Getting into living rooms: NGO media relations work as strategic practice

Research on the publicity strategies of non-governmental organizations suggests that they seek out coverage from the news media. In so doing, they typically adopt traditional news values, thus adapting to the institutional demands of journalism in ways potentially harmful to organizational goals. This study suggests that, while employees do court news coverage through events and strategies designed to capture media attention, they do so strategically. The research presented here draws on institutional theories of organizational behavior to understand the strategic behaviors undertaken. Through participant observation and document analysis of the media relations office at World Vision US, a key player among international development non-governmental organizations, I find evidence that media relations employees engage in strategic practices of bargaining and compliance. These behaviors allow them to work within and beyond given institutional parameters to accomplish organizational goals not aligned with traditional news values.