Damage control: media framing of sport event crises and the response strategies of organizers

• Autores: K.Meaghan Carey, Daniel S. Mason
• Localización: Event management, ISSN 1525-9951, Vol. 20, No. 2, 2016, págs. 119-133
• Idioma: inglés
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• Resumen

  • The hosting of major sporting events has gained favor with governments seeking to reimage their city or nation. These events are often considered a policy tool able to accelerate infrastructure development, promote tourism, and act as an economic stimulator. However, hosting a major event requires significant coordination between stakeholders and the skillful management of resources; when this does not occur a crisis may arise. The resulting negative media coverage needs to be correctly managed by organizers to mitigate any lasting damage to the reputation of the region and event. The 2010 Delhi Commonwealth Games was selected as a single case study to examine the management of, and response by, event organizers to negative media coverage created by organizational crisis. The study examined 478 media news articles from media outlets with national and international distribution. Analysis explored four media frames commonly found in crisis communnication: attribution of responsibility, conflict, consequences, and human interest. The results shows that the attribution of responsability and conflict frames were the most commonly used in this case study, which is congruent with pas research on preventable organizational crisis. In attempting to mitigate reputational damage, the event organizers focused on scapegoating and excuse responses. The results also indicate that the organizers did not appear to be successful in their management or containment of the media coverage of the crises.