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Hosting the Tokyo 2020 Olympics during the COVID-19 pandemic presented a major crisis for the Olympic movement, both in Canada and around the world. The Pandemic led to an unprecedented postponement of the games and to widespread concern that the Tokyo Olympics could become a mega-spreader event. The purpose of the present study is to provide an empirical accounting of the Canadian experience prior to and during the Tokyo Games, specifically through a thematic analysis of content related to COVID-19 and the Olympic Games, as produced by major Canadian media sources and key Canadian sport organizations. Utilizing a communication centered view of crisis informed by Situational Crisis Communication Theory (SCCT) and narrative management, the present study examined the crisis response of major Canadian sport organizations, most specifically the Canadian Olympic Committee (COC) (Coombs, 2007; DiSanza et al., 2018; Gigliotti, 2020). A unique methodological approach was used in the present study, beginning with both database and grey literature search strategies to collect data from Canadian media sources and sport organizations. Sources included the CBC, the National Post, and the Globe and Mail as media sources, and the Canadian Olympic Committee, Own the Podium, and Sport Canada as major sport organizations. Researchers then followed a data analysis process utilizing a framework of thematic analysis from Braun and Clarke (2006), collaborative analysis following Richards and Hemphill (2018), and the use of software and visual narrative analysis based on the work of Hoeber et al. (2017). This methodology allowed the researchers to analyze a large sample of 930 documents published between March 11th, 2020 and August 22nd 2021. The results of the present study revealed a complex and changing narrative in response to the COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent postponement of the Tokyo Olympics. The decision by the COCC to withdraw from the Olympics in March 2020 was portrayed as a principled stand that influenced the IOC into postponing the Games to a year later. The COC continued to focus on promoting athletes in their public messaging and presented a strong, coherent narrative that appeared consistent with the values of key stakeholders and minimized the reputational threat posed to the organization. The IOC however received substantial negative media coverage, especially in the lead up to the Games in 2021. During the initial period of the Games themselves, media coverage focused on new COVID-19 cases and the effect of strict safety protocols. However, by August 2021 there appeared to have been a significant shift in the narrative, with the focus becoming stories and performances of Olympic athletes. The results of the present study emphasize the importance of effective narrative management in crisis communications, and the consistently of this approach with SCCT (Coombs, 2007; DiSanza et al., 2018). Furthermore, the effectiveness of the COC’s crisis response also reinforces a communication centered view of crisis, where the perceptions of stakeholders are viewed as a key element of defining organizational crisis management (Gigliotti, 2020). To minimize the reputational threat to their organizations, crisis managers should ensure that stakeholder perceptions remain central to their crisis communication decision making, and managers should also consider the importance of crafting a strong and coherent narrative.

Problemformulering och syfte: Fenomenet cancel culture är något som har växt fram under de senaste åren, och utspelar sig främst på sociala medier. Detta betyder att individer eller grupper av människor tar ett kollektivt beslut att bojkotta den person, företag eller organisation som anses ha gjort något stötande eller oacceptabelt. Cancel culture har blivit enallt mer normal form av social bestraffning. Syftet med studien är att utforska hur Margaux hanterade sin kriskommunikation genom video-skandalen och hur hon bemöter CancelCulture klimatet. Genom att undersöka olika kommunikationsstrategier, respons på kritik, användning av sociala medier och långsiktiga effekter på varumärke och karriär, syftar studien till att ge insikter i hur Cancel Culture påverkar samhället och influencern Margauxliv. Metod och Material: Undersökningen är en kvalitativ innehållsanalys med ett kodschemasom består av fem stycken inlägg från Margaux Dietz Instagram. Där har kommentarerna kodats. Det har även gjorts en transkribering av den dokumentär som släpptes i samband med den kris som uppstod. Huvudresultat: I denna kvalitativa forskning framgår det att kommentarerna på Margauxs Instagram-inlägg visar hur användarnas beteende och reaktioner förändrades under och efter skandalen. Samt hur Margaux använde sig av olika strategier för att hantera sin image.

Text in English / Two consecutive referrals of early onset (symptom onset at 11 years) anorexia nervosa (restricting sub-type) to an inpatient eating disorders unit in a psychiatric hospital, will be described. Within both cases, there was a history of sequential mother-daughter dieting prior to the daughter's onset of anorexic symptoms. This pattern will be viewed from the perspective of systemic theory, with reference to the cybernetic processes implicated in the onset and maintenance of symptoms. Structural systemic interpretations, in terms of exchangeable senses of self within the mother-daughter pairs, will also be considered. A brief comment will be made about the symmetry which underlies the choreography of anorexia nervosa when viewed from the perspective of communication theory. The implications for intervention will be addressed. In conclusion, the nature of the intergenerational transmission of disordered eating behaviours, will be considered with reference to the nature-nurture debate. / Clinical Psychology / M.A. (Clinical Psychology)

