Media Theories in Practice in the Danish Cartoon Scandal - Case Study Example

Media Theories in Practice in the Danish Cartoon Scandal (put your “honesty statement” here) Table of Contents 1. Introduction 1 1.1 Background 1 2. Hypothesis 2 3. Theoretical Frameworks 2 3.1 Social Systems Theory 2 3.2 Complexity Theory 3 3.3 Situational Crisis Communication Theory 5 4. Analysis 7 5. Conclusion 7 References 9 1. Introduction This research essay examines the application of communication theories in a media and public relations crisis created in 2005 by the publication of political cartoons in the Danish newspaper Jullands-Posten that provoked anger throughout the Muslim world because of the cartoons’ depiction of the Prophet Mohammed. The angry response of Muslims was particularly damaging to Arla Food, a large multinational dairy products company based in Denmark with a large market in Middle Eastern countries. Even though Arla did not have anything to do with the publication of the offensive material, because it was a Danish company, it suffered the consequences through simple association (Gaither & Curtin, 2008). 1.1 Background On 30 September 2005, the Danish newspaper Jullands-Posten published 12 cartoons depicting the Prophet Mohammed, causing great anger in the Muslim community, who joined together to demand the cartoons be withdrawn and that the Danish government sanction the newspaper. The government refused to take action against the newspaper, explaining that the principles of free speech protected by Danish law allowed the publication of the cartoons, offensive or not. This position only caused Muslim anger to grow, spreading the controversy to the Islamic countries of the Middle East. Unfortunately for Arla Foods, all this occurred only months after the company had made a large investment to expand its markets in Middle Eastern countries, and as the most visible Danish entity in a part of the world that was now furious at the nation of Denmark, the company suffered most of the backlash from the cartoon controversy (Gaither & Curtin, 2008, p. 121). The cartoons were offensive to Islam for two reasons. First, images of the Prophet Mohammed in any context are forbidden under Islamic law: “Those who paint pictures would be punished on the Day of Resurrection and it would be said to them: Breathe soul into what you have created.” (Hadith, Sahih Muslim Vol. 3, No. 5268) Furthermore, the cartoons were especially offensive, suggesting that Islam preaches terrorism; for example, one the cartoons showed the Prophet wearing a bomb as a turban (Weiner, 2006). 2. Hypothesis The result of the crisis, and the communications response to it by Arla Foods, was that Arla suffered serious financial losses from a boycott of its products in Middle Eastern markets, as well as being the target of criticism back home in Denmark; it would take several years for Arla’s market position to fully recover (Gaither & Curtin, 2008). The response to the crisis by Arla Foods – and by induction, the response’s ineffectiveness – can be explained by a three theoretical frameworks working together. Social systems theory, which is a basic communications theory because it regards social systems as systems of communication, along with complexity theory explains the difficult and almost impossible to solve situation that Arla Foods found itself in after the controversy erupted. And situational crisis communications theory (SCCT) explains the specific communications actions taken by the company, and sheds some light on why these were initially not appropriate to the circumstances. 3. Theoretical Frameworks 3.1 Social Systems Theory Social Systems Theory, developed by Niklas Luhmann (1983 & 1989), defines a social system as a group of people who interact according to a shared set of social rules and means of communication; the Danish cartoon controversy was a clash between two social systems, Danish culture and the Islamic culture. There are two key ideas of social systems that explain why the clash occurred. First, the system is differentiated from its environment, and second, that differentiation – in other words, the unique identity that defines the social system for its members, such as adherence to a particular religion – is created by “self-referential closedness”. This means that the members of the social system define their own identity and differentiation from the rest of the world, and this applies equally to any sort of social system, such as the law in a particular country, business, religion, or political ideology (Luhmann, 1983, p. 992; Luhmann, 1989, p. 138). The way in which a social system is manifested is through