1
Organisations, Media and Society (77641SP06Y)
part 1
LM1. INTRODUCTION......................................................................................................... 2
LECTURE 1 SLIDES. INTRODUCTION............................................................................................................... 2
STRATEGIC COMMUNICATION: DEFINING THE FIELD AND ITS CONTRIBUTION TO RESEARCH AND PRACTICE (ZERFASS ET
AL., 2018).............................................................................................................................................. 4
BACK TO THE ROOTS? THE APPLICATIONS OF COMMUNICATION SCIENCE THEORIES IN STRATEGIC COMMUNICATION
RESEARCH (LOCK ET AL., 2020).................................................................................................................. 6
ORGANISATIONS, MEDIA, AND SOCIETY (VAN DER MEER ET AL., 2024).................................................................7
FINAL REFLECTIONS ORGANISATIONS, MEDIA AND SOCIETY..................................................................................8
LM2. ORGANISATIONS AND LEGITIMACY.............................................................................8
LECTURE 2 SLIDES. ORGANISATIONS AND LEGITIMICY........................................................................................ 8
TOWARD A THEORY OF SOCIAL JUDGMENTS OF ORGANIZATIONS: THE CASE OF LEGITIMACY, REPUTATION, AND STATUS
(BITEKTINE, 2011).................................................................................................................................. 11
JOURNALISM AND BUSINESS LEGITIMACY (KJÆR & BLACH-ØRSTEN, 2020)..........................................................11
FINDING THE TIPPING POINT: WHEN HETEROGENEOUS EVALUATIONS IN SOCIAL MEDIA CONVERGE AND INFLUENCE
ORGANIZATIONAL LEGITIMACY (ILLIA ET AL., 2023)........................................................................................ 12
FINAL REFLECTIONS ORGANISATIONS AND LEGITIMICY.......................................................................................12
LM3. ISSUE ARENAS........................................................................................................ 13
LECTURE 3 SLIDES. ISSUE ARENAS.............................................................................................................. 13
TOWARDS A MORE DYNAMIC STAKEHOLDER MODEL: ACKNOWLEDGING MULTIPLE ISSUE ARENAS (LUOMA-AHO & VOS,
2010).................................................................................................................................................. 15
ISSUE ARENAS: DEFINITION AND IMPORTANCE................................................................................................. 16
POLITICIZATION OF CORPORATIONS AND THEIR ENVIRONMENT: CORPORATIONS’ SOCIAL LICENSE TO OPERATE IN A
POLARIZED AND MEDIATIZED SOCIETY (VAN DER MEER & JONKMAN, 2021)........................................................17
CIVIL SOCIETY NETWORKS AND MALAYSIAN GOVERNMENT REFORM: CONSIDERING ISSUE HOMOPHILY IN
INTERORGANIZATIONAL RELATIONSHIPS (SOMMERFELDT ET AL., 2022)..............................................................18
ISSUE HOMOPHILY: DEFINITION AND SIGNIFICANCE...........................................................................................18
CONNECTING POINTS BETWEEN (LUOMA-AHO & VOS, 2010), (VAN DER MEER & JONKMAN, 2021) AND (SOMMERFELDT
ET AL., 2022)........................................................................................................................................ 19
FINAL REFLECTIONS ISSUE ARENAS............................................................................................................... 20
GUEST LECTURE FGS GLOBAL..........................................................................................20
LM4. FRAMING................................................................................................................ 20
LECTURE 4 SLIDES. FRAMING..................................................................................................................... 20
POLITICAL FRAMING ACROSS DISCIPLINES: EVIDENCE FROM 21ST-CENTURY EXPERIMENTS (BRUGMAN & BURGERS,
2018).................................................................................................................................................. 22
FRAMING IN A FRACTURED DEMOCRACY: IMPACTS OF DIGITAL TECHNOLOGY ON IDEOLOGY, POWER, AND CASCADING
NETWORK ACTIVATION (ENTMAN & USHER, 2018)........................................................................................24
FIGURATIVE FRAMING: SHAPING PUBLIC DISCOURSE THROUGH METAPHOR, HYPERBOLE, AND IRONY (BURGERS, KONIJN
& STEEN, 2016).................................................................................................................................... 25
CONNECTING POINTS BETWEEN (BRUGMAN & BURGERS, 2018), (ENTMAN & USHER, 2018) AND (BURGERS ET AL,
2016).................................................................................................................................................. 26
