President Bush's major post-Katrina speeches: Enhancing image repair discourse theory applied to the public sector

When Hurricane Katrina swept the Gulf Coast, President Bush's newly formed Department of Homeland Security received its first test and failed. In Katrina's aftermath, Bush not only had to manage one of the nation's worst natural disasters, but also had to quell political backlash about the federal government's response to Katrina. This study examines: (a) how Bush presented the federal response to Katrina in his speeches; (b) how Bush responded to the public's criticism in his speeches; and (c) how effective Bush's speeches were in repairing his tarnished image.     

Getting out of the doghouse: The image repair strategies of Michael Vick

Michael Vick's federal dog-fighting conviction in 2007 made him notorious. Vick spoke publicly about his role in the dog-fighting operation only once before beginning a prison term. Three years after entering prison, he returned to National Football League action. By 2011, some in the media proposed that Vick had successfully rehabilitated his image and redeemed himself in the eyes of the public. This study examines the image repair strategies Vick employed at his August 27, 2007, press conference. It concludes that Vick chose appropriate strategies but did not fully develop one critical strategy: corrective action. The paper also explores Vick's strategic use of the third person and appeals to a supernatural being.     

From aspiring presidential candidate to accidental racist? An analysis of Senator George Allen's image repair during his 2006 reelection campaign

This study analyzes how Senator Allen responded to the negative public relations incidents that occurred during his 2006 reelection campaign. Through a content analysis of Allen's media releases and interviews with Allen's communication staffers this study identifies Allen's image repair discourse strategies and tactics. This study also evaluates the effectiveness of these strategies and tactics through a content analysis of the newspaper coverage Finally, this study identifies three new image repair tactics.     

Managing a nation's image during crisis: A study of the Chinese government's image repair efforts in the “Made in China” controversy

The image of a nation is crucial in the conduct of international relations (Wang, J. (2006). Managing national reputation and international relations in the global era: Public diplomacy revisited. Public Relations Review, 32, 91–96). A favorable image plays a critical role in asserting one's influence (Benoit, W. L., & Brinson, S. L. (1994). AT&T: “Apologies are not enough”. Communication Quarterly, 42, 75–88; Wang, J. (2006). Managing national reputation and international relations in the global era: Public diplomacy revisited. Public Relations Review, 32, 91–96). Often, strategic communication tools like public relations and media diplomacy are used to enhance a nation's image (Giffard, A., & Rivenburgh, N. K. (2000). News agencies, national images, and global media events. Journalism Quarterly, 77, 8–21). In 2007, China's reputation as “the workshop of the world” (Gaulier, G., Lemoine, F., & Unal-Kesenci, D. (2005). China: A workshop of the Cd and a market for Europe. At: http://ideas.repec.org/a/cii/cepill/2005-245.html. Accessed on 14 May 2009) came under severe threat with a series of product recalls. This was arguably the first time that allegations of product deficiencies were targeted at a country. Using the image repair theory, this paper examined the strategies used and the image these strategies generated for China. Findings showed that the initial defensive strategies generated an image of a hurried and harried country. After it was willing to confront the crises through corrective action, a surer and more determined image emerged.     

Prior reputation and the transition from image repair to image makeover: The case of Hosni Mubarak

Through an analysis of Hosni Mubarak's speeches made over the course of the Arab Spring, this study examined Mubarak's response to criticism about his role in the crisis and the resultant attempt to repair his image. The study thereby draws attention to the image repair strategies of an individual with a negative prior reputation in a crisis. Data indicate that Mubarak's negative prior reputation resulted in his attempting not just an image repair as image repair discourse theory would suggest but rather a more complex image makeover. The cultural significance of his rhetorical choices and the implications for theory are discussed.     

The image repair strategies of Terrell Owens

Terrell Owens presents perhaps one of the most interesting challenges in sports public relations. Widely considered one of the National Football League's most talented athletes, he is also widely criticized as one of its most self-centered. When the Philadelphia Eagles refused to renegotiate his contract after one season, he became sullen with the press, belligerent with the coaching staff, and publicly critical of his team and quarterback. As a result, the Eagles deactivated Owens. Owens and his agent then attempted to repair the damage in a press conference, which is the subject of this study. On the whole, the press conference was a tremendous failure. Although Owens displayed a contrite demeanor, emphasizing mortification and bolstering strategies, he hurt his case by sidestepping the blame for the conflict. Rosenhaus sealed his client's fate by launching numerous indignant attacks against Owens’ accusers, and appearing aggressive and arrogant when employing bolstering and mortification strategies. Both men painted Owens as the victim, and neither discussed any corrective action Owens planned to take in order to prevent future conflicts. Ultimately, their rhetoric demonstrated a complete failure to understand the culture of team sport, which demands unity, commitment, and sacrifice, and failed to earn Owens’ reinstatement.     

