ABSTRACT
As discussed in Chapter 5, confl ict makes news. When organizational performance fails to live up to stakeholder expectations, pressure groups can form; these groups demand change from organizations, even governments. Their pressure tactics and the resulting confl ict-often fueled by sophisticated tactics, including social media use-make activism a force to reckon with in today’s 24/7 news cycle. Public relations has always recognized the role of pressure groups in the practice, but lately more attention from public relations researchers has emerged to grapple with the deeper issues involved. Public relations scholar Larissa Grunig defi ned activist organizations as “a group of two or more individuals who organize in order to infl uence another public or publics through action that may include education, compromise, persuasion, pressure tactics or force.”