FINAL REFLECTIONS FRAMING..................................................................................................................... 26
LM5. ORGANISATIONAL VISIBILITY IN THE NEWS...............................................................27
LECTURE 5 SLIDES. ORGANISATIONAL VISIBILITY IN THE NEWS...........................................................................27
BUFFERING NEGATIVE NEWS: INDIVIDUAL-LEVEL EFFECTS OF COMPANY VISIBILITY, TONE, AND PRE-EXISTING ATTITUDES
ON CORPORATE REPUTATION (JONKMAN ET AL., 2020)...................................................................................29
PERSONALIZATION OF TECH CORPORATIONS: EXAMINING PERSONALIZED NEWS AND THE MEDIA REPUTATION OF
GOOGLE, FACEBOOK, AND APPLE IN SWISS NEWS MEDIA (MARSCHLICH & EISENEGGER, 2025).............................30
NEWS VALUES ON SOCIAL MEDIA: EXPLORING WHAT DRIVES PEAKS IN USER ACTIVITY ABOUT ORGANIZATIONS ON
TWITTER (ARAUJO & VAN DER MEER, 2020)................................................................................................ 31
CONNECTING POINTS BETWEEN (JONKMAN ET AL., 2020), (MARSCHLICH & EISENEGGER, 2025) AND (ARAUJO & VAN
DER MEER, 2020)................................................................................................................................... 31
, 2
FINAL REFLECTIONS ORGANISATIONAL VISIBILITY IN THE NEWS...........................................................................32
GOLDEN IDEAS............................................................................................................... 32
OVERALL CONNECTIONS BETWEEN ARTICLES....................................................................35
REAL-WORLD CASE EXAMPLES FOR COURSE THEORIES.....................................................37
EXAM QUESTIONS........................................................................................................... 40
REAL WORLD EXAMPLES................................................................................................. 43
STRATEGIC ISSUES.................................................................................................................................... 43
LEGITIMATE ORGANISATIONS....................................................................................................................... 45
CORPORATE INVOLVEMENT IN POLITICAL AND SOCIAL ISSUES.............................................................................49
CURRENT CHALLENGES CORPORATE COMMUNICATION......................................................................................51
THE PRESENCE OF INFLUENCERS IN ISSUE ARENAS..........................................................................................56
TATA STEEL CASE.................................................................................................................................... 57
FRAMING IN POLITICS, MEDIA AND SOCIETY.................................................................................................... 60
FIGURATIVE FRAMING................................................................................................................................ 62
LM1. Introduction
Lecture 1 slides. Introduction
1. Course Focus: Organizations in a Mediatized Environment
Organizations operate within society and must navigate complex media dynamics to maintain
visibility, legitimacy and reputation.
The course examines three key areas:
1. Organizations and their societal environment – Issue arenas, stakeholder
relationships, and social evaluations (e.g., legitimacy, reputation).
2. Organizations and the news – The role of media framing, agenda-setting and crisis
communication.
3. Broader societal context – The impact of macro-level changes, such as corporate
social responsibility (CSR), politicization, misinformation, and AI.
This shift moves away from organization-centric thinking, instead emphasizing the role
organizations play in society and how they adapt to media-driven pressures.
2. Strategic Communication (Zerfass et al., 2018)
Definition:
“Strategic communication encompasses all communication that is substantial for the survival and
sustained success of an entity. It is the purposeful use of communication to engage in
conversations of strategic significance.” (Zerfass et al., 2018, p. 493)
Key Elements of Strategic Communication
Monitoring stakeholder expectations – Organizations must understand public sentiment and
adjust their strategies accordingly.
Informing and influencing stakeholders – Communication is not just about conveying
information but actively shaping stakeholder perceptions.
Multichannel presence – Strategic communication spans traditional and digital
platforms, requiring organizations to adapt to different audiences.
Complexity, uncertainty, and risk – Many strategic communication efforts only reveal their
true impact in hindsight, necessitating continuous environmental scanning.