The Floyd Landis doping scandal: Implications for image repair discourse

Floyd Landis’ efforts to repair his image in the wake of charges that he used illicit substances to win the 2006 Tour de France have been judged a failure. Analysis of his complex and contradictory rhetorical strategies reveals three important implications for the theory and practice of image repair. First, the use of absolutive stances can be severely confounded by the introduction of strategies designed to evade responsibility. This essay explains why attempts to evade responsibility contradict the combined strategies of denial and differentiation in such a way that weakens image repair efforts and confuses audiences. Second, the success of third party bolstering, cited elsewhere as an effective means of repairing one's image, is dependent upon the credibility of those third parties. Third, attacks on one's accuser have their limitations and may even worsen one's public image in some instances.     

President Bush's image repair discourse on Hurricane Katrina

Hurricane Katrina struck New Orleans and the surrounding area on August 29, 2005. This storm was devastating, causing death, injury, dislocation, and massive property damage. President Bush came under fire for the apparently slow and inept federal response. On September 15 President Bush gave a speech to repair his image. He employed three principal strategies: bolstering, defeasibility, and corrective action. An evaluation of how these strategies were used in his persuasive message judged his image repair effort to be largely ineffective. Bolstering did not counteract the slow response (e.g., Bush waited days to visit the area). Defeasibility is risky for a president to use because it explicitly portrays him as unable to solve the problem. Corrective action was too little (often proposals rather than direct action—and proposals with important unanswered questions) too late. Evidence of the public reaction is consistent with this unfavorable evaluation.     

Seeking sincerity,finding forgiveness: YouTube apologies as image repair

Social media have become important communication tools for organizations and public figures, particularly in times of crisis. Public figures are frequently advised to use social media platforms to apologize to publics, and their apologies are often posted by news outlets or individual social media users. However, evidence suggests social media may function on an interpersonal level, yet traditional image repair strategies are based on a mass media model. Using image repair strategies based in theoretical frameworks from mass mediated and interpersonal communication, this research examined the verbal behaviors and emotions displayed by public figures apologizing on YouTube and the relationships these had to audience perceptions of sincerity and forgiveness as expressed via YouTube comments. Two studies analyzed 335 segments of video from 32 public apologies on YouTube spanning from 2009 to 2014, and 1971 posted responses. The interpersonal strategies and expression of emotions were largely unrelated to the perceptions of sincerity and forgiveness; and the image repair strategies were limited in their relatedness. However, the content of the comments, a majority of which focused on the reputation of the public figure, was associated with perceptions of sincerity. Reducing offensiveness was associated with perceptions of insincerity, as was the combination of reducing offensiveness, denial and evasion. Negative comments regarding the offender’s reputation were also associated with perceptions of insincerity. Audiences were non-forgiving if the apology was perceived as insincere, but forgiving if they perceived the apology as sincere. Implications of these results in relation to the practice and scholarship of public relations are discussed.     

Image repair in late night comedy: Letterman and the Palin joke controversy

David Letterman, host of The Late Show, told a joke about Sarah Palin's daughter during one of his nightly monologues. During the ensuing controversy, Letterman offered two extended statements about the joke. Approaching Letterman's responses from the perspective of Benoit's image repair typology reveals three primary strategies: denial, mortification, and corrective action. While Letterman's first attempt to resolve the controversy failed, his second attempt was largely successful. Implications for public relations image repair strategies are offered.     

Finding the path beyond reputation repair: A structural topic modeling analysis of the crisis communication paradigm in public relations

This research utilizes computational methods to examine crisis communication scholarship from 2010 to 2020 in two studies with a census of all articles in Public Relations Review and the Journal of Public Relations Research (n = 1293 articles, 7400,685 words). Results indicate crisis scholarship has expanded beyond its prior focus on reputation repair. Situational crisis communication theory and image repair are compared in volume of scholarship and methodological affinity. Social media, SCCT, and media relations are identified as central topics within crisis communication scholarship.     

