The apology video has become a genre of its own on YouTube. Easily recognizable, the particular ways that YouTube creators address controversy on the platform have been subject to extensive parody and media coverage as they rack up drama-fueled views. Despite this satirization, the apology video is a strategic tool for creators to repair tarnished reputations, regain the trust of their audience, and secure their livelihood in the face of public conflict. Through semiotic visual analysis and quantitative content analysis of videos from six popular creators this thesis examines their strategies of apology and expressions of emotional labour as a form of self presentation. The analysis departs from theoretical perspectives on the strategies of apology, the nature of a public crisis, and on performativity. The main findings reveal that the most heavily used strategies of apology are those involving acknowledging an offense, presenting plans to solve or prevent recurrence, and asking for forgiveness. An important factor is discovered to be the visual and behavioral performance of sincerity through aesthetics of intimacy and authenticity. And lastly, findings also indicate that creators discuss emotional labour in relation to facing criticisms or hardship, in worry around maintaining an income, and in order to continuously project a marketable persona.

The purpose of this thesis is to study crisis communication through the organization The Ellen Show and with the crisis they underwent used as a case study. Communication is studied through the company that distributes the program, the producers and the host. To carry out the study, three different questions are used. These questions revolve around response strategies, legitimacy and rhetorical means used by the actors. The main theory used in the study is image repair theory by William Benoit. To support and deepen our analysis based on image repair theory, the concepts of legitimacy by Max Weber as well as rhetorical means were applied. The method used in this study is a qualitative research method and to analyze the collected material a directed content analysis was applied. The material was collected digitally and consists of statements taken from digital magazines. In addition, two videos were collected. The result showed that each actor tries to protect legitimacy in different ways, mainly by focusing on DeGenere´s legitimacy and by proxy also the organization´s. The actors also use different response strategies which varied between the actros. Over-represented in the rhetorical means were the use of different dramatic, emotional and moral-based arguments when trying to influence recipients. The study can be seen as helpful for both organizations that are going through a crisis and those that for preventive purposes plan to acquire knowledge about the subject.

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This thesis aims to investigate Swedish PR practitioners’ assessments of and proposed response strategies to the cancellation case of Swedish social media influencer Margaux Dietz. Multiple organisations cancelled their collaborations with Dietz in November 2022 following a criticized video scandal. Furthermore, the thesis aims to examine Swedish PR practitioners’ reasoning of risk in their work with influencer marketing, considering a present “cancel culture”. Two research questions are posed: RQ1: How do Swedish PR practitioners reflect on the cancellation of Swedish social media influencer Margaux Dietz in November 2022, and how would they have handled the situation? RQ2: In what ways do Swedish PR practitioners reflect on the risks of working with influencer marketing in relation to cancel culture? With a sample of nine participants, semi structured interviews were conducted with PR practitioners active in Stockholm, Sweden. The interviews were first analysed through a qualitative content analysis, and thereafter a theoretical framework, consisting of the notion cancel culture as defined by Clark (2020) and Ng (2020), as well as Benoit’s (2015) Image Repair Theory, was applied. Findings suggested that there were five themes present in the interviewees’ responses, (1) Risks of Influencer Marketing, (2) Cancel Culture as Positive, (3) Cancel Culture as Negative, (4) Managing Being Cancelled and (5) Uncertainty. The main conclusions indicated that there was a general uncertainty in practitioners concerning their opinions of the Dietz case. Interviewees both expressed an understanding for and questioned the organisations’ actions in the case, however most would consider cancelling collaborations during similar circumstances themselves due to a need to protect their brands. There was a common reasoning that cancel culture could be limiting and even harmful, and interviewees perceived risks in their work with influencer marketing relating to a loss of control, the human factor and cancel culture.

Abstract In January 2020 the TV-program, Uppdrag granskning, was aired on channel SVT in Sweden and it was about the company Arla and their animal husbandry. Today's consumers place higher demands on food and which products they choose to buy, which shows that more and more people are making more conscious choices. The purpose of this study is to see how Arla handles their communication during a crisis on social media in the aftermath of the TV-program airing. Within the theoretical framework, situational crisis communication, image repair theory and crisis communication will be presented for this study. There are different types of qualitative content analysis and this study intends to start from a targeted qualitative content analysis. The critical rhetorical analysis will be based on ethos, logos and pathos in this study, which will be a complement to the other selected method.  The result from Arlas's crisis communication is supported by the predefined questions that were based on critical rhetorical analysis and Image repair theory. Furthermore, it is possible to interpret the results using a thematic division based on the appendices with an approach from the study's question. The conclusion is that Arla has used several different strategies in its crisis communication. It can be discerned both in their response comments on Facebook, but also in their press release and Facebook posts. However, the recurrence of certain responses implies a reliance on specific phrases to deflect responsibility.