Subjective vs. Objective Dimensions
, 3
1. Subjective – The perceived importance of an issue, based on collective sense-making
(Thomas Theorem: If people define situations as real, they are real in their consequences).
2. Objective – The actual impact of an issue, often only recognized in retrospect (complexity,
uncertainty, and ambiguity).
This framework highlights the importance of proactive communication management in shaping
public discourse and protecting organizational legitimacy.
3. A Communication Science Approach (Lock et al., 2020)
A communication science approach integrates various theories to analyze strategic communication
beyond management-focused perspectives.
Three Key Traditions in Communication Science
1. Interpretative/Critical/Cultural – Explores subjectivity, power relations, and the researcher’s
role in shaping meaning.
2. Social Science (Dominant Paradigm) – Empirical, value-neutral approach, using
quantitative research to study communication effects.
3. Rhetorical Approaches – Focuses on persuasion, discourse theory, and rhetorical
strategies in shaping public perception.
Strategic communication research has increasingly incorporated social science theories in fields
such as:
Crisis communication – Managing reputational risks.
Public relations – Stakeholder engagement and corporate messaging.
Agenda-building and media influence – Understanding how organizations shape news
coverage and public debate.
Going “back to the roots” of communication theories helps scholars develop new insights by
focusing on how communication itself creates meaning and relationships.
4. Organizations, Media, and Society (van der Meer et al., 2024)
This section explores the dynamic relationship between organizations and media, focusing on
visibility, mediatization, and legitimacy.
Key Themes
1. Organizations and News Media – The visibility of organizations is shaped by media
agenda-setting and framing.
2. Mediatization of Organizations – Media have become embedded in organizational
processes, influencing how companies communicate and make decisions.
3. Organizational Legitimacy – Organizations must align with societal norms and values to
maintain legitimacy, which is increasingly influenced by media narratives.
Mediatization and Strategic Adaptation
Organizations must monitor media discourse to anticipate reputational risks.
Adapting to media logic is necessary to ensure consistent, credible messaging.
Media legitimacy matters – Organizations must align with public expectations to maintain
their license to operate.
Key Takeaways
Strategic communication is essential for organizations to navigate their societal
environment.
, 4
Organizations must engage with media strategically to shape public perception and
maintain legitimacy.
A communication science approach broadens strategic communication research,
integrating social science, cultural studies, and rhetorical analysis.
Mediatization has transformed corporate communication, making media influence a
central factor in organizational decision-making.
Legitimacy is dynamic – Organizations must continuously align with societal expectations and
media narratives to sustain trust and credibility.
This lecture sets the foundation for understanding how organizations, media, and society
interact, highlighting the role of strategic communication in maintaining visibility, legitimacy, and
stakeholder trust in a mediatized world.
Strategic Communication: Defining the Field and its Contribution to Research and
Practice (Zerfass et al., 2018)
Key topics: Strategic communication, media influence, interdisciplinary approaches, organizational
strategy
o What makes an issue startegic?
Core Characteristics of Strategic Issues
An issue is strategic when it:
Affects the organization’s long-term survival or success – It is not a minor operational
issue but has long-term consequences.
Involves uncertainty and complexity – There are no predefined solutions or established
best practices.
Requires significant resource allocation – Addressing the issue demands time, funding,
and strategic decision-making.
Is subject to external influence and competition – Stakeholders, competitors,
regulators, and the public shape its impact.
These characteristics distinguish strategic issues from tactical or operational concerns, which
deal with day-to-day efficiency and execution rather than shaping an organization’s future
direction.
Strategic Issues vs. Routine Issues
Strategic issues should not be confused with routine or operational matters.
Strategic Issues Routine/Operational Issues
Long-term, high-impact decisions Day-to-day, low-risk tasks
High uncertainty and complexity Well-defined, repeatable
processes
Requires leadership and strategic Can be handled by standard
planning procedures
Influenced by external stakeholders Managed within internal
operations
Example:
Strategic Issue – A government regulating AI development, forcing tech firms to adjust
their long-term innovation strategies.
Routine Issue – A company optimizing internal IT support to improve daily efficiency.