Enduring image: Capturing defining moments in crises

In today's media environment, crises are magnified as media events and are rich sites for the inception of images. Particular images, like a photograph or a sound bite are found to endure as representations of defining moments of crises. This study seeks to examine the concept of an enduring image, how it is engendered and how it impacts crisis communication efforts. The study utilizes five case studies of crisis with an inherent enduring image. An enduring image constitutes a prime representation of the accused in a given crisis. These images are loaded with symbolic potential and exhibit a sense of permanence in public consciousness. Understanding the implications of an enduring image can offer insights to organizations on how to better manage one's public and media image during or after a crisis. The study is arguably the first in examining the significance and potency of enduring images in crises.     

Beyond image repair: Suggestions for crisis communication theory development

This commentary explores whether and how crisis communication theory needs to be adapted to account for the rise of social media. Through a review of existing theory, we offer recommendations for future research in the evolving media landscape.     

Combating negative blog posts and a negative incident: A case study of the “Mayday” incident between Juneyao Airlines and Qatar Airways

This case analysis examined the image repair strategies used by Juneyao Airlines after an anonymous blog posted information on a Juneyao flight's refusal to yield to a flight that issued an emergency call. This case revealed that addressing the credibility of the blog post and relying a third-party – Civil Aviation Administration of China – to combat the inaccuracies in the blog post was successful and that Juneyao's final announcement to take responsibility for the incident and to apologize was effective as well.     

Are crisis communicators practicing what we preach?: An evaluation of crisis response strategy analyzed in public relations research from 1991 to 2009

Quantitative content analysis is used to evaluate crisis response strategy analyzed in more than 18 years of research published in crisis communication literature in public relations to reveal its effectiveness, nature, and contextual application. Analysis of 51 articles published in 11 different journals using two dominant theories in public relations crisis communication literature, Benoit's Image Restoration Theory and Coombs’ Situational Crisis Communication Theory, indicates a lack of diversity in cases analyzed by scholars, gaps between theory and practice, and pressing directions for future research in crisis communication.     

US government efforts to repair its image after the 2008 financial crisis

Globalization has intensified the interaction and interdependency among countries. The need to maintain good reputation and establish good relationships should dominate public diplomacy efforts (Hiebert, 2005). Using the US financial crisis 2008 as a case study, this study examines how the world's only superpower repaired its image when it was accused of triggering the financial meltdown that impacted the world economy. Few studies have examined repair strategies by nations. The need to undertake more empirical research to understand how the image-rebuilding rhetoric can aid diplomatic efforts remains relevant today.     

Reinforcing and challenging whiteness through crisis communication: Proposing a discourse of community repair

This study explored how Syracuse University (SU) and #NotAgainSU, a student activist group, conceptualized and communicated about a crisis of racism on campus. We found that SU took a functionalist approach and positioned the student activists as the crisis, while #NotAgainSU focused more broadly on systemic racism as the crisis and called for specific institutional action in response to the larger crisis. Our analysis also revealed that SU forwarded whiteness ideology through their communication, while #NotAgainSU engaged in practices such as counter-storytelling to resist communication that (re)produced whiteness. We conclude by offering a discourse of community repair as a community centered approach to responding to crises of racism and other social issues.     

Sports fans as crisis communicators on social media websites

Previous research has analyzed how organizations publicly respond in crisis situations. This study addresses a sports crisis, the University of Miami NCAA investigation, as an avenue for exploring how fans become surrogates for organizational crisis responses via the social media entity, Twitter. Using Coombs's (2007) strategy for reputation repair, analysis of 75 highly identified Miami fans with over 42,000 Twitter followers shows that fans were most likely to engage in (a) ingratiation, (b) reminder, (c) attack the accuser, and (d) divert attention as primary methods of coping with the scandal. New methods for reputation repair were also found within the analysis and implications for organizations, academic institutions, sports research, and crisis communication theory are articulated.     

President Barack Obama's image repair on HealthCare.gov

Obama's health care initiative HealthCare.gov went live on October 1, 2013. It was plagued with problems. Furthermore, the President promised that if people liked their current health care plan, they could keep it. People were shocked when they started to receive cancelation notices from their insurance companies. Republicans seized on the opportunity to savage the president, his administration, and his health care program. Obama's approval rating was anemic and on November 7, he was interviewed by Chuck Todd and on November 14, 2013, Obama held a press conference to try to mend his image. His defense relied heavily on mortification, corrective action, and minimization but also contained instances of defeasibility, bolstering, and transcendence. This essay uses Image Repair theory to analyze and evaluate the President's image repair effort.