Crisis communication - but from whom to whom? Apologia, politics, and editorial framing

Abstract

In March 2007, the Director General and the Chairman of the Board of the Swedish Social Insurance (Försäkringskassan) published an article on the debate pages of the largest Swedish newspaper, Dagens Nyheter. In the paratext, the authors admit that the Social Insurance has not been able to offer the citizens an effective service. This raises expectations in the reader of som kind of apology and explanation, but in the article proper, the expectations of an apologia are not met. An analysis of the article using the theories developed within rhetorical crisis communication reveals contraditory goals of the paratext and the main text. The editorial framing by Dagens Nyheter works towards presenting the article as an apologia towards the Swedish general public, while the article itself is, in fact, an act of political communication with politicians as the intended public.