Stonewalling as an Image-Defense Strategy: A Critical Examination of BP's Response to the Deepwater Horizon Explosion

References

• Benoit , W. L. ( 1995 ). Accounts, excuses, and apologies: A theory of image restoration strategies . Albany , NY : SUNY .
   Google Scholar
• Benoit , W. L. ( 1997a ). Hugh Grant's image restoration discourse: An actor apologizes . Communication Quarterly , 45 , 251 – 267 .
   Google Scholar
• Benoit , W. L. ( 1997b ). Image repair discourse and crisis communication . Public Relations Review , 23 , 177 – 186 .
   Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• Benoit , W. L. ( 2006 ). President Bush's image repair effort on Meet the Press: The complexities of defeasibility . Journal of Applied Communication Research , 34 , 285 – 306 .
   Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• Benoit , W. L. , & Czerwinski , A. ( 1997 ). A critical analysis of USAir's image repair discourse . Business Communication Quarterly , 60 , 38 – 57 .
   Google Scholar
• Benoit , W. L. , & Drew , S. (1997). Appropriateness and effectiveness of image repair strategies. Communication Reports , 10, 153–163.
   Google Scholar
• Blowout: The Deepwater Horizon Disaster . ( 2010 , May 16 ). CBS News Report . Retrieved from http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2010/05/16/60minutes/main6490197_page6.shtml?tag=contentMain;contentBody
   Google Scholar
• BP CEO: Not responsible for accident . ( 2010 , May 3 ). ABC News Video . Retrieved from http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/video/bp-ceo-gulf-oil-spill-10537587
   Google Scholar
• Burgess , M. ( 2010 ). Remarks made by M. Burgess, U. S. Representative, Texas. In House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Energy and Environment, House of Representatives. BP and the Gulf of Mexico Oil Spill. C-SPAN Video Library digital archive. Retrieved from http://www.c-spanarchives.org/program/294112-1
   Google Scholar
• Burns , J. , & Bruner , M. ( 2000 ). Revisiting the theory of image restoration strategies . Communication Quarterly , 48 , 27 – 39 .
   Google Scholar
• Coombs , W. T. ( 2007 ). Ongoing crisis communication: Planning, managing, and responding () , 2nd ed. . Los Angeles , CA : Sage .
   Google Scholar
• C-SPAN archives . ( n.d. ). BP and the Gulf of Mexico Oil Spill, Opening Statements. Retrieved from C-SPAN Video Library digital archives from http://www.c-spanarchives.org/program/294112-1
   Google Scholar
• Ferrin , D. L. , Kim , P. H. , Cooper , C. D. , & Dirks , K. T. ( 2007 ). Silence speaks volumes: The effectiveness of reticence in comparison to apology and denial for responding to integrity- and competence-based trust violations . Journal of Applied Psychology , 92 ( 4 ), 893 – 908 .
   PubMed Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• Fitzpatrick , K. R. , & Rubin , M. S. ( 1995 ). Public relations vs. legal strategies in organizational crisis decisions . Public Relations Review , 21 ( 1 ), 21 – 33 .
   Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• Hammer , D. ( 2010 , June 16 ). BP engineer's testimony contradicted by e-mail released by congressional investigators . The Times-Picayune . Retrieved from http://www.nola.com
   Google Scholar
• Harlow , W. F. , Brantley , B. C. , & Harlow , R. M. ( 2011 ). BP initial image repair strategies after the Deepwater Horizon spill . Public Relations Review , 37 , 80 – 83 .
   Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• Hayward , T. ( 2010 ). Remarks made by Dr. Tony Hayward, CEO, BP America. In House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Energy and Environment, House of Representatives. BP and the Gulf of Mexico Oil Spill. C-SPAN Video Library digital archive. Retrieved from http://www.c-spanarchives.org/program/294112-1
   Google Scholar
• Letter to Tony Hayward, Chief Executive Officer of BP (Rep. Henry Waxman, & Rep. Bart Stupak) . ( 2010 , June 15 ). The Hill's Congress Blog . Retrieved from http://thehill.com/blogs/congress-blog/energy-a-environment/103255-letter-to-tony-hayward-chief-executive-officer-of-bp-rep-henry-waxman-and-rep-bart-stupak
   Google Scholar
• Lerbinger , O. ( 1997 ). The crisis manager: Facing risk and responsibility . Mahwah , NJ : Lawrence Erlbaum .