Text in Afrikaans / Een van die grootste probleme waarmee die prediker in 'n industriele konteks te doen het, is om die evangelie op 'n sinvolle wyse aan die hoarders oor te dra. Die radikale verandering in die samelewing deur die moderniseringsproses, het die homiletiek gedwing om teoreties her te besin. Hierdie moderne homiletiese teorie soos deur H.J.C. Pieterse, T.G. Long en G.D.J. Dingemans verteenwoordig het die volgende belangrike teoretiese aanpassings gemaak: Eerstens, in plaas van die tradisionele beweging van die teks na die hoarders, is die homiletiese proses omgekeer. Die beweging is nou vanaf die hoarder na die teks deur middel van die prediker en weer terug van die teks na die hoorder. Tweedens, hierdie benadering het noodwendig hermeneutiese implikasies gehad. Daarom het die homiletiek die bree aanpak van die moderne kritiese hermeneutiek in diens geneem. Derdens moes 'n nuwe kommunikasieteorie ondersoek word naamlik, die dialogiese kommunikasieteorie van H.J.C. Pieterse en C.J.A. Vos. / One of the greatest problems, with which a preacher in an industrial context have to deal with, is to convey the gospel in a sensible manner to the listeners. The radical change in society caused by the modernisation process, forced homiletics to review its theoretical base. Modern homiletics as represented by H.J.C. Pieterse, T.G. Long and G.D.J. Dingemans, has made the following theoretic adjustments: Firstly, in stead of the traditional movement of the text to the listeners, the homiletical process is revearsed. The movement is from the listener to the text by means of the preacher and back from the text to the listener. Secondly, this approach inevitably has hermeneutic implications. Therefore homiletics has employed the broad approach of modern critical hermeneutics. Thirdly, a new communication theory has to be developed namely, the dialogical communication theory of H.J.C. Pieterse and C.J.A. Vos. The most important theoretical foundation for preaching in an industrial context is the approach of taking the listeners as starting point without neglecting the text. In practice, it brings about that the following topics ask for particular attention: For the understanding and formulating of the message of the Scriptures, the modern critical hermeneutics and the use of metaphors is of the greatest importance. The new understanding of rhetorics which is about conveying the message, must be taken into consideration. The formulating of the message in the language of the listeners has a theoretical influence on the formulating and use of the theological concepts during preaching. The dialogical communication theory is also of great importance, and has dialogue before, during and after the preaching in mind. For it to be fulfilled, preaching work groups is an important component to improve dialogical communication in the congregation. / Practical Theology / D.Th. (Practical theology)

This research discusses communication and meaning in the context of orality, using a variety of theoretical perspectives, including memory theory, media and communication theory, and semiotics. Drawing on the work of Walter Ong, it provides new insight about the characteristics and limits of oralnarration by assessing the memes, tropes, and phraseological units in the oral narrations of Armenian Genocide survivors. This research identifies a list of replicable forms of stories and oral devices that are used by the group in question; it then proposes that oral narration of non-fictional topics designed to convey historical or episodic information to others is intuitive, reactive, directed, fuzzy, and sticky. Concerns about the legitimacy and historical value of the narrations under review do not play a role in this research; instead, the focal point is the meaning embedded in the form and structure of the narrations under study.

The Volkswagen emissions scandal is one of the largest CSR crises in recent times given its scope and severity. From the outset, the manner in which Volkswagen has addressed the crisis and how it is going to be solved has been subject to public scrutiny. This study set out to examine the crisis communication in Volkswagen’s sustainability magazine Shift from 2016 featuring Volkswagen together with some of its internal and external stakeholders like the management and customers to find out what strategies were used by the company to repair its reputation and to assess the success of these strategies. Additionally, of interest was to compare the viewpoints of external stakeholders to that of Volkswagen, while also to investigate what kind of actors and opinions of the crisis that were presented. To answer these questions, a strategic selection of texts from the magazine were analysed through a qualitative text analysis. The theoretical perspectives consisted of the two crisis communication theories of image repair theory and situational crisis communication theory. The findings of the study indicate that the strategies used by Volkswagen to address the crisis do not seem very successful in general. Even if the most common strategy by Volkswagen is to discuss potential solutions to the crisis, these solutions are mainly oriented towards solving the crisis in a long-term perspective through a development of new vehicles. The biggest difference in comparison to external stakeholders is that they instead seem more concerned with solving the crisis in a shorter perspective through increased compensation to customers, for instance. Another finding is that a preference for more elitist stakeholders in the magazine could be due to a strategic choice by Volkswagen to avoid unfavourable reviews and use leaders as a tool for inspiring change. The main conclusion of the study is that work still needs to be done before Volkswagen can claim to have achieved a shift in the company’s sustainability communication. To do so, Volkswagen needs to take more responsibility for the crisis and to pay even more attention to the opinions of its different stakeholder groups.

