The BP Deepwater Horizon crisis in 2010 was one the largest catastrophes in the history of the oil industry. BP was sued over the disaster, and lost several billion dollars. This study examines the crisis response strategies and/or image repair strategies, which can be found in BP's press releases following the Deepwater Horizon crisis. In particular, the study looks closer at what established crisis communication strategies could be discerned in the material, and how they are used discursively. The theories used were the Image Repair Theory (IRT) and the Situational Crisis Communication Theory (SCCT). The results show that BP utilized a number of different established crisis response strategies and/or image repair strategies in their crisis communication work in the press releases. These strategies were concern, corrective action, ingratiation, transcendence, differentiation, denial, shifting the blame/scapegoating, defeasibility, compassion and attacking the accuser. They were used discursively by the CEO by expressing sympathy, promising that a similar event will never happen again, by stating appreciation for and praising the leadership of the U.S. President and public sector. What is more, it is used by describing in detail how the solution process progresses, by stating what the causes of the crisis were, by describing other involved actors' lack of taking responsibility and by establishing a fraud hotline. The main conclusions of the study are that BP used several crisis strategies in their press release s, though rather inconsistently. Additionally, BP used the strategies in an ambiguous manner, and changed strategies over time. Lastly, one main conclusion is also that a company is prepared to utilize crisis communication strategies in their practical communications work, though not entirely in the way prescribed by the theories.

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This thesis explores the issue of noise in the simultaneous interpreting process, using the concept of noise as defined in information theory and the model of communication developed by Claude Shannon. The theoretical section of this thesis first offers a brief explanation of the basic concepts involved in information theory, followed by a description of Shannon's model. Selected models of interpreting are then introduced based on this model of communication. A list of potential types of noise is then presented based on the literature examined that may have an impact on the interpreter during simultaneous interpreting. The empirical section of this thesis consists of a questionnaire and an experiment. The questionnaire determines to what extent interpreters find the potential types of noise from the list created in the theoretical section disruptive in their work. The list of types of noise is also expanded based on respondents' answers. The questionnaire also determines what strategies respondents employ to overcome adverse factors. The new types of noise and strategies employed are described in this thesis using open-ended answers from the respondents. The experiment tests the impact of a burst-noise channel on simultaneous interpreting. A total of 13 respondents took part in the experiment,...

This research study investigates if and how international students in Stockholm, Sweden use Facebook as a tool to make friends and integrate themselves within their new society. To gather information and data for the first part in 2011 a qualitative- and a quantitative approach was used. An online survey was applied to gather numerical data and in-depth interviews were conducted for the qualitative insights. Ten years later, in 2021, follow-up interviews were done with the interviewee subjects of the qualitative data gathering. This to contextualize the findings from 2011, as well as put in perspective with scholarly insights about Facebook and international students presented between the years 2011 and 2021. During the first part of the study, in 2011, Facebook had been available outside the United States for five years and not a significant amount of research had been conducted on the subject. Findings indicated that international students in Stockholm used Facebook to a wider extent when having arrived in a new country. Additional findings showcased that Facebook usage increased in terms of using the site to retrieve information about events and activities. Findings from both 2011 and 2021 showcased that Facebook and other social media applications are mainly used as means to maintain existing relationships, not to search for new friends. Findings also indicated that messenger services have obtained user patterns that originally existed on traditional social networks, such as Facebook. More research must be done on the topic to state whether these findings hold any statistical truthfulness. Suggested topics for further research are included in the conclusions and discussion section of this paper.

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The case study ”Är det H&M eller luvtröjan?” intends to analyze the crisis communication that took place during H&Ms crisis in early 2018. The crisis situation stems from a controversial choice of letting a dark-skinned child wear the hoodie with the print “Coolest monkey in the jungle”. H&M was quickly criticized by the media for making racial remarks. To address the situation H&M published an official press release on their website and several public statements on their social media channels. With the main purpose of the case study being to analyze H&Ms official statements about the crisis situation, we intend to identify which strategies were applied to reduce eventual reputational damage to H&M. The case study focused on answering the different questions based on the crisis that occurred. The questions are “Which rhetorical appeals were used in the official statements published by H&M?”, “Which identifiable strategies from SCCT and IRT were used in the official statements published by H&M”, and “Which actions were implemented by H&M after the crisis situation, and what effect does that have on the brand?”. A rhetorical analysis was used to identify which rhetorical appeals including Ethos, Logos, and Pathos were used in the official statements by H&M, and furthermore, understand what the usage of certain appeals means to the crisis situation and its communicational part. The theories within crisis communication that were used are situational crisis communication theory and image restoration theory. These theories present strategies to use in cases of crisis. To answer the second question, the official statements were analyzed and categorized after which strategi they could identify as. The last question was not based on theories, and was answered by following research about H&Ms actions after the crisis. The results shows that H&M mostly used pathos to persuade the organization's stakeholders to show regret about the situation, and that pattern can be found in all the official statements that were analyzed. Furthermore, the theories that were most identified in the official statements were sympathy, regret, and apologetic, which overall shows regret from theorganization. To answer the last question about reputational damage. H&M has since the crisis followed by hiring a global head of diversity and inclusion, to prevent similar events from occurring.

Big organisations and companies in game development and distribution have in recent years become involved in public-relations crises. In the past you could see that dissatisfied consumers have an impact on the image for organisations. To find out how an organisation can stop or mitigate a bad image, an analysis was conducted of Activision Blizzard’s communication to the public during their Public-relations crises, with a connection to strategic communications theories. The method used in the study was a Content analysis with a deductive approach to critically analyse the messages that was communicated during the public-relations crises the organisation had. The results of the analysis gave information for both Successful communication and communication that could have been improved with the strategic communications theories. With this information there is another source for crisis managers to construct messages during a crisis to either stop or mitigate a bad image. The study also gives an example on how to analyse an organisations crisis communication critically.

Crisis management encompasses a range of strategies, including crisis communication, which plays a critical role in maintaining a company’s reputation and managing stakeholders’ perceptions during challenging situaions. This study investigates the crisis communication practices employed by Red Bull GmbH during a crisis situation. The aim is to assess whether the company adheres to established guidelines outlined in the literature for effective crisis communication. The research methodology involves the collection and analysis of documentary data from various public communication channels, including social media, websites, and published articles. Content analysis is conducted inconjunction with existing research, incorporation the Situational Crisis Communication Theory and Stakeholder Theory frameworks. The findings reveal the Red Bull GmbH predominantly aligns with the literature’s recommendations, notably by demonstrating empathy in incidents, disclaiming responsibility, and emphasizing their own expertise.