Rhetorical Arena Theory

Frandsen, Finn; Johansen, Winni

doi:10.1002/9781119678953.ch12

Cited by 1 publication

(1 citation statement)

References 17 publications

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“…With its multivocal approach, RAT has a focus not only on the organization hit by a crisis but also on the multiple voices that start communicating to, with, against, about and past one another during a crisis (Frandsen and Johansen, 2017, 2020a, b). Within the larger rhetorical arena of a crisis, you find rhetorical sub-arenas (Coombs and Holladay, 2014; Johansen et al , 2016; Frandsen and Johansen, 2020a, 2022) where only restricted amounts of voices communicate around a crisis. Social media and online news may form examples of such rhetorical sub-arenas (Rodin et al , 2019).…”

Section: Theoretical Frameworkmentioning

confidence: 99%

Understanding the arena of smoldering crises: a longitudinal study of discursive struggles after implementing a new IT health care platform

Maier

Frandsen

Johansen

2022

JCOM

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PurposeThe aim of this paper is to study the development of a smoldering crisis over time. The focus is on a nationwide news media and online news communication related to a smoldering crisis running in the Danish healthcare system since 2016: the problematic implementation of a large-scale electronic health record (EHR), technology entitled Sundhedsplatformen (SP), in the hospitals of the capital region of Denmark.Design/methodology/approachBased on insights from crisis communication theories and in particular rhetorical arena theory (RAT), traces of SP smoldering crisis and patterns of discursive strategies are identified and explained from a longitudinal perspective to explain the communicative complexity that characterizes this smoldering crisis. To build an understanding of how this smoldering crisis is perceived, followed and kept alive, an analysis of (de)legitimation discursive strategies employed strategically by various actors and voices in news articles is conducted in relation to four communicative themes: issue identification, warnings, blame attribution and potential solutions.FindingsIt has been found that a legitimacy deficit emerges communicatively through specific (de)legitimation strategies during this smoldering crisis. New insights into RAT (Frandsen and Johansen, 2017) are also provided.Practical implicationsThis study is not only of theoretical relevance, but it is also of practical relevance for public relation professionals who aim to identify characteristics of starting smoldering crises as well as to find strategic responses to the ongoing challenges and the developing over time of smoldering crises.Originality/valueNew insights into RAT (Frandsen and Johansen, 2017) are provided.

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