Ellen: Ett fall från piedestalen : En kvalitativ fallstudie om kriskommunikation

The purpose of this thesis is to study crisis communication through the organization The Ellen Show and with the crisis they underwent used as a case study. Communication is studied through the company that distributes the program, the producers and the host. To carry out the study, three different questions are used. These questions revolve around response strategies, legitimacy and rhetorical means used by the actors. The main theory used in the study is image repair theory by William Benoit. To support and deepen our analysis based on image repair theory, the concepts of legitimacy by Max Weber as well as rhetorical means were applied. The method used in this study is a qualitative research method and to analyze the collected material a directed content analysis was applied. The material was collected digitally and consists of statements taken from digital magazines. In addition, two videos were collected. The result showed that each actor tries to protect legitimacy in different ways, mainly by focusing on DeGenere´s legitimacy and by proxy also the organization´s. The actors also use different response strategies which varied between the actros. Over-represented in the rhetorical means were the use of different dramatic, emotional and moral-based arguments when trying to influence recipients. The study can be seen as helpful for both organizations that are going through a crisis and those that for preventive purposes plan to acquire knowledge about the subject