The Agenda-Setting Power of Stakeholder Media

Media controlled by stakeholder communities and groups, or "stakeholder media," can exercise powerful influence on the strategic agendas of firms. Stakeholder media can be different and in some ways stronger than the influence of traditional news media. This article identifies strategies through which stakeholder groups use their own media to achieve desired outcomes, as support for or extensions of strategies known from the literature on social movements. These strategies rely on specific characteristics of stakeholder media that differ from mainstream media. These communication tools have altered the dynamics of stakeholder influence: on the one hand, allowing them greater independence from and influential collaboration with mainstream media as well as with other stakeholders; and on the other, augmenting the scope and momentum of their adversarial campaigns. There are important risks and opportunities posed to organizations by stakeholder media.