TY - JOUR
T1 - To invest in the invisible: 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, James
AU - Hambrick, Marion E
PY - 2014
Y1 - 2014
N2 - tThe purpose of this study was to examine Manti Te’o’s image repair strategies during aninterview with Katie Couric. This interview followed reports that Te’o had been involvedin an elaborate hoax featuring a fake girlfriend. The interview was a worthy avenue ofinvestigation as it was Te’o’s first opportunity to publicly defend himself on camera fol-lowing a week of ridicule and speculation by media outlets and the public. A deductivethematic analysis was conducted on Te’o’s responses utilizing Benoit’s image repair typo-logy and other recently identified image repair strategies as a guide. Results revealed thatTe’o did not deviate from previously established strategies by employing defeasibility, vic-timization, 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
AB - tThe purpose of this study was to examine Manti Te’o’s image repair strategies during aninterview with Katie Couric. This interview followed reports that Te’o had been involvedin an elaborate hoax featuring a fake girlfriend. The interview was a worthy avenue ofinvestigation as it was Te’o’s first opportunity to publicly defend himself on camera fol-lowing a week of ridicule and speculation by media outlets and the public. A deductivethematic analysis was conducted on Te’o’s responses utilizing Benoit’s image repair typo-logy and other recently identified image repair strategies as a guide. Results revealed thatTe’o did not deviate from previously established strategies by employing defeasibility, vic-timization, 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
M3 - Article
SP - 780
EP - 788
JO - Public Relations Review
JF - Public Relations Review
ER -