Apologia i offentligheten : En studie av Ola Lindholms retoriska försvar mot Expressens kokainanklagelser

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.