Media Attention, Internal Control Quality, and Legal Litigation

•Media attention can significantly enhance the quality of corporate internal controls.•Corporate internal controls can reduce the risk of legal litigation for companies.•Media attention mediates the relationship between internal controls and litigation risk. Using data from A-share listed companies in China from 2007 to 2021, this paper explores the relationship between media attention, corporate internal control quality, and legal litigation. The study finds that media attention significantly improves the quality of a company's internal controls. Moreover, high-quality internal controls effectively reduce the risk of legal litigation for companies. Additionally, media attention plays a significant moderating role between internal control quality and the risk of legal litigation. These findings provide important empirical evidence for corporate governance and regulatory policies.