Organisations, Media and Society (77641SP06Y)
part 1
LM1. INTRODUCTION......................................................................................................... 2
LECTURE 1 SLIDES. INTRODUCTION............................................................................................................... 2
STRATEGIC COMMUNICATION: DEFINING THE FIELD AND ITS CONTRIBUTION TO RESEARCH AND PRACTICE (ZERFASS ET
AL., 2018).............................................................................................................................................. 4
BACK TO THE ROOTS? THE APPLICATIONS OF COMMUNICATION SCIENCE THEORIES IN STRATEGIC COMMUNICATION
RESEARCH (LOCK ET AL., 2020).................................................................................................................. 6
ORGANISATIONS, MEDIA, AND SOCIETY (VAN DER MEER ET AL., 2024).................................................................7
FINAL REFLECTIONS ORGANISATIONS, MEDIA AND SOCIETY..................................................................................8
LM2. ORGANISATIONS AND LEGITIMACY.............................................................................8
LECTURE 2 SLIDES. ORGANISATIONS AND LEGITIMICY........................................................................................ 8
TOWARD A THEORY OF SOCIAL JUDGMENTS OF ORGANIZATIONS: THE CASE OF LEGITIMACY, REPUTATION, AND STATUS
(BITEKTINE, 2011).................................................................................................................................. 11
JOURNALISM AND BUSINESS LEGITIMACY (KJÆR & BLACH-ØRSTEN, 2020)..........................................................11
FINDING THE TIPPING POINT: WHEN HETEROGENEOUS EVALUATIONS IN SOCIAL MEDIA CONVERGE AND INFLUENCE
ORGANIZATIONAL LEGITIMACY (ILLIA ET AL., 2023)........................................................................................ 12
FINAL REFLECTIONS ORGANISATIONS AND LEGITIMICY.......................................................................................12
LM3. ISSUE ARENAS........................................................................................................ 13
LECTURE 3 SLIDES. ISSUE ARENAS.............................................................................................................. 13
TOWARDS A MORE DYNAMIC STAKEHOLDER MODEL: ACKNOWLEDGING MULTIPLE ISSUE ARENAS (LUOMA-AHO & VOS,
2010).................................................................................................................................................. 15
ISSUE ARENAS: DEFINITION AND IMPORTANCE................................................................................................. 16
POLITICIZATION OF CORPORATIONS AND THEIR ENVIRONMENT: CORPORATIONS’ SOCIAL LICENSE TO OPERATE IN A
POLARIZED AND MEDIATIZED SOCIETY (VAN DER MEER & JONKMAN, 2021)........................................................17
CIVIL SOCIETY NETWORKS AND MALAYSIAN GOVERNMENT REFORM: CONSIDERING ISSUE HOMOPHILY IN
INTERORGANIZATIONAL RELATIONSHIPS (SOMMERFELDT ET AL., 2022)..............................................................18
ISSUE HOMOPHILY: DEFINITION AND SIGNIFICANCE...........................................................................................18
CONNECTING POINTS BETWEEN (LUOMA-AHO & VOS, 2010), (VAN DER MEER & JONKMAN, 2021) AND (SOMMERFELDT
ET AL., 2022)........................................................................................................................................ 19
FINAL REFLECTIONS ISSUE ARENAS............................................................................................................... 20
GUEST LECTURE FGS GLOBAL..........................................................................................20
LM4. FRAMING................................................................................................................ 20
LECTURE 4 SLIDES. FRAMING..................................................................................................................... 20
POLITICAL FRAMING ACROSS DISCIPLINES: EVIDENCE FROM 21ST-CENTURY EXPERIMENTS (BRUGMAN & BURGERS,
2018).................................................................................................................................................. 22
FRAMING IN A FRACTURED DEMOCRACY: IMPACTS OF DIGITAL TECHNOLOGY ON IDEOLOGY, POWER, AND CASCADING
NETWORK ACTIVATION (ENTMAN & USHER, 2018)........................................................................................24
FIGURATIVE FRAMING: SHAPING PUBLIC DISCOURSE THROUGH METAPHOR, HYPERBOLE, AND IRONY (BURGERS, KONIJN
& STEEN, 2016).................................................................................................................................... 25
CONNECTING POINTS BETWEEN (BRUGMAN & BURGERS, 2018), (ENTMAN & USHER, 2018) AND (BURGERS ET AL,
2016).................................................................................................................................................. 26
