Domestic Violence and the National Football League

In 2014, the National Football League (NFL) faced extreme criticism for the way it handled the three domestic violence cases that emerged into the spotlight. The Ray Rice video that showed him punching his at-the-time fiancé, as well as the several other domestic violence cases among NFL players that quickly followed, shed a light on what seemed to be a well-hidden problem within the league. Since being in the public eye, the league has not been effective with its communication efforts to prevent the issue of domestic violence and rebuild its reputation among stakeholders. This project uses evidence-based literature to explore the extent to which the NFL’s current domestic violence campaign has been successful among its fans, as well as determine what effective crisis management communication tactics and practices the NFL should implement to create a successful reputation management crisis communication plan for a domestic violence incident

The NFL as a Mega-Crisis: Applications of Fractal Theory

The National Football League (NFL) is facing a reputation crisis—a serious problem for a powerhouse institution that airs its Super Bowl in 180 countries. Public and media scrutiny for its handling of domestic abuse cases and denial of concussions leading to Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE) have left the NFL with a mega-crisis. Television ratings are down, player injuries are up, and fewer youth are participating in the sport. This research, presented at the International Crisis and Risk Communication conference, addresses the CTE and domestic abuse scandals in the NFL and details the League’s responses to both high-profile cases. We provide an understanding of a mega-crisis and then introduce Fractal Crisis Theory as the foundation for an analysis of both situations. The theory provides a context for analyzing how the NFL managed these two crises and offers a unique approach to studying sport and crises. We conclude with recommendations for dealing with future mega-crises

The 2018 Muslim Pilgrimage to Mecca: Application of Grunig’s Theory of Excellence Two-Way Communication Efforts to Avoid a Crisis

Every year, millions of Muslims converge in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) to perform the Hajj pilgrimage. So how does a government prepare for a potential crisis when hosting an event of this magnitude? A content analysis guided this study on crisis communication strategies taken by the Saudi government before, during, and after Hajj 2018 and how Saudi Arabia utilized the media to deliver proactive messages to ensure a successful Hajj season. The study found that the government created and built a positive image in the media through the use of effective management, preemptive messages, and multiple communication channels

Tumbling into a Crisis: Use of Corporate Apologia after USA Gymnastics Falls off the Balance Beam

In an open letter to U.S. gymnasts on Nov. 5, 2018, United States Olympic Committee (USOC) CEO Sarah Hirshland told its more than 150,000 members “You deserve better” as it launched the Nuclear Clause that would revoke USA Gymnastics (USAG) as a governing body for the sport at the Olympic level [1]. This announcement comes in the wake of USAG’s ongoing crisis that includes a failure to protect athletes from team doctor Larry Nassar, imprisoned for sexually abusing more than 350 female gymnasts; investigations tied to Michigan State University; and the turnover of several USAG CEO’s in just two years. The research question addressed in this study asks how gymnastics can recover from a crisis that was decades in the making and two years in the public spotlight. Benoit’s (1997) Image Repair theory as well as Hearit and Courtright’s (2004) social constructionist approach and apologia discourse inform our critical analysis on how and why USAG has tumbled

Superman and Wonder Woman: French Champions for HIV/AIDS Prevention of Failed AIDS Campaign?

In 2004, the French government sponsored an AIDS/HIV prevention campaign; AIDES.ORG using photos of AIDS infected Superman and Wonder Woman to persuade adolescents to adopt preventative behaviors. This article asserts campaign organizers cancelled the campaign because it failed to provide audience efficacy and incorrectly manipulated fear in its campaign messages. Moreover, this article compares the AIDES.ORG campaign to other AIDS/HIV campaigns and argues effective health communication campaigns must provide efficacy to facilitate adoption of desired preventative behaviors. The Social Norms Approach is offered as an alternative method for developing effective health communication campaigns

Racial Norming in the National Football League’s Concussion Settlement: A Nested Approach to Addressing an Ongoing Crisis

For more than two decades, the National Football League (NFL) has been in the spotlight over the concussion crisis, resulting in a lawsuit by 5,000 NFL players and a subsequent 2013 settlement of more than $765 million. In 2020, a new crisis emerged out of the settlement, one of perceived inequities in criteria used to allocate settlement funds. The practice of racial norming, adjusting test scores for race, created another headache for the NFL during a time in which racial injustices in the U.S. spawned public and media discourse. Our case study explores this crisis through the Nested Theory of Conflict to illustrate how conflicts may arise from numerous sources and be intertwined, or nested within one another, and offers a nested model of crises lens from which this case and other crises can be explored

The Health Belief Model and Preventive Measures: A Study of the Ministry of Health Campaign on Coronavirus in Saudi Arabia

As of August 2017, approximately 684 people have died in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia since the coronavirus Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS-CoV) outbreak in 2012. Saudi Arabia became the leading country for the number of illnesses and deaths related to MERS-CoV, making this a health megacrisis. Early Ministry of Health (MOH) communication efforts proved ineffective and created anger, confusion, and mistrust. Changes in command, implementation of new guidelines and policies, and a health preventive campaign have been instrumental in the fight. The MOH launched the “We Can Stop It” campaign in 2015. This study shares results from a survey of 875 students from King Saud University on the credibility of MOH information and effectiveness of the campaign’s prevention recommendations. Results show that the MOH is a credible source of information and that Saudis are following most, but not all, recommended preventive measures. Those persons with higher perceived benefits and lower barriers are more likely to follow recommended guidelines