Public sector organizations (PSOs) operate in a fast-changing mediatized society, in which they regularly face media scrutiny. As a result, PSOs face ongoing challenges to uphold their legitimacy, which is crucial for both organizational viability and the effective functioning of democratic governments. Whether PSOs are perceived as legitimate, is increasingly co-constructed through and in news media. Consequently, public sector organizations increasingly adapt media logic in order to build, maintain and repair (Suchman, 1995) legitimacy frames in news media, as well as social media and media platforms owned and controlled by the organization itself.

This project focuses on the construction, use and effects of framing of organizational legitimacy in the media through mediatization theory (Esser & Strömbäck, 2014) as well as framing theory (Scheufele, 1999). The project consists of an explanatory interview study with communication managers of PSOs, a content analysis of legitimacy frames in Dutch media and an experiment aimed at assessing effects of different types of media legitimacy frames. Taken together, this project provides more insights into the importance, communicative construction, communicative use and impact of legitimacy framing of PSOs.