FINAL REFLECTIONS FRAMING..................................................................................................................... 26
LM5. ORGANISATIONAL VISIBILITY IN THE NEWS...............................................................27
LECTURE 5 SLIDES. ORGANISATIONAL VISIBILITY IN THE NEWS...........................................................................27
BUFFERING NEGATIVE NEWS: INDIVIDUAL-LEVEL EFFECTS OF COMPANY VISIBILITY, TONE, AND PRE-EXISTING ATTITUDES
ON CORPORATE REPUTATION (JONKMAN ET AL., 2020)...................................................................................29
PERSONALIZATION OF TECH CORPORATIONS: EXAMINING PERSONALIZED NEWS AND THE MEDIA REPUTATION OF
GOOGLE, FACEBOOK, AND APPLE IN SWISS NEWS MEDIA (MARSCHLICH & EISENEGGER, 2025).............................30
NEWS VALUES ON SOCIAL MEDIA: EXPLORING WHAT DRIVES PEAKS IN USER ACTIVITY ABOUT ORGANIZATIONS ON
TWITTER (ARAUJO & VAN DER MEER, 2020)................................................................................................ 31
CONNECTING POINTS BETWEEN (JONKMAN ET AL., 2020), (MARSCHLICH & EISENEGGER, 2025) AND (ARAUJO & VAN
DER MEER, 2020)................................................................................................................................... 31
, 2
FINAL REFLECTIONS ORGANISATIONAL VISIBILITY IN THE NEWS...........................................................................32
GOLDEN IDEAS............................................................................................................... 32
OVERALL CONNECTIONS BETWEEN ARTICLES....................................................................35
REAL-WORLD CASE EXAMPLES FOR COURSE THEORIES.....................................................37
EXAM QUESTIONS........................................................................................................... 40
REAL WORLD EXAMPLES................................................................................................. 43
STRATEGIC ISSUES.................................................................................................................................... 43
LEGITIMATE ORGANISATIONS....................................................................................................................... 45
CORPORATE INVOLVEMENT IN POLITICAL AND SOCIAL ISSUES.............................................................................49
CURRENT CHALLENGES CORPORATE COMMUNICATION......................................................................................51
THE PRESENCE OF INFLUENCERS IN ISSUE ARENAS..........................................................................................56
TATA STEEL CASE.................................................................................................................................... 57
FRAMING IN POLITICS, MEDIA AND SOCIETY.................................................................................................... 60
FIGURATIVE FRAMING................................................................................................................................ 62
LM1. Introduction
Lecture 1 slides. Introduction
1. Course Focus: Organizations in a Mediatized Environment
Organizations operate within society and must navigate complex media dynamics to maintain
visibility, legitimacy and reputation.
The course examines three key areas:
1. Organizations and their societal environment – Issue arenas, stakeholder
relationships, and social evaluations (e.g., legitimacy, reputation).
2. Organizations and the news – The role of media framing, agenda-setting and crisis
communication.
3. Broader societal context – The impact of macro-level changes, such as corporate
social responsibility (CSR), politicization, misinformation, and AI.
This shift moves away from organization-centric thinking, instead emphasizing the role
organizations play in society and how they adapt to media-driven pressures.
2. Strategic Communication (Zerfass et al., 2018)
Definition:
“Strategic communication encompasses all communication that is substantial for the survival and
sustained success of an entity. It is the purposeful use of communication to engage in
conversations of strategic significance.” (Zerfass et al., 2018, p. 493)
Key Elements of Strategic Communication
Monitoring stakeholder expectations – Organizations must understand public sentiment and
adjust their strategies accordingly.
Informing and influencing stakeholders – Communication is not just about conveying
information but actively shaping stakeholder perceptions.
Multichannel presence – Strategic communication spans traditional and digital
platforms, requiring organizations to adapt to different audiences.
Complexity, uncertainty, and risk – Many strategic communication efforts only reveal their
true impact in hindsight, necessitating continuous environmental scanning.
