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The greening of the press: A case study of stakeholder accountability and the corporate management of environmentalist publics
Author(s) -
Pinfield Lawrence,
Berner Michelle
Publication year - 1992
Publication title -
business strategy and the environment
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.123
H-Index - 105
eISSN - 1099-0836
pISSN - 0964-4733
DOI - 10.1002/bse.3280010304
Subject(s) - stakeholder , accountability , scrutiny , corporation , publics , stakeholder engagement , public relations , public participation , greenwashing , corporate social responsibility , stakeholder theory , business , environmentalism , sociology , political science , law , politics
The concept of stakeholder accountability and management is increasingly an integral facet of business strategy. This is particularly evident for companies which have a significant environmental impact, be it real or perceived, where public scrutiny of environmental performance is facilitated through heightened press coverage. Effective stakeholder management therefore necessitates an active response to the media's attention in order to manage the public perception of business activities. This article presents data on the exponential growth in both the total number and the proportion of news articles over the past fifteen years which have associated a large forestry company in Western Canada with environmentalist issues. More detailed analyses of these articles illustrate how environmentalist sub‐issues can be identified and whether the voice is either that of the corporation or the environmentalist movement. Implications of these findings for the management of environmentalist publics is discussed.