Leveraging the Power of News Media: The Media’s Role in Publicizing Finnish Trade Associations’ Policy Positions During a Global Health Crisis

Lobbying research has mainly focused on direct efforts, whereas indirect lobbying, such as influencing the news media agenda, is less explored. Despite its growing use by organizations and interest groups, the impact of media lobbying is not well understood. This study examines the media lobbying outcomes of three Finnish trade associations during the COVID-19 pandemic, aiming to increase issue saliency and promote their policy positions. The pandemic provided particular opportunities for certain organizations to influence proposed policies and regulations. Through quantitative content analysis of news articles, the study offers empirical evidence of media lobbying outcomes of these associations, how they were portrayed in the media, the positions they advocated, and the policy outcomes they supported. Findings reveal that news coverage of lobbying efforts varied across different pandemic and policy-making phases, with trade associations achieving varying levels of media visibility. This research enhances public affairs research by empirically showing the role of the news media in raising the visibility of interest groups’ policy positions through indirect lobbying during crises and offering insights into policy issues, media lobbying objectives and lobbying timing. It also advances theoretical and methodological understanding by proposing a new model for detecting media lobbying efforts.