Subjective vs. Objective Dimensions
, 3
1. Subjective – The perceived importance of an issue, based on collective sense-making
(Thomas Theorem: If people define situations as real, they are real in their consequences).
2. Objective – The actual impact of an issue, often only recognized in retrospect (complexity,
uncertainty, and ambiguity).
This framework highlights the importance of proactive communication management in shaping
public discourse and protecting organizational legitimacy.
3. A Communication Science Approach (Lock et al., 2020)
A communication science approach integrates various theories to analyze strategic communication
beyond management-focused perspectives.
Three Key Traditions in Communication Science
1. Interpretative/Critical/Cultural – Explores subjectivity, power relations, and the researcher’s
role in shaping meaning.
2. Social Science (Dominant Paradigm) – Empirical, value-neutral approach, using
quantitative research to study communication effects.
3. Rhetorical Approaches – Focuses on persuasion, discourse theory, and rhetorical
strategies in shaping public perception.
Strategic communication research has increasingly incorporated social science theories in fields
such as:
Crisis communication – Managing reputational risks.
Public relations – Stakeholder engagement and corporate messaging.
Agenda-building and media influence – Understanding how organizations shape news
coverage and public debate.
Going “back to the roots” of communication theories helps scholars develop new insights by
focusing on how communication itself creates meaning and relationships.
4. Organizations, Media, and Society (van der Meer et al., 2024)
This section explores the dynamic relationship between organizations and media, focusing on
visibility, mediatization, and legitimacy.
Key Themes
1. Organizations and News Media – The visibility of organizations is shaped by media
agenda-setting and framing.
2. Mediatization of Organizations – Media have become embedded in organizational
processes, influencing how companies communicate and make decisions.
3. Organizational Legitimacy – Organizations must align with societal norms and values to
maintain legitimacy, which is increasingly influenced by media narratives.
Mediatization and Strategic Adaptation
Organizations must monitor media discourse to anticipate reputational risks.
Adapting to media logic is necessary to ensure consistent, credible messaging.
Media legitimacy matters – Organizations must align with public expectations to maintain
their license to operate.
Key Takeaways
Strategic communication is essential for organizations to navigate their societal
environment.
, 4
Organizations must engage with media strategically to shape public perception and
maintain legitimacy.
A communication science approach broadens strategic communication research,
integrating social science, cultural studies, and rhetorical analysis.
Mediatization has transformed corporate communication, making media influence a
central factor in organizational decision-making.
Legitimacy is dynamic – Organizations must continuously align with societal expectations and
media narratives to sustain trust and credibility.
This lecture sets the foundation for understanding how organizations, media, and society
interact, highlighting the role of strategic communication in maintaining visibility, legitimacy, and
stakeholder trust in a mediatized world.
Strategic Communication: Defining the Field and its Contribution to Research and
Practice (Zerfass et al., 2018)
Key topics: Strategic communication, media influence, interdisciplinary approaches, organizational
strategy
o What makes an issue startegic?
Core Characteristics of Strategic Issues
An issue is strategic when it:
Affects the organization’s long-term survival or success – It is not a minor operational
issue but has long-term consequences.
Involves uncertainty and complexity – There are no predefined solutions or established
best practices.
Requires significant resource allocation – Addressing the issue demands time, funding,
and strategic decision-making.
Is subject to external influence and competition – Stakeholders, competitors,
regulators, and the public shape its impact.
These characteristics distinguish strategic issues from tactical or operational concerns, which
deal with day-to-day efficiency and execution rather than shaping an organization’s future
direction.
Strategic Issues vs. Routine Issues
Strategic issues should not be confused with routine or operational matters.
Strategic Issues Routine/Operational Issues
Long-term, high-impact decisions Day-to-day, low-risk tasks
High uncertainty and complexity Well-defined, repeatable
processes
Requires leadership and strategic Can be handled by standard
planning procedures
Influenced by external stakeholders Managed within internal
operations
Example:
Strategic Issue – A government regulating AI development, forcing tech firms to adjust
their long-term innovation strategies.
Routine Issue – A company optimizing internal IT support to improve daily efficiency.