Aim: The aim of this study is to understand what strategies are used over time by a company facing a transgressional CSR crisis, in order to regain legitimacy, and towards which stakeholder group these strategies are directed. Methods: In order to achieve our aim, Qualitative case study based on secondary data published by Volkswagen as well as news articles were used to identify what strategies the company used over time. Results: To be able to answer our aim, different theoretical lenses were used; SCCT response strategies, legitimization strategies, strategy formulation process and stakeholder theory. Therefore, four main different strategies were identified, minimize attribution, blind adaptation to strategy 2025, US differentiation and internal moral reasoning. The former two were addressed to all stakeholders while the latter two were concerned with specific stakeholder groups. Conclusions: Strategy formulation process during a transgressional CSR crisis is a complex procedure and literature on crisis management should move away from static frameworks towards a more dynamic understanding of how strategies can come to life. Coupled with the complexity of societal expectations in general, a company might have to adopt the paradoxical approach even for one stakeholder. Lastly, an addition to Situational Crisis Communication Theory is proposed.

Problem  Crisis management has never been as important as it is today. Considering that criticism is being spread in a fast pace through social media, the reputation of an organisation can quickly be damaged. Several organisations however lack internal knowledge about crisis management. The majority of the previous research about crisis management has been conducted from the organisations’ perspective. There is however relatively little research done from an external actor’s role in supporting an organisation in crisis. Purpose  This study aims to contribute in the crisis management and communication field by investigating how an external actor can support an organisation in crisis. Method  The study was conducted through a qualitative single case study of crisis management support provided to firms by one external actor, a PR-agency. Primary data for the case was collected from six semi-structured interviews. Conclusion  External actors are a suitable helping hand in crises because they possess experience and knowledge in media and crisis communication and can view the situation objectively. Crisis consultants support their clients by providing a response strategy that is built on being honest and open. Proactive and post work are not prioritised by clients but are highly important for crisis preparedness and building a strong reputation. Social media is a standard part of today’s crisis communication but is also a demanding channel that creates incentives for hiring external support.

Reputation is an important asset for organisations worldwide. Many researchers have attempted to develop a measurement construct to assess an organisation’s reputation, with the RepTrak System being recognised to be the world’s first tool that assess reputation across multiple stakeholders and areas of the organisation. Nevertheless, the characteristics, methods and stakeholders to include within an assessment of this intangible asset continues to be widely debated. Organisations are under intense scrutiny by their stakeholders, with reputation being an organisational asset on which many opinions are formed. Universities in the UK are no different, as they compete for students from around the world, with the institutions thought to have the best reputations, attracting more students. Nevertheless, no agreed measure for assessing a university’s reputation exists, with many organisations relying solely on league table rankings. Thus, this thesis evaluated existing reputation measurement characteristics, to determine their applicability in assessing the reputation of a UK university. The antecedents of reputation are also widely debated. Authors suggest that stakeholders’ prior knowledge and experience, and communication they receive from an organisation contributes to their perceptions of that organisation’s reputation. The Media Richness Theory suggests a hierarchy to this communication, with face-to-face communication recognised to be of increasing importance due to its ‘rich’ nature. Consequently, the use of events as a strategic communication tool for marketing and public relations purposes has become increasingly popular. Nevertheless, the impact of these events on an organisation’s reputation has yet to be assessed. Thus, the aim of x this thesis is to evaluate the impact that these events have on stakeholders’ perceptions of a UK university’s reputation. A case study methodology, using mixed methods, and underpinned by a pragmatic philosophical perspective was adopted. Five semi-structured interviews were held with senior managers during the first phase of data collection and analysis. Results from these interviews were used to determine the strategic purpose of events as a communication tool. In phase two of the research, the study’s main variables (Reputation, Event Influence, Knowledge and Familiarity, Future Intentions) are combined into a model to assess their relationships. These are tested using Structural Equation Modelling, and data collected from 23 university events and 592 event attendees, using a quantitative questonniare. This study contributes to our knowledge and understanding of the benefits of using events as a form of communication, and highlights the necessity of using a variety of communication channels to inform different stakeholder groups. Findings within this research contradict existing knowledge within the UK Higher Education Industry, by suggesting that university league tables were not the most frequently used method of assessing a university’s reputation, and that rather stakeholders base their perceptions on their personal experience with the institution. Consequently, attending events is found to have a positive influence on attendees’ perceptions of the university’s reputation, however a threshold level exists for stakeholders with high levels of familiarity with the university. Therefore, evidence of the impact of using events as a communication tool is found with a positive return on investment in terms of reputation gains. Thus, findings can be used to inform communication strategy within the higher education industry within the UK.