The aim of this paper is to present a critical reflexive analysis of spin doctoring in the Euro-Atlantic area. We aim to determine whether a spin doctor use the knowledge of semiotics, media studies, public relations, political communication and rhetoric for the practice of crisis communications. This text puts this kind of manipulative communication into historical perspective and monitors its application in social communication of contemporary Western society. With the support of current thinking on this persuasive communication, we would like to explore various methods and techniques of spin doctoring. We try to identify and analyse various sign systems, specific channels and media that are used in the practice of spin doctoring. We attempt a comparison of these communication channels in relation to the effectiveness of the persuasion. We focus on the era of new media (last 20 years) and the consequences of these developmental processes, and effects on the agenda of media (problem of agenda setting). The subject of our interest is also the influence of increasing number of people who have access to World Wide Web. We study individuals' participation in the democratic process. We believe that the advent of new media caused a reconfiguration of participation in democracy, but we think, that new...

Coronapandemin är en av de största kriserna på flera decennier och har gjort att Sveriges regering stått inför en situation där kriskommunikation krävs. En av de primära kommunikationsmedel som Sveriges regering har använt under pandemin är presskonferenser. Syftet med studien är att genom en gestaltningsanalys se hur Sveriges regering har gestaltat pandemin i sina presskonferenser. Analysen ska också besvara hur gestaltningen förändrats under olika faser av krisen. En språklig analys gjordes på 20 presskonferenser publicerade mellan 24 februari 2020 och den 16 september 2021 där ett förbestämt ramverk, teorier kring kriskommunikation och CERC-modellen utgjorde grunden för analysen. Studiens förbestämda ramverk är baserat på CDC och WHO:s rekommendationer inom kriskommunikation och har använts tidigare i liknande studier. Studiens resultat visar på liknande inramningar i alla valda presskonferenser från pandemin. Ramarna Budskap till allmänheten och Uttryck av empati var två inramningar som identifierades i samtliga presskonferenser. Hur allmänheten kan hjälpa till, Klargörande av fakta, Åtgärder som för närvarande vidtas och Åtgärder som kommer att vidtas var andra inramningar som identifierades ofta, särskilt under vissa tidsperioder av pandemin. Innebörden av ramarna är också något som skiljer sig mellan olika faser, framför allt Budskap till allmänheten och Uttryck av empati. / The covid-19 pandemic is one of the worst health crises in many decades, and it has put the Swedish government into a situation where crisis communication is needed. One of the primary tools for communication used by the Swedish government is press conferences. The aim of the study is to determine how the Swedish government has framed the pandemic through the press conferences. This will be done through a framing analysis. The study will also determine how the framing has changed through different phases of the crisis. A linguistic analysis was made on 20 press conferences published between February 24th 2020 and September 16th 2021 with a predetermined framework, theories in crisis communication and the CERC-model as base for the study. The predetermined framework is based on CDC and WHO recommendations in crisis communication and has been used in similar studies earlier.  The result of the study shows similar framing in all chosen press conferences from the pandemic. The frames Key messages to the public and Expression of empathy were two frames that could be identified in all press conferences. How the public can help, Clarification of facts, Actions currently being taken and Action that will be taken were frames that also could be identified in several press conferences, especially in specific phases of the pandemic. The signification of the frame was also something that changed through different phases, particularly Key messages to the public and Expression of empathy.

During the last few years, Cancel culture became a significant part of the social mediaculture. The new phenomenon aims to call out people or companies that have acted in a wayt hat does not go with the values of the consumers, which leads to a canceling. Companies got canceled and had to adjust their crisis communication to the consumers in order to repair the companies image. The consumers in question are mainly Millennials and Generation Z who tend to be ethical consumers that focus on social injustice. This leads to bigger pressure on companies to act and adjust their crisis communication accordingly. The purpose of this study is to investigate what kind of crisis communication could be used during a canceling. A statement from two canceled companies, Oatly and Starbucks, will be examined based on their crisis strategies and rhetorical strategies. Both companies claim that their actions in areas, such as climate change and social injustice, are correct and they try to convince thee thical consumers that they can be trusted as an ethical company. The study revealed that both companies used established strategies in their crisis communication, which did differ from one another. Both companies claim that their actions in areas, such as climate change and social injustice, are correct and they try to convince the ethical consumers that they can be trusted as an ethical company. Oatly communicated in a transcendent way and stood firmly by their actions, whereas Starbucks promised to change their actions.

