Policy window and news media lobbying – crisis narratives of Finnish business associations during a public health crisis

Key findings from this study

This research indicates that:

• Business associations amplified media visibility during specific policy windows and implementation phases rather than maintaining consistent coverage throughout the crisis period.
• Strategic deployment of economic, renewal, and blame-focused narratives allowed organizations to frame particular interests as aligned with broader societal concerns.
• Media outlet selection (quality press versus tabloids) functioned as part of the broader lobbying strategy alongside narrative and timing choices.

Overview

This study examines how Finnish business associations strategically employ media lobbying during a prolonged public health crisis. The research integrates temporal, spatial, and narrative dimensions to analyze interest group influence across policy stages. Media visibility, outlet selection, and strategic narrative deployment emerge as coordinated mechanisms through which business associations align organizational interests with shifting societal concerns.

Methods and approach

The analysis combined mixed methods to evaluate news coverage in quality newspapers and tabloids across the policy cycle. The study tracked variations in media visibility across policy stages, media outlets, and narrative levels. Macro and micro-narrative content was coded and analyzed alongside temporal policy windows and implementation phases.

Results

Media lobbying visibility intensified during key policy windows and implementation stages rather than remaining constant across the policy cycle. Business associations deployed three primary narrative strategies: economic framings, renewal narratives, and blame-focused accounts. These narratives were mobilized in temporally sensitive ways, suggesting deliberate alignment between organizational positioning and policy momentum. The distribution of coverage varied significantly between quality newspapers and tabloids, indicating strategic outlet selection by business associations. Narrative effectiveness appeared contingent on policy stage, with different narrative types gaining prominence during distinct phases.

Implications

Organizational resource levels alone do not determine media lobbying effectiveness. The capacity to strategically mobilize timing, media space, and narrative framing constitutes a distinct dimension of influence requiring theoretical and empirical attention. Interest group scholars must reconceptualize lobbying as a temporally structured process rather than a constant activity independent of policy dynamics. Communication functions as a constitutive mechanism shaping policy outcomes, not merely as a peripheral tool for preference expression. Future research should examine whether narrative-timing alignment patterns transfer across issue domains and crisis types.

Scope and limitations

This summary is based on the study abstract and available metadata. It does not include a full analysis of the complete paper, supplementary materials, or underlying datasets unless explicitly stated. Findings should be interpreted in the context of the original publication.