communication, which makes sense in light of the “self-referential” nature of social systems that identify their differentiation from others by their own description (Hendry & Seidl, 2003, p. 178). Luhmann defined communication as the unity of information, message or the act of transmitting the information, and the understanding or interpretation of the message (Leydesdorff, 2000, p. 277; Stichweh, 2000, p. 10). The interaction between the Danish and Muslim social systems involved each producing a message to be interpreted by the other. As Knudsen, Aggarwal, and Maamoun (2008, p. 19) explain, “The inferred implication of the images, considered blasphemous under Islam, was that Islam preaches violence and condones terrorism. ...the Danish newspaper that published those images and later on refused to apologize, maintaining that ‘printing the cartoons was a way to ensure freedom of speech in the face of intimidation from radical Islamists.’ (Copenhagen Post Online 2005)” And of course, the response message returned by the Muslim world was that the cartoons were highly offensive; the message was transmitted mainly in the form of massive boycotts of Danish products (including Arla Foods’), such as the boycott campaign, called “The Prophet Unites Us,” started by major media outlets in Jordan (Knudsen, et al., 2008, p. 21). 3.2 Complexity Theory Complexity theory is not a single theory, but a collection of concepts that taken together can help to explain the behavior of complex systems (Sellenow, Seeger & Ulmer, 2002, p. 270; Walby, 2007, p. 449). Complexity theory is relevant to social system theory because as Walby (2007, pp. 450-454, 458-460) explains that the environment of any social system is in fact a collection of other systems that overlap, exist for temporary or discontinuous periods of time, be entirely isolated from one another, or be nested within each other. The complex environment affecting Arla Foods in the cartoon crisis can best be shown visually: Fig. 1: A Representation of the Social System Environment In fact, it is actually very difficult to describe the environment of social systems, because in reality, they would appear less like a collection of separate bubbles and more like a cloud, or a boiling kettle of stew. A small change in any social system creates a change in every other related system – the “butterfly effect” (Walby, 2007, p. 455; Sellenow, et al., 2002). Thus, the publication of a series of cartoons can cause a major crisis and the near-collapse of a company’s important overseas market. 3.3 Situational Crisis Communication Theory The response of Arla Foods to the cartoon crisis can be examined in the context of Situational Crisis Communication Theory (SCCT). A crisis is a sudden and unexpected event that poses a threat to the current situation; for companies, this means a financial threat and a threat to the company’s reputation, which if not addressed will lead to damage to either or both (Coombs, 2007, p. 164, 166; 2010, p. 19). SCCT can also be used to predict threats from crisis events, allowing an organization to plan a strategy to avoid harm or compensate for the damage the crisis will cause (Coombs, 2007, pp. 165-166). Arla Foods was facing a threat to both its financial position and its reputation from two different directions: First, from the backlash in its Islamic markets against the offensive cartoons’ publication, and second, from a negative response among Danish consumers and media to the company’s attempts to manage the crisis. According to SCCT, there are a number of communication strategies that are used to respond to a crisis (Coombs, 2007, p. 170): Take the offensive – challenge the person or group accusing the company of some wrongdoing or failure. Denial – argue that there is no crisis. Find a scapegoat – blame the crisis on someone or something outside the organization. Excuse – assert that there was no intent to cause harm, or that the crisis is beyond the organization’s control. Mitigation – attempt to minimize the actual harm caused by the crisis. Compensation – offer money or other compensation to those who have been harmed by the crisis. Apologize – accept responsibility for the crisis, and ask forgiveness from the organization’s market and stakeholders. Reminder – remind customers and stakeholders of the organization’s good performance and reputation before the crisis. Co-opt the stakeholders – thank customers and stakeholders for their support of the organization before the crisis, which is a way of making them a part of (and hence, partly responsible) for the current situation. Victimhood – remind customers and stakeholders that the