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The Nature Conservancy, the Press, and Accountability

Elisabeth Chaves

Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University

This article explores the May 2003 Washington Post investigative stories concerning The Nature Conservancy (TNC) for their implications for understanding the dynamics of accountability for nonprofit organizations. The authors argue that the series framed the conservancy's activities in accord with a metanarrative or story that may be reduced to the fable of The Prince and the Pauper. Because The Post depicted TNC's actions in this light in its front-page stories, the conservation organization had little strategic choice but to accept that characterization and to plead that it would do better in the future. Reality, however, was much more complex than this reductionist accounting suggested. The authors explore the social and political impact of The Post articles and their assumptions concerning organizational and democratic accountability as well as their implications for the potential for organizational learning and for public policy agenda-setting dynamics.

Key Words: Nature Conservancy • democratic accountability • policy agenda setting

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