process tracing, and descriptive open-data analysis. The case draws comprehensively on NYC 311 Service Requests, the NYCHA Service Interruptions Portal, GDELT news data, and selected media reports. The analysis shows that media reporting transforms dispersed resident complaints and service interruption records into visible public governance issues. It also compresses complex technical, budgetary, and organizational problems into clearer questions of administrative responsibility. Administrative responsiveness, in turn, includes complaint processing, public explanation, repair action, service-status disclosure, and institutional adjustment. The findings suggest that media accountability and administrative responsiveness are mutually shaped through institutional information, media framing, resident feedback, and administrative communication. Ultimately, responsiveness in public management functions as an administrative, communicative, data-supported, and institutionally mediated governance process. These insights provide valuable theoretical and practical implications for enhancing governmental transparency, improving citizen engagement, and optimizing digital governance frameworks in contemporary urban public administration.