   Google Scholar
• Lyon , L. , & Cameron , G. T. ( 1998 ). Fess up or stonewall?: An experimental test of prior reputation and response style in the face of negative news coverage . Web Journal of Mass Communication Research , 1 ( 4 ). Retrieved from http://www.scripps.ohiou.edu/wjmcr/vol01/1-4a.htm
   Google Scholar
• Markey , E. J. ( 2010 ). Remarks made by E. J. Markey, U. S. Representative, Massachusetts. In House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Energy and Environment, House of Representatives. Gulf of Mexico Oil Spill and Drilling Safety. C-SPAN Video Library digital archive. Retrieved from http://www.cspanvideo.org/program/294062-1
   Google Scholar
• Morales , L. ( 2010 , May 27 ). Americans critical of oil spill response; Keeping close tabs . USA Today . Retrieved from http://www.gallup.com/poll/
   Google Scholar
• Mouawad , J. ( 2010 , May 8 ). For BP, a history of spills and safety lapses . The New York Times . Retrieved from http://www.nytimes.com
   Google Scholar
• Newport , F. ( 2010 , June 21 ). Obama receives 44% approval on oil spill while BP gets 16% . Gallup . Retrieved from http://www.gallup.com/poll/
   Google Scholar
• Patel , A. , & Reinsch , L. (2003). Companies can apologize: Corporate apologies and legal liability. Business Communication Quarterly , 66(1), 9–25.
   Google Scholar
• Rybacki , K. C. , & Rybacki , D. J. ( 1996 ). Advocacy and opposition: An introduction to argumentation () , 3rd ed. . Boston , MA : Allyn & Bacon .
   Google Scholar
• Seeger , M. W. ( 2006 ). Best practices in crisis communication: An expert panel process . Journal of Applied Communication Research , 34 , 232 – 244 .
   Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• Seeger , M. W. , Sellnow , T. L. , & Ulmer , R. R. ( 2003 ). Communication and organizational crisis . Westport , CT : Praeger .
   Google Scholar
• Sherwell , P. ( 2010 , May 29 ). BP disaster: Worst oil spill in US history turn seas into a dead zone . The Telegraph . Retrieved from http://www.telegraph.co.uk
   Google Scholar
• Stupak , B. ( 2010 ). Remarks made by B. Stupak, U. S. Representative, Michigan. In House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Energy and Environment, House of Representatives. BP and the Gulf of Mexico Oil Spill. C-SPAN Video Library digital archive. Retrieved http://www.c-spanarchives.org/program/294112-1
   Google Scholar
• Susskind , L. , & Field , P. ( 1996 ). Dealing with an angry public: The mutual gains approach to resolving disputes . New York , NY : The Free Press .
   Google Scholar
• Thomas , D. R. ( 2006 ). A general inductive approach for analyzing qualitative evaluation data . American Journal of Evaluation , 27 ( 2 ), 237 – 246 .
   Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• Timeline: Disaster in the Gulf . ( n.d. ). NBC News. Retrieved from http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/36947751/
   Google Scholar
• Tyler , L. ( 1997 ). Liability means never being able to say you're sorry: Corporate guilt, legal constraints, and defensiveness in corporate communication . Management Communication Quarterly , 11 , 51 – 73 .
   Google Scholar
• Ulmer , R. R. , & Sellnow , T. L. ( 1997 ). Strategic ambiguity and the ethic of significant choice in the tobacco industry's crisis communication . Communication Studies , 48 , 215 – 233 .
   Google Scholar
• Ulmer , R. R. , Sellnow , T. L. , & Seeger , M. W. ( 2007 ). Effective crisis communication: Moving from crisis to opportunity . Thousand Oaks , CA : Sage .
   Google Scholar
• Venette , S. J. ( 2007 ). Best practices in risk and crisis communication: Advice for food scientists and technologists . Ontario , Canada : The International Union of Food Science and Technology Bulletin .
   Google Scholar
• Venette , S. J. , Sellnow , T. L. , & Lang , P. A. ( 2003 ). Metanarration's role in restructuring perceptions of crisis: NHTSA's failure in the Ford-Firestone crisis . Journal of Business Communication , 40 , 219 – 236 .
   Google Scholar
• Waxman , H. A. ( 2010 ). Remarks made by H. A. Waxman, U. S. Representative, California. In House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Energy and Environment, House of Representatives. BP and the Gulf of Mexico Oil Spill. C-SPAN Video Library digital archive. Retrieved from http://www.c-spanarchives.org/program/294112-1
   Google Scholar