Las organizaciones políticas en el Perú se encuentran en un momento crítico. El 93% de los electores, según la Corporación Latinobarómetro (2018), ha perdido confianza en ellas. Su imagen y reputación están generalmente asociadas con la corrupción. Y no es para menos. Los cuatro partidos políticos más influyentes de los últimos quince años han sido catalogados como organizaciones criminales por el Ministerio Público y enfrentan denuncias por el delito de lavado de activos. Sin embargo, la percepción negativa que tienen los públicos sobre los partidos políticos es en realidad resultado de las crisis, entendidas como situaciones adversas que afectan negativamente su imagen y reputación y, en consecuencia, dañan su relación con sus militantes y la confianza de sus electores, restándoles legitimidad, poder y participación en los asuntos públicos del país. Actualmente, en una época donde las tecnologías de la información y la comunicación están cada vez mejor desarrolladas, las agrupaciones políticas son particularmente vulnerables a las crisis, pues existe muy poca información o teoría sobre cómo deben gestionarse en este tipo de organizaciones. En ese sentido, el autor del presente trabajo de investigación asumió el desafío de diseñar un modelo de gestión comunicacional de crisis para organizaciones políticas. Para lograrlo fue necesario, en primer lugar, analizar cuatro casos: Partido Aprista Peruano, Partido Nacionalista Peruano, Peruanos Por el Kambio y Fuerza Popular. Comprender la naturaleza de estas agrupaciones y los tipos de crisis que enfrentaron, fue fundamental para elaborar la propuesta final. / Political organizations in Peru are at a critical moment. 93% of voters, according to Latinobarómetro Corporation (2018), have lost confidence in them. Their image and reputation are generally associated with corruption. It is not for less. The four most influential political parties of the last fifteen years have been classified as criminal organizations by the Public Ministry and face complaints for the crime of money laundering. However, the negative perception that the public has about political parties is actually the result of crises, understood as adverse situations that negatively affect their image and reputation and, consequently, damage their relationship with their militants and the trust of their voters, subtracting legitimacy, power and participation in the public affairs of the country. Currently, at a time when information and communication technologies are increasingly well developed, political groups are particularly vulnerable to crises, as there is very little information or theory on how they should be managed in these types of organizations. Therefore, the author of this research took on the challenge of designing a crisis communication management model for Peruvian political organizations. To achieve this, it was necessary, first of all, to analyze four cases: Partido Aprista Peruano, Partido Nacionalista Peruano, Peruanos Por el Kambio and Fuerza Popular. Understanding the nature of these groupings, and the types of crises they faced, was critical in crafting the final proposal. / Trabajo de investigación

Syfte: Syftet med denna studie är att söka djupare förståelse kring hur företag agerar vid företagskriser, vilka strategier de tar till sig. Vidare syftar studien till att bidra till djupare förståelse kring hur kriskommunikation tas emot av konsumenter på sociala medier. Metod: En kvalitativ fallstudie har tillämpats på fyra företag som har genomgått en publik företagskris. Den samlade empirin grundar sig på sekundärdata som har framställts genom en E-forskningsmetod. För att undersöka konsumentresponsen har 100 slumpmässiga kommentarer valts från respektive kommentarsfält för att sedan presenteras i ett ordmoln där de mest kommenterade orden illustreras. Teoretiskt perspektiv: Den teoretiska referensramen innefattar teorierna: Corporate Apologia, Image Repair Theory och Situational Crisis Communication Theory. Slutsats: Studiens slutsats ger indikationer på att företag ber om ursäkt för händelsen och kommunicerar ut alla beslut som tas rörande den. Det går att antyda att konsumenter reagerar varierande på kriskommunikation där företag enbart ber om ursäkt för den händelsen. Det går även att antyda att konsumenterna till största del har en generellt positiv bild av kriskommunikation där företag kommunicerar ut en handlingsplan, i samband med att företaget tidigare har bett om ursäkt för händelsen. / Purpose: The purpose of the study is to examine how companies use external communication, through different communication strategies during a corporate crisis. Furthermore how customers respond to the company's crisis communication.   Methodology: A qualitative case study was applied to four companies that have undergone a corporate crisis. The empirical data is based on secondary data that have been collected through an E-science methodology. To examine the customer response on the crisis communication, 100 random comments were selected from each comment section. The response is presented in a wordcloud where the most frequently used words are illustrated in the cloud. Theoretical framework: The theoretical framework includes the theories: Corporate Apologia, Image Repair Theory and Situational Crisis Communication Theory. Conclusion: The conclusion provides indications that companies apologize for the incident and communicate all decisions made regarding it. It can be suggested that consumers react differently to crisis communication where companies only apologize for that event. It can also be suggested that consumers for the most part have a generally positive image of crisis communication where companies communicate an action plan, in addition to that the company previously has apologized for the incident.

Intern kriskommunikation syftar till kommunikation som sker inom en verksamhet i samband med en kris. Utan förberedelser för en välfungerande intern kriskommunikation, ökar risken för att krisen resulterar i stora konsekvenser för både verksamheten och dess anställda. Syftet med studien är att undersöka anställdas upplevelse av den interna kriskommunikationen under covid-19-pandemin, samt hur upplevelsen relateras till eventuella psykologiska kontraktsbrott. 12 semistrukturerade intervjuer med undersköterskor och vårdbiträden inom äldreomsorgen utfördes. Resultatet om informanternas upplevelse av den interna kriskommunikationen kan sammanfattas i tre teman; Motstånd eller samförstånd, Värdelös eller värdefull samt Reaktiv eller proaktiv. Beroende på hur den interna kriskommunikationen upplevts av den anställde, kan relationen till psykologiska kontraktsbrott sammanfattas i de två teman Bortglömd eller uppskattad samt Individ eller verksamhet. Resultaten diskuteras i relation till tidigare forskning om intern kriskommunikation och psykologiska kontraktsbrott, och bidrar med ny kunskap inom området.

Building trust in vaccines depends on understanding perceptions of socioeconomic status, historical experiences, and religious affiliations. Therefore, rhetorical audience understanding in crisis communication concerning vaccine crises is crucial to enable effective crisis management and repair confidence in vaccines. With this study, the Swedish Public Health Agency's understanding of the public, as it appears in its crisis communication in connection with Astra Zeneca's and Moderna's vaccine pause, is analysed. As trust in vaccines depends on the public's trust in the authorities communicating vaccine information, the agency's crisis communication was analysed based on William L. Benoit's Image Repair Theory to identify main crisis strategies. Additionally, the strategies were analysed with Edwin Black's theory regarding The Second Persona to determine how the public was constructed in the crisis communication. The method of this study was a close textual analysis based on Michael Leff's definition. The findings show that the authority on both occasions conducted two principal strategies: Minimization and Corrective Action. However, the strategy Provocation could only be identified in the communication regarding Astra Zeneca and the strategy Differentiation exclusively in statements concerning Moderna's vaccine pause. Furthermore, the analysis shows that the communication concerning Astra Zeneca's vaccine pause gives the impression of a calm and expectant audience. In contrast, the audience in Moderna's vaccine pause is interpreted as sceptical.

In recent years, research has focused more on the importance of language in crisis communication instead of just developing frameworks and strategies. A phenomenon that has recently become a relevant part of this is Framing theory and how this tool can change individual behaviors in situations that require such input. This paper aims to investigate the use of framing within a swedish region’s, Region Västerbotten, crisis communication during covid-19. This in order to underline the importance of language in communication for crises with uncertain time courses. This study examines the region’s press conferences and press releases in order to crystallize important themes related to framing. The method used for this purpose is qualitative content analysis. The results of this study show that the region has used framing to a large extent in terms of measures and facts. This communication has changed over time from being more individual-oriented and rational during the pre-crisis stage, to focus more on measures and used emotional stories during the acute and chronic phases of the crisis. In resolving the crisis, the region has hardly used this type of framing at all. This can be explained by the fact that the communication followed the development of the crisis and used more measures when the individuals in society needed to change their behavior.

