Legitimating organisational decisions

Stephen K.J. Rice, Jennifer L. Bartlett
2006 Journal of Communication Management  
This study investigates how organisations seek to legitimate their decisions by tracking the relationship between press releases issued by the Australian government to support their involvement in the Iraq war, media framing of news stories about this issue, and public opinion. Using a qualitative content analysis of government press releases and media coverage, and the results of Newspoll opinion polls, the study showed that despite shifts in the framing of the stories, public opinion remained
more » ... almost constant. Given these results, the authors suggest that using media coverage as a reflection of either the organisation's legitimating attempts, or of public opinion may provide an inaccurate account of the legitimacy of an organisation's decisions.
doi:10.1108/13632540610681167 fatcat:5bgmqxxvnrgt5cbmqshcoem2ku