TY - JOUR
T1 - To invest in the invisible
T2 - A case study of Manti Te'o's image repair strategies during the Katie Couric interview
AU - Frederick, Evan L.
AU - Burch, Lauren M.
AU - Sanderson, Jimmy
AU - Hambrick, Marion E.
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2014 Elsevier Inc.
PY - 2014/12/1
Y1 - 2014/12/1
N2 - The purpose of this study was to examine Manti Te'o's image repair strategies during an interview with Katie Couric. This interview followed reports that Te'o had been involved in an elaborate hoax featuring a fake girlfriend. The interview was a worthy avenue of investigation as it was Te'o's first opportunity to publicly defend himself on camera following a week of ridicule and speculation by media outlets and the public. A deductive thematic analysis was conducted on Te'o's responses utilizing Benoit's image repair typology and other recently identified image repair strategies as a guide. Results revealed that Te'o did not deviate from previously established strategies by employing defeasibility, victimization, good intentions, stonewalling, retrospective regret, bolstering, shifting blame, and simple denial. Collectively, the employment of these tactics illustrated a timid, naïve, and remorseful approach to image repair. While some of Te'o's choices were appropriate, the heavy use of stonewalling and victimization may have been ineffective in changing audience perception.
AB - The purpose of this study was to examine Manti Te'o's image repair strategies during an interview with Katie Couric. This interview followed reports that Te'o had been involved in an elaborate hoax featuring a fake girlfriend. The interview was a worthy avenue of investigation as it was Te'o's first opportunity to publicly defend himself on camera following a week of ridicule and speculation by media outlets and the public. A deductive thematic analysis was conducted on Te'o's responses utilizing Benoit's image repair typology and other recently identified image repair strategies as a guide. Results revealed that Te'o did not deviate from previously established strategies by employing defeasibility, victimization, good intentions, stonewalling, retrospective regret, bolstering, shifting blame, and simple denial. Collectively, the employment of these tactics illustrated a timid, naïve, and remorseful approach to image repair. While some of Te'o's choices were appropriate, the heavy use of stonewalling and victimization may have been ineffective in changing audience perception.
KW - Catfishing
KW - Hoax
KW - Image repair
KW - Manti Te'o
KW - Notre Dame
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84919499632&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.pubrev.2014.05.003
DO - 10.1016/j.pubrev.2014.05.003
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:84919499632
VL - 40
SP - 780
EP - 788
JO - Public Relations Review
JF - Public Relations Review
SN - 0363-8111
IS - 5
ER -