Krisen i Svenska Akademien : En katt och råtta-lek med media

Sammanfattning: The research aims to examine Svenska Akademien’s external crisis communication 2017–2018, in the crisis induced by an exposition of sexual assaults and harassments by the so called "Kulturprofilen" during #metoo. Since the case is a historical event in Sweden and organizational crises of confidence, the study intends to contribute to the research field by adding knowledge about an uncharted area and case. The study examines the press releases issued from the organization, as well as the specific members' statements in the news media channel Dagens Nyheter. The question formulations include which approaches of crisis management Svenska Akademien practiced, how their communication was structured linguistically and rhetorically and which hierarchies and power structures became visible. The methodological approach to the case study is based on both a qualitative text analysis and a critical discourse analysis, with an image analysis as a complement to deepen the analysis. The theoretical approach applied includes a rhetorical framework, the Image Repair Theory and Media Logic. The result showed that the organizational communication could not affect the restoration of Svenska Akademien’s reputation because of the organization’s individual members’ medial communication, which appeared fragmentized in a big conflict. Two central characters in the conflict, Sara Danius and Horace Engdahl, created very different kinds of derived ethos by their different communication strategies, which also was affected by media logic. Because of the conflict, the crisis escalated and changed focus from the original problem to the current crisis management.