This paper examines whether managers of socially responsible firms strategically choose disclosure channels by analyzing the tone in Management Discussion and Analysis (MD&A) and Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) reports. Using unique data from Chinese listed firms from 2010 to 2019, we find that socially responsible firms generally prefer to use a more positive tone in MD&A compared to CSR reports. However, when financial performance worsens, external pressures from investors leadmanagers to reduce the positive tone in MD&A, shifting instead to a more positive tone in CSR reporting. These results suggest that socially responsible firms strategically transition their unusually positive tone from MD&A to CSR reporting during financial downturns. Overall, our results provide evidence of managers’ disclosure strategy to mitigate regulatory risks while simultaneously achieving impression management objectives.