The innovation of high-tech enterprises plays a pivotal role in driving technological progress and industrial upgrading，positioning them as key contributors to building an innovative nation. Negative media coverage，as a significant channel for exerting institutional pressure on firms，often influences the innovation decisions of high-tech enterprises. This study examines the impact of negative media reports on the innovation activities of high-tech enterprises through the lenses of legitimacy and social identity. Using panel data from 1，501 high-tech enterprises listed on China's mainboard market between 2011 and 2020，a fixed-effects model and triple moderation effect analysis reveal three main findings:（1） Negative media coverage motivates high-tech enterprises to increase their innovation investment； （2） Such coverage leads firms to prioritize innovation quantity over quality，thereby fostering growth in the number of innovations without significantly improving innovation quality； （3） Further analysis indicates that the above effects are more pronounced in firms with limited slack resources. Specifically，higher levels of slack resources weaken the positive impact of negative media reports on innovation input and diminish their role in facilitating the transformation of innovation input into innovation quantity. While prior studies primarily emphasized resource constraints and suggested negative media coverage inhibits innovation，this study adopts a legitimacy and social identity perspective，offering novel insights and empirical evidence on the relationship between negative media reports and corporate innovation. The findings provide valuable guidance for high-tech enterprises in crafting effective innovation strategies under the influence of adverse public opinion.