Legitimating organisational decisions A study of media framing of the Australian Government's legitimacy strategy and public opinion on the war in Iraq

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to investigate how organisations seek to legitimate their decisions by tracking the relationship between press releases issued by the Australian Government to support their involvement in the Iraq war, media framing of news stories about this issue, and public opinion. Design/methodology/approach - The study uses a qualitative content analysis of government press releases and media coverage, and the results of Newspoll opinion polls. Findings - The study showed that despite shifts in the framing of the stories, public opinion remained almost constant. Research limitations/implications - Given these results, the authors suggest that media content does not necessarily change public opinion on a particular issue. Practical implications - Using media coverage as a reflection of either the organisation's legitimating attempts, or of public opinion may provide an inaccurate account of the legitimacy of an organisation's decisions. Originality/value - This study provides evidence that media content does not reflect the legitimacy of an organisational decision nor has a direct influence on public opinion.