How Do SMOs Create Moral Resources? The Roles of Media Visibility, Networks, Activism, and Political Capacity

How is it that some social movement organizations (SMOs) receive more media attention, and are generally perceived as more influential, than others? The purpose of this study is to examine the antecedents of moral resources (media visibility and peer influence) among SMOs in the 1980s US national labor policy domain. Using theories of communication, social movements, and media effects, this research argues that the acquisition of moral resources is influenced by the accumulation of other types of resources. Our path model showed that organizational resources such as media visibility, political capacity, and communication network centrality positively predicted organizational peer influence. Moreover, communication network centrality was positively related to media visibility, and SMOs that used damaging activist tactics were more likely to be covered by the media. Our results suggest that communication theory can be used to expand upon theories of SMs and resources, and that SMOs seeking to develop moral resources should consider finding novel ways to externally attract media attention and internally build capacity.