Organizational Communication in a Networked Public Sphere

The purpose of the article is to provide a conceptual foundation for the examination of the impact of the new public sphere on strategic organizational communication. The paper addresses the following question: how do organizations strategically communicate in the face of the changing public sphere? The argument is made, that organizations adapt to this new environment, but that they also actively shape it. Based on a broad review of literature related to the new structural transformation of the public sphere, a model of a networked public sphere is derived. This model serves as a foundation to formulate propositions for future research on strategic organizational communication under the conditions of a networked public sphere. The emphasis of the paper is on the development of a theo-retical framework. However, examples will be included in order to illustrate the assertions. The value of the paper lies in addressing central themes of strategic organizational communication through the lens of the public sphere perspective.