Media Influence and Firms Behaviour: A Stakeholder Management Perspective

To better understand the media as a stakeholder we study the media influences and the types of actions used by firms to manage this stakeholder. A hegemonic approach to the subject argues that the media is part of an economic, political, social, and cultural struggle. Accordingly, different stakeholders and classes compete for dominance and attempt to impose their visions, interests, and agendas on society as a whole. Firms, along with other groups, struggle for social dominance by disseminating images through the media. By means of stakeholder management and organizational response literature we show that given the dependency on the media’s accountability, answerability, and credibility, firms implement either strategic actions or fire-fighting actions. Evidence is brought from foreign firms in the traditional media business (print, radio, television) in the Netherlands, context characterized by freedom of the press, opinion, and information.