organization is also a victim of the crisis; this goes along with offering the “Excuse”. Arla Foods’ responses to the Danish cartoon controversy were to distance the company from the controversy (“Finding a scapegoat” and “Excuse”) by pointing out that the company had no responsibility for the cartoons’ publication, and was simply a firm selling high-quality dairy products without any sort of ideological or political connotations to them (Gaither & Curtin, 2008; Knudsen, et al., 2008). As this did not have the effect of calming Muslim consumers’ anger or stopping boycotts, Arla shifted to a slightly more apologetic response by taking out full-page ads in 25 Arab newspapers, which read: “Arla Foods has distanced itself from the Danish newspaper, Jyllands-Posten’s, actions in publishing caricatures of the Prophet Mohammad. We do not agree with the newspaper’s reasons for publication....” (Knudsen, et al., 2008, p. 22) That statement communicated to the Islamic market that the company understood the cartoons were offensive, that the company had nothing to do with the offense having been caused, and that the company implicitly would not cause such offense itself because it believed it was wrong. By acknowledging the offense, Arla was in a way co-opting its Muslim market by implying that it sided with the ideas that define that social system, rather than the one that defined the Danish social system. 4. Analysis Arla’s response to the crisis is an example of another aspect of complexity theory called bifurcation. A bifurcation is a usually sudden and unexpected change – i.e., a crisis like the one caused by the offensive cartoons – that signifies a major, perhaps permanent change in a social system; an organization that is faced with a bifurcation often does not recognize it for being as big a change as it really is, and fails to address it adequately because the “regular” methods of dealing with a crisis are no longer suitable (Sellenow, et al., 2002: 271-272). According to Suedfeld and Tetlock (1977, p. 171) cognitive communication responses to crises in individuals or organizations are predictable: information-seeking and processing is simplified, and in groups, communication within the group increases while communication between the group and the outside is reduced. For example, an early statement by Arla Foods, “A lot can be done by political authorities, but as a business company we concentrate on producing good products. That is all we can do.” (Børsting & Klingsey, 2005 in Holmström, et al., 2009, pp. 4-5) is a good example of rejecting undesirable information – in this case, the Muslim attitude of Arla’s shared responsibility as a part of the Danish social system – and directing communication inward. The rest of the world, after all, already knows Arla produces dairy products; the statement almost seems to be intended for the company’s own reassurance that their response to the crisis had some logical justification. 5. Conclusion Three theoretical frameworks, the Social Systems Theory developed by Niklas Luhmann, Complexity Theory, and Situational Crisis Communication Theory combined together explain the communications response of Arla Foods to the fury of Muslim customers following the publication of cartoons offensive to Islam in a Danish newspaper. Arla’s response to the controversy was according to established patterns of communications in crisis situations, in an attempt to distance itself from an issue it was only associated with by being a Danish company. Only when Arla more directly condemned the publication – and in doing so, risking its reputation within its own Danish social system – was it able to begin to repair the damage caused by the crisis and the resulting boycott by Muslim customers. While the theoretical frameworks do not actually suggest better ways the company could have managed its communications, they do help to clarify the complex interactions of social and communication systems, so that similar crises in the future could perhaps be handled more effectively. References Coombs, W.T., 2007, “Protecting Organization Reputations During a Crisis: The Development and Application of Situational Crisis Communication Theory”, Corporate Reputation Review, vol. 10, no. 3, pp. 163-176. Coombs, W.T., 2010, “Parameters for Crisis Communication”, In: W.T. Coombs and S.J. Holladay (Eds.), The Handbook of Crisis Communication, Oxford: Wiley-Blackwell, pp. 16-53. Gaither, T.K., and Curtin, P.A., 2008, “Examining the Heuristic Value of Models of International Public Relations Practice: A Case Study of the Arla Foods Crisis”, Journal of Public Relations Research, vol. 20, pp. 