This bachelor's thesis examines the phenomenon of consumer boycotts and its correlation between strategies in crisis communication and news framing in written media. When the Swedish chocolate brand Marabou was targeted by news media in late May of 2023 as consumers started to boycott the brand, its parent company Mondelez International faced a challenge trying to repair its brand. Utilizing a mixed-methods approach, data were collected through three major written news sources, as well as the affected product’s owner company’s press releases, with two relevant debate articles. The findings suggest a possible correlation between how organizations manage crisis communication with how media outlets frame stories. However, the extent of this impact may vary across different boycotts, as this thesis only analyzes a single event. Furthermore, while this study analyzes a correlation between crisis communication and news framing from written media channels, new technology, such as social media, facilitates new forms of participation, which have not been analyzed in this case. This research contributes to a deeper understanding of the evolving relationship between crisis communication and news framing from media channels.

The study examines the crisis communication of football personality Luis Rubiales in relation to the media-covered scandal that occurred during the 2023 Women's World Cup when the Spanish women's national team emerged victorious. During the medal ceremony, Luis Rubiales, the then-president of the Spanish Football Federation, took hold of player Jennifer Hermoso's head and kissed her on the mouth. Later, Hermoso revealed that the kiss was non-consensual, leading to a media frenzy surrounding Rubiales' actions. The purpose of the study is to examine how a person with significant power in the football world utilizes crisis communication to rebuild their reputation. The study employs a qualitative content analysis and draws on the Image Repair Theory and aspects of Foucault's theory of power. The analysis focuses on a transcription of Rubiales' speech during a 2023 press conference, translated from Spanish to Swedish and transcribed. The study's results show that Rubiales employs several defense strategies in his crisis communication and often leverages his position of power to insert himself into another existing discourse advantageous to him. The analysis reveals that the strategies of excuse, downplaying the offensiveness of the event, and denial are present in the text, in various ways and to varying degrees. Rubiales attempts to rebuild his reputation in various ways, as evidenced by interpretations of how different strategies can be applied to his speech. By applying Foucault's theories on discourses, the analysis also demonstrates that Rubiales shifts from the current discourse and inserts himself into other discourses to cast the event in a favorable light. This reshaping of the discourse occurs frequently in the speech, influencing the construction of truth in the event.

Problemformulering och syfte: Det övergripande syftet med denna studie är att undersöka Nent Groups förtroende ur ett postkris kommunikativt perspektiv i och med nylanseringen avParadise samt förutsättningarna för det nya formatet utifrån tidigare tittare av Paradise Hotel. Denna studie är intressant ur ett vetenskapligt och samhällsperspektiv då det inte gjorts många studier på denna kris och det är intressant att undersöka detta då Nent group gjort stora åtgärder efter krisen vilket är vetenskapligt intressant och viktigt ur ett post-kriskommunikativt perspektiv. Det är även intressant ur ett samhällsperspektiv då det blev en stor kritikstorm mot Nent group på sociala medier på grund av de sexuella ofredanden som uppstod. Vi har även tagit hjälp utav den potentiella publiken med fokusgrupper för att få deras attityder kring händelsen och för att analysera förutsättningarna för den nya programskissen. Allt detta har gjorts med grund i gestaltningsteorin, kriskommunikation, image repair theory och reputation theory. Metod och material: Vår empiri har vi fått genom att ha haft kvalitativa intervjuer i form avfokusgrupper. Vi har haft tre fokusgrupper och respondenternas svar har sedan analyserats utifrån teman och sedan kopplats till vårt teoretiska ramverk. Resultat: Vårt huvudresultat visar på att Nent group skött krisen bra enligt teorierna och utifrån respondenternas attityder så är förutsättningarna positiva för det nya programmet även om det finns tveksamheter inom fokusgrupperna om det faktiskt kommer bli någonförändring.

