Translating institutional change - forest journals as diverse policy actors

Forest governance is in a state of change as the competition between different forest uses increases and as new interests such as those motivated by biodiversity conservations or carbon sequestration enter the policy scene. These changes are reflected in the renewed Finnish Forest Act from 2014, which is based on an underlying assumption that increasing freedom in the management will support the objectives of the renewal such as the promotion of more active and innovative uses of forests. But a change in law does not change practice automatically or linearly. We study the role of intermediary actors facilitating the objectives by focusing on specialized forest journals. Informed by the Narrative Policy Framework and the role of media therein, we show how these actors contribute to institutional change. We suggest that their roles can be understood by analyzing five key functions: informing, activating, interest promotion, self-promotion and marketing. We argue that these functions affect how a policy change is turned into practice. In this change specialized journals are not just intermediaries transmitting messages of change. They can also act as street level bureaucrats that actively influence practice or as lobbies that anxiously aim to maintain their positions. A careful analysis of the roles helps to understand why specialized journals that should be in forefront of progress in practice often promote incremental change rather than innovative alternatives.