Uppsatsen undersöker VD-orden för de fyra svenska storbankerna Handelsbanken, Nordea, SEB och Swedbank under åren 2006-2009, d.v.s. åren före respektive under finanskrisen. En sådan förhållandevis ovanlig och omfattande händelse som finanskrisen utgjorde ger tillfälle att undersöka om och i så fall hur en genre påverkas under extraordinärt tryck för att besvara frågan hur en genre förhåller sig till en genomgripande kris. Inledningsvis undersöks vilka regelbundenheter som karaktäriserar bankernas VD-ord under normala omständigheter. Därefter jämförs detta med VD-orden under 2008-2009 för att se vilka eventuella förändringar som sker inom genren. Det framgår av denna studie att förväntan på VD att framställa sig och banken i enlighet med den s.k. Pollyannaeffekten, d.v.s. strävan att skapa en i alla lägen positiv bild av sig själv, är ett starkt villkor i genren. Detta är en så stark genrelag att VD för att inte bryta mot den byter argumentationsstrategi. För att till varje pris vidmakthålla sin positiva bild använder VD som sista utväg statuslärans sista steg och försöker föra över diskussionen till något annat. Under finanskrisen försökte de fyra storbankerna att utifrån sina respektive förutsättningar distansera sig från banksektorns förtroendekris. Fokus riktades istället mot kunder, konkurrenter och till och med andra länder. Trots det förmodat ökade inflytandet enligt intressentmodeller framgår det också att det är aktieägarna som VD ser som sin publik.

Political scandals are constantly abound in the media, rulers face the global tribunal of the mass media and are forced to defend their actions and above all, their position in society. This essay concerns itself with that defence – more specifi- cally with the defence of four Swedish politicians in high office during four different scandals. Gudrun Schymans’ eva- sion, Laila Freivalds’ dealing with the tsunami disaster in Thailand, Annie Lööfs’ tangle concerning representation notes and public documents and Tobias Billströms’ statements concerning undocumented immigrants and asylum seekers. The essays purpose is to study how each and everyone of these politicians communicate and defend themselves, what rhetor- ical strategies are employed and how the two largest newspapers in Sweden, Dagens Nyheter and Svenska Dagbladet, frame and portray the scandals. This is in order to discern how current Swedish politicians work rhetorically in situations of crisis where one’s reputation is at stake, and how media mediate these scandals. This is examined with classical rheto- ric’s stasis theory and William L. Benoit’s theories concerning image restoration as the theoretical foundation. This is complemented with the theories of portrayal- and agenda setting to describe the newspapers’ depiction of the separate scandals. The method consists of a qualitative content analysis of news articles, video recordings and TV broadcasts of media appearances. Annie Lööf uses a number of different strategies in her apology, status coniecturalis is prominent initial- ly but however when new information disproves her statements, she moves to status qualitatis, and the state of purgatio, the state she primarily applies together with the defeasibility strategy. Tobias Billström limits himself to only one state and exclusively uses the weakest of status qualitatis states: deprecatio. Laila Freivalds applies primarily the defeasibility strategy but also uses the purgatio and deprecatio. Gudrun Schyman also uses the qualitative state purgatio but also the defeasibility strategy and the theory of image restorations mortification. The newspapers depict all of the scandals differently depending on political affiliation but not depending on gender. The conclusion consists of that an open strategy that changes in pace with the flow of new information should be employed, and that statements that later may turn out to be false should not be used in the defence. The defence should be reactive rather than static. Further it is apparent that political affiliation affects the portrayal and framing of the scandals in the case of both newspapers.

<p>In this essay I want to investigate how the <em>poodle strategy</em> affects a person’s credibility when he or she uses it. The <em>poodle strategy</em> is a strategy, which someone uses when he or she is scrutinized by the media. It’s primary purpose is to suppress further media coverage but it is also a strategy for defending oneself and hence rescuing one’s reputation either as a private person or as an official.</p><p>The essay’s research questions are:</p><ul><li>How has the strategy been applied for defensive purposes and what are the results?</li><li>To which extent can the Stasis theory and Benoit’s theory on Apologia be connected to the strategy?</li><li>Does the strategy affect the user’s credibility?</li></ul><p>To answer these questions four cases from the political sphere in Sweden where persons have been said to have “done a poodle” have been analyzed. In order to analyze the strategy and to judge how successful it has been these cases have been connected to the Stasis theory, Benoit’s theory on apologia and theories about credibility and trust.</p><p>Additionally this essay investigates how applicable the Stasis theory is as a model for analyses and how relevant analyses based on stasis theory are today. Furthermore it investigates wheteher a fusion of the Stasis theory and Benoit´s theory on Apologia can be profitable.</p><p>An important conclusion is that the <em>poodle strategy</em> is a strategy, which is more complicated than one might first think. Whether the strategy works depends on a series of factors; for example the person’s initial credibility (or ethos) and the morality of the actions. These factors need to be assessed before the strategy is put into use.</p>

In this essay I want to investigate how the poodle strategy affects a person’s credibility when he or she uses it. The poodle strategy is a strategy, which someone uses when he or she is scrutinized by the media. It’s primary purpose is to suppress further media coverage but it is also a strategy for defending oneself and hence rescuing one’s reputation either as a private person or as an official. The essay’s research questions are: How has the strategy been applied for defensive purposes and what are the results? To which extent can the Stasis theory and Benoit’s theory on Apologia be connected to the strategy? Does the strategy affect the user’s credibility? To answer these questions four cases from the political sphere in Sweden where persons have been said to have “done a poodle” have been analyzed. In order to analyze the strategy and to judge how successful it has been these cases have been connected to the Stasis theory, Benoit’s theory on apologia and theories about credibility and trust. Additionally this essay investigates how applicable the Stasis theory is as a model for analyses and how relevant analyses based on stasis theory are today. Furthermore it investigates wheteher a fusion of the Stasis theory and Benoit´s theory on Apologia can be profitable. An important conclusion is that the poodle strategy is a strategy, which is more complicated than one might first think. Whether the strategy works depends on a series of factors; for example the person’s initial credibility (or ethos) and the morality of the actions. These factors need to be assessed before the strategy is put into use.

On the 12:th of April 2011, the Swedish tabloid magazine Expressen publishes a story, claiming that Ola Lindholm, presenter of critically acclaimed TV-show “Wild Kids” has been suspected and apprehended on cocaine allegations. The serious allegation called for Ola Lindholm to defend himself against the allegations. His only public response was a blog-post where he claimed his innocence, albeit with some reservations.   The purpose of this paper is to analyze Lindholm’s rhetorical defense. By applying Benoit’s theory of image restoration, the stasis theory and the rhetorical situation my goal is to find what strategies Lindholm’s defense consists of.   The analyses showed that Lindholm used four different kinds of image restoration strategies. The most salient strategies consisted of bolstering and attacking the accuser. By applying a proposition analysis it was possible to find textual themes used to either undermine the tabloid Expressen's credibility or to mitigate his own actions.   The results also point out that ethos and image restoration strategies are closely intertwined.