Attack as defense: discursive disputes in crisis contexts
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.11606/issn.1982-8160.v19i2p289-312Keywords:
Crisis communication, discursive attacks, deslegitimization, civil surveillance, disputes over meaningAbstract
The article addresses defensive strategies adopted in crisis scenarios and is based on attacking those who accuse an actor of transgressions. Treating crises as disputes over meaning that threaten reputations, the text develops three movements. In the first, it revisits international contributions on the subject, focusing on the notions of apologia and kategoria. In the second, it discusses Mayhew’s contributions to the study of influence, betting that the author’s ideas about solidarity can assist in investigating strategies of delegitimization of accusers. Finally, it conducts a study on the Heartland Institute’s attacks against its critics, critically reflecting on their characteristics and issues related to asymmetries.
Downloads
References
Benoit, W. (2015). Accounts, excuses, and apologies: Image repair theory and research. Suny Press.
Bueno, W. (2009). Comunicação empresarial: Políticas e estratégias. Saraiva.
Forni, J. (2015). Gestão de crises e comunicação: O que gestores e profissionais de comunicação precisam saber para enfrentar crises corporativas. Atlas.
Habermas, J. (2012). Teoria do agir comunicativo: Racionalidade da ação e racionalização social. WMF Martins Fontes.
Hearit, K. (1996). The use of counter-attack in apologetic public relations crises: The case of General Motors vs. Dateline NBC. Public Relations Review, 22(3), 233–248. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0363-8111(96)90047-8
Hearit, K. (2006). Crisis management by apology: Corporate response to allegations of wrong-doing. Lawrence Earlbaum.
Heartland Institute. (2014, junho). Reply to Critics. https://www.heartland.org/about-us/reply-to-critics/index.html
Henriques, M., & Silva, D. (2014). Vulnerabilidade dos públicos frente a práticas abusivas de comunicação empregadas por organizações. Revista Comunicação e Sociedade, 26, 162–190. https://doi.org/10.17231/comsoc.26(2014).2031
Henriques, M., & Silva, D. (2017a). Vigilância civil e internet: Possibilidades e limitações na disputa por visibilidade e na construção por credibilidade. Conexão: Comunicação e Cultura, 16(31), 21–41. https://sou.ucs.br/etc/revistas/index.php/conexao/article/view/4855
Henriques, M., & Silva, D. (2017b). Mudanças climáticas: Uma questão de relações públicas? Chasqui. Revista Latinoamericana de Comunicación, 136, 143–158. https://doi.org/10.16921/chasqui.v0i136.3288
Henriques, M., & Silva, D. (2018). Condiciones de posibilidad de las denuncias de prácticas abusivas de relaciones públicas: Un estudio de caso. Redmarka, Revista de Marketing Aplicado, 1(22), 89–114. https://doi.org/10.17979/redma.2018.01.022.4937
Hoggan, J. (2009). Climate cover-up: The crusade to deny global warming. Greystone Books.
Levy, C. (2022). A máquina oculta de propaganda do iFood. Agência Pública. https://apublica.org/2022/04/a-maquina-oculta-de-propaganda-do-ifood/
Lupia, A. (1994). Shortcuts versus encyclopedias: Information and voting behavior in California insurance reform elections. American Political Science Review, 88(1), 63–76.
Machado, J. (2020). Gestão estratégica da comunicação de crise. Facos-UFSM.
Mayhew, L. (1997). The new public: Professional communication and the means of social influence. Cambridge University Press.
Nunes, A., & Oliveira, R. (2023). Brazilian approaches to crisis and risk in the context of communication: A field in search of legitimation. Journal of Contingencies and Crisis Management, 31(4), 780–796. https://doi.org/10.1111/1468-5973.12480
Nongovernmental International Panel on Climate Change (NIPCC). (2018, 4 de dezembro). Replies to Critics. Climate Change Reconsidered. https://climatechangereconsidered.org/replies-to-critics/
Oreskes, N., & Conway, E. (2010). The merchants of doubt. Bloomsbury Press.
Rosa, M. (2003). A era do escândalo: Lições, relatos e bastidores de quem viveu as grandes crises de imagem. Geração Editorial.
Ryan, H. (1982). Kategoria and apologia: On their rhetorical criticism as a speech set. Quartely Journal of Speech, 68, 256–261.
Sellnow, T., & Seeger, M. (2013). Theorizing crisis communication. Wiley-Blackwell.
Silva, D. (2017). Relações públicas, ciência e opinião: Lógicas de influência na produção de incertezas (Tese de Doutorado, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais). Repositório UFMG. http://hdl.handle.net/1843/BUOS-B8YFTP
Silva, D. (2018). Fraturas na Excelência: O apagamento das ambiguidades das relações públicas. Organicom, 15(29), 112–122. https://doi.org/10.11606/issn.2238-2593.organicom.2018.150470
Ware, B., & Linkugel, W. (1973). They spoke in defense of themselves: On the generic criticism of apologia. Quartely Journal of Speech, 59, 273–283.
Downloads
Published
Issue
Section
License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
Authors who publish in this journal agree to the following terms:
- Authors retain the copyright and grant the journal the right to first publication, with the work simultaneously licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0) which allows sharing of the work with acknowledgment of authorship and initial publication in this journal for non-commercial purposes.
- Authors are authorized to assume additional contracts separately, for non-exclusive distribution of the version of the work published in this journal (eg, publishing in institutional repository or as a book chapter), with acknowledgment of authorship and initial publication in this journal.