115-137. Hendry, J., and Seidl, D., 2003, “The Structure and Significance of Strategic Episodes: Social Systems Theory and the Routine Practices of Strategic Change”, Journal of Management Studies, vol. 40, no.1, pp. 175-196. Holmström, S., Falkheimer, J., and Nielsen, A.G., 2009, “Legitimacy and Strategic Communication in Globalization: The Cartoon Crisis and Other Legitimacy Conflicts”, International Journal of Strategic Communication, vol. 4, no. 1, pp. 1-18. Knudsen, K., Aggarwal, P., and Maamoun, A., 2008, “The Burden Of Identity: Responding To Product Boycotts In The Middle East”, Journal of Business & Economic Research, vol. 6, no. 11, pp. 17-25. Leydesdorff, L., 2000, “Luhmann, Habermas, and the Theory of Communication”, Systems Research and Behavioral Science, vol. 17, no. 3, pp. 273-288. Luhmann, N., 1983, “Insistence on Systems Theory: Perspectives from Germany – An Essay”, Social Forces, vol. 61, no. 4, pp. 987-998. Luhmann, N., 1989, “Law as a Social System”, Northwestern University Law Review, vol. 83, no. 1/2, pp. 136-150. Sellenow, T.L., Seeger, M.W., and Ulmer, R.R., 2002, “Chaos theory, informational needs, and natural disasters”, Journal of Applied Communication Research, vol. 30, no. 4, pp. 269-292. Stichweh, R., 2000, “Systems Theory as an Alternative to Action Theory? The Rise of ‘Communication’ as a Theoretical Option”, Acta Sociologica, vol. 43, pp. 5-13. Walby, S., 2007, “Complexity Theory, Systems Theory, and Multiple Intersecting Social Inequalities”, Philosophy of the Social Sciences, vol. 37, no. 4, pp. 449-470. Weiner, E. (2006) “Why Cartoons of the Prophet Insult Muslims”, NPR (National Public Radio), 8 February 2006. Retrieved 20 December 2012 from: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5196323. Read More

There are two key ideas of social systems that explain why the clash occurred. First, the system is differentiated from its environment, and second, that differentiation – in other words, the unique identity that defines the social system for its members, such as adherence to a particular religion – is created by “self-referential closedness”. This means that the members of the social system define their own identity and differentiation from the rest of the world, and this applies equally to any sort of social system, such as the law in a particular country, business, religion, or political ideology (Luhmann, 1983, p.

992; Luhmann, 1989, p. 138). The way in which a social system is manifested is through communication, which makes sense in light of the “self-referential” nature of social systems that identify their differentiation from others by their own description (Hendry & Seidl, 2003, p. 178). Luhmann defined communication as the unity of information, message or the act of transmitting the information, and the understanding or interpretation of the message (Leydesdorff, 2000, p. 277; Stichweh, 2000, p. 10). The interaction between the Danish and Muslim social systems involved each producing a message to be interpreted by the other.

As Knudsen, Aggarwal, and Maamoun (2008, p. 19) explain, “The inferred implication of the images, considered blasphemous under Islam, was that Islam preaches violence and condones terrorism. .the Danish newspaper that published those images and later on refused to apologize, maintaining that ‘printing the cartoons was a way to ensure freedom of speech in the face of intimidation from radical Islamists.’ (Copenhagen Post Online 2005)” And of course, the response message returned by the Muslim world was that the cartoons were highly offensive; the message was transmitted mainly in the form of massive boycotts of Danish products (including Arla Foods’), such as the boycott campaign, called “The Prophet Unites Us,” started by major media outlets in Jordan (Knudsen, et al., 2008, p. 21). 3.2 Complexity Theory Complexity theory is not a single theory, but a collection of concepts that taken together can help to explain the behavior of complex systems (Sellenow, Seeger & Ulmer, 2002, p.

270; Walby, 2007, p. 449). Complexity theory is relevant to social system theory because as Walby (2007, pp. 450-454, 458-460) explains that the environment of any social system is in fact a collection of other systems that overlap, exist for temporary or discontinuous periods of time, be entirely isolated from one another, or be nested within each other. The complex environment affecting Arla Foods in the cartoon crisis can best be shown visually: Fig. 1: A Representation of the Social System Environment In fact, it is actually very difficult to describe the environment of social systems, because in reality, they would appear less like a collection