In an organization where performance is perceived to be difficult to measure, the paper studies
how the performance information producer relates to the measurement dilemma in reporting by
numbers to information users at different levels of distance. The paper is a case study of
measurement practices, from the perspective of the information producer, focusing on the top
management level in a publicly funded theater. The qualitative research design incorporated
interviews, participant observations and document analysis. The analysis draws mainly from
literature in measurement and intangibles. In the study, an anxious use of numbers in reporting to
distant information users illustrates how the confidence in reporting numbers regarding
intangibles is related to the (dis)trust in external users’ second-order measurement practices, and
the (lack of) control of users’ framing of measurement. The case reveals efforts made for
controlling external users’ framing of reported numbers, implicating how accountability relations
and long-distance control by numbers may work bi-directional.