Maria Grafström

Mediatization of Civil Society Organizations: (De)legitimation of the Swedish Red Cross

Abstract The article explores how media representations influence ideas about legitimate behaviour within a civil society organization (CSO). We develop understanding of the mediatization of CSOs, and in particular of how media coverage influences internal practices and decision-making. The analysis is based on a case study of the Swedish Red Cross and illustrates how (negative) media exposure influences the conditions for, and behaviour of, a CSO. The findings demonstrate that media constructed a legitimacy crisis and that the organization over time adjusted to the media story to maintain its legitimacy. The findings also suggest that professional communicators play significant roles in carrying and reinforcing ideas within CSOs about the importance of controlling media attention.

The Creation of a Crisis of Confidence: A Study of the Mediatization of the Red Cross

These were some of the Swedish newspaper headlines on articles concerning the Swedish Red Cross and its crisis in the spring of 2010. Breathless headers followed hot on each other’s heels as the organization and its representatives were criticized in a sea of news articles, letters to editors, and editorials. In the media, the loss of confidence in the Red Cross, and especially in the chairman of its board, Bengt Westerberg, was discussed heatedly. Within the Red Cross itself, however, these reports were perceived as being unfair. The Red Cross believed that its organization was open, fair, and democratic. While the media maintained that the Red Cross was suffering from a crisis of confidence, the employees in the organization could neither understand how such a crisis could arise, nor why the media attention was so drawn out and persistent.

The practice of CSR in Sweden : Diverse practices under a common label

Although the idea of social responsibility of business has a long history, the debate over corporate social responsibility has escalated in Sweden during the past few decades under the label of CSR. CSR has become an idea on the corporate agenda in Sweden. This chapter describes how CSR arrived in Sweden and how social responsibility takes its form and translates into practice in Swedish corporations. In order to understand the background of how CSR entered the Swedish business community, the chapter begins by describing social responsibility from a historical perspective and the recent revival of CSR in Sweden. In broad terms, the topic of the social responsibility of business has a long root in different societies around the world. The emergence of the industrial community in Sweden between the mid-seventeenth century and the mid-nineteenth century was a period in which Swedish corporations had played a prominent role in the local community, contributing to the development of several social institutions, including the fire brigade, medical services, and schools. During the last century, the scope of corporate responsibilities was marginalized to that of economic responsibility. However, in the last 20 years, the Swedish discourse on corporate responsibilities has changed in concert with the state of the market and with the division of roles between corporations and the state. As in many other countries, Swedish companies are being criticized by stakeholders and they are being urged to take on greater responsibilities both in Sweden and elsewhere. Hence, during the last few decades, the field of CSR has solidified and taken a better shape both nationally and internationally. The chapter discusses how companies listed in the Swedish stock exchange communicate information on their CSR activities and also examines how three large Swedish corporations practice CSR.