SYFTE Syftet med studien är att undersöka hur föreningen Stockholm Pride kommunicerade efter pridefestivalen 2011. Festivalen gjorde ekonomisk förlust och föreningen kunde inte betala alla sina räkningar. (Enligt årsbokslutet gick man back med 3,9 miljoner kronor.) Man kan tänka sig att en sådan situation hotar förtroendet för Stockholm Pride hos festivalens besökare, volontärer, sponsorer, artister, olika aktörer och intressenter. Frågan hur man försöker återvinna förtroendet blir intressant. Hur kommunicerar Stockholm Pride? Hur försöker Stockholm Pride återskapa förtroende? TEORI Att återskapa förtroende är centralt för en organisation i kris. Trovärdighet, ethos, är kopplat till retorik och kan kommuniceras. Teorier om förtroende, kriskommunikation, försvarstal, försvarsstrategier och retorik används. METOD Fyra meddelanden publicerade på Stockholm Prides hemsida analyseras med image repair theory, en typologi om försvarsstrategier som grundar sig på den antika retoriken. Typologin undersöker hur en organisation försöker återskapa förtroende i en kris. RESULTAT Stockholm Pride gör ett på flera sätt välgjort försvarstal och agerar i enlighet med forskares rekommendationer: man går själv ut med information om situationen, bemöter medial kritik och intygar att man ska göra allt man kan för att ställa situationen tillrätta. Kanske undviker man en kris tack vare sin kommunikation. Dock kommunicerar inte organisationen med enad front och tar inte på sig skulden. Man ber inte om ursäkt utan att i samma veva försvara sig. Man framställer sig som ansvarig men oskyldig och skickar därmed dubbla budskap. Stockholm Pride gör inte en så kallad pudel.

Forskning inom kriskommunikation tyder på att det är viktigt som företagare att hantera kriskommunikation väl, oavsett storlek på organisationen. Utsläppsskandalen VAG-koncernen orsakade hösten 2015 skakade bilvärlden. Miljoner fordon blev påverkade av skandalen utan förvarning. I dagsläget pågår fortfarande utsläppsskandalen.Syftet med studien var att beskriva och analysera hur VAG-koncernen kommunicerade under utsläppsskandalen, baserat på uttalanden som de själva gjort samt utifrån det bedöma hur koncernen hanterade krisen. Slutligen analyserades resultatet med diskussion där slutsatsenblev att VAG-koncernen överlag hanterat krisen på ett bra sätt genom att de bad om ursäkt för skandalen, tillsatte en ny ledningsgrupp, tog ansvar för situationen och försökte återställa allt så gott det gick. Det negativa var att de agerade långsamt. Rekommendationen från de teorier som använts i denna studie är att agera fort, inom 24-36 timmar efter krisens start. VAG-koncernens första uttalande kom sju dagar efter skandalens uppdagande.De teorier som vi oftast kunde koppla till VAG-koncernens uttalanden var Image Repair Theory (IRT) och Situational Crisis Communication Theory (SCCT). Dessa teorier kopplades till alla tio uttalanden. Fem av uttalandena kopplades till strategin tillrättaläggande inom teorin IRT, vilket var den strategi som hade högst frekvens bland koncernens uttalanden. / Crisis communication is a globally central concept. Research in the area indicates that it isimportant for businesses to handle crisis communication well, regardless the size of theorganization. The emission scandal caused by the VAG-group in the autumn 2015 rattled theautomotive business. Millions of vehicles were affected by the scandal without warning. Thescandal is still going on in present time.The purpose of the study was to describe and analyze how the VAG-group communicatedduring the crisis based on the statements made by the VAG-group. Additionally, also determinehow VAG handled the crisis. Finally the result was analyzed with a discussion where theconclusion is that the VAG-group generally handles the crisis well since they apologized forthe scandal, changed the board, took responsibility for the situation and tried to restoreeverything as much as possible. The only negative aspect was their slow acting. Therecommendation from the theories used in this study is to act fast, within 24-36 hours after thestart of the crisis. For the VAG-group the first statement came seven days after the reveal of thescandal.The theories that we could connect mostly to the statements made by the VAG-group were theImage Repair Theory (IRT) and the Situational Crisis Communication (SCCT). These theoriescould be related to all ten statements. In five of the statements the strategy Corrective actionfrom IRT was connected which was the strategy with the highest frequency within thestatements by the VAG-group.