Today, people are used to having technology as a constant aid. This also sets expectations that information should always be available. This, together with ongoing climate change that has led to more natural disasters, has laid the foundation for the need to change the methodology for how geographical data is collected, compiled and visualized when used for crisis communication. This study explores how authorities, at present, communicate with the public during a crisis and how this can be done in an easier and more comprehensible way, with the help of Geographical Information Systems (GIS). The goal is to present a new way of collecting, compiling and visualizing geographical data in order to communicate, as an authority, with the public during a crisis. This has been done using a case study with focus on wildfires. Therefore, most of the work consisted of the creation of a prototype, CMAP – Crisis Management and Planning, that visualizes fire-related data. The basic work of the prototype consisted of determining what data that exists and is necessary for the information to be complete and easily understood together with how the data is best implemented. The existing data was retrieved online or via a scheduled API request. Eventrelated data, which is often created in connection with the event itself, was given a common structure and an automatic implementation into the prototype using Google Fusion Tables. In the prototype, data was visualized in two interactive map-based sections. These sections focused on providing the user with the information that might be needed if one fears that they are within an affected location or providing the user with general preparatory information in different counties. Finally, a non-map-based section was created that allowed the public to help authorities and each other via crowdsource data. This was collected in a digital form which was then directly visualized in the prototype’s map-based sections. The result of this showed, among other things, that automatic data flows are a good alternative for avoiding manual data handling and thus enabling a more frequent update of the data. Furthermore, it also showed the importance of having a common structure for which data to be included and collected in order to create a communication platform. Finally, by visualizing of dynamic polygon data in an interactive environment a development in crisis communication that can benefit the public’s understanding of the situation is achieved. This thesis is limited to the functionality and layout provided by the Google platform, including Google Earth Engine, Google Forms, Google Fusion Tables etc / I dagens samhälle är människan van vid teknik som ett ständigt hjälpmedel. Detta sätter också förväntningar på att information alltid ska vara tillgänglig och uppdaterad. Detta tillsammans med pågående klimatförändringar som lett till fler och svårare naturkatastrofer har lagt grunden till att det finns ett behov av att förändra hur man samlar in, sammanställer och visualiserar geografiska data som används för kommunikation i en krissituation. Denna studie utforskar hur myndigheter, i dagsläget, kommunicerar med allmänheten vid en krissituation och hur detta kan göras på ett enklare och mer givande sätt med hjälp av GIS. Målet är att visa ett nytt sätt att samla in, sammanställa och visualisera geografiska data för att, som myndighet, kommunicera med allmänheten under en kris. Detta har gjorts som i en fallstudie med fokus på skogs- och gräsbränder. Merparten av arbetet bestod därför av framtagande av en prototyp, CMAP – Crisis Management and Planning som visualiserar brandrelaterade data. Grundarbetet till prototypen bestod av att fastställa vilken data som finns och är nödvändig för att informationen skulle bli lättförstådd och komplett samt hur denna bäst implementeras. Den existerande data som implementerades hämtades online eller via ett schemalagt anrop av APIer. Händelserelaterade data skapas ofta i samband med själva händelsen och därför skapades en gemensam struktur och direktimplementation till prototypen för denna data med hjälp av Google Fusion Tables. I prototypen visualiserades data i två interaktiva kartbaserade sektioner. Dessa sektioner fokuserade kring att förse användaren med den information som kan behövas om man befarar att man befinner sig på en drabbad plats eller att förse användaren med allmän förberedande information inom olika län. Slutligen skapades även en icke kartbaserad sektion som möjliggjorde att allmänheten kan hjälpa myndigheter och varandra genom ”crowdsource” data. Denna samlades in i ett digitalt formulär som sedan direkt visualiserades i prototypens kartbaserade delar. Resultatet av detta visade bland annat att automatiska dataflöden är ett bra alternativ för att slippa manuell hantering av data och därmed möjliggöra en mer frekvent uppdatering. Vidare visade det även på vikten av att ha en gemensam struktur för vilken data som ska inkluderas och samlas in för att skapa en kommunikationsplattform. Slutligen är visualisering av dynamiska polygondata i en interaktiv miljö en utveckling av kriskommunikation som kan gynna förståelsen för situationen hos allmänheten. Studien är begränsad till att skapa en plattform baserad på den inbyggda funktionaliteten och designen som erbjuds i Googles plattform, detta inkluderat Google Earth Engine, Google Formulär, Google Fusion Tables etc.

The energy crisis in Europe has had a huge impact on several countries, giving both businesses and the general public a hard time paying the electric bills. In Sweden there has been a rather big controversy around the crisis and how to best solve it. This essay aims to investigate how two political leaders from the Swedish Parliament have communicated during the energy crises in Sweden through posts on Instagram. This will be done through a textual framing analysis. The study will also determine what similarities and/or differences there are between the two politicians communication. The study shows that the framing from the leaders differ in some aspects which leaves the recipients with two versions regarding the cause of the crisis. The most significant differences are regarding the characteristic “diagnose of causes”. Political leader Ebba Busch has a clear focus on the fact that the cause of the energy crisis is a consequence due to the former government's political decisions, especially that they chose to shut down the nuclear power plants Ringhals 1 and 2. While former prime minister, Magdalena Andersson, instead focuses on the energy crisis as a consequence of the war in Ukraine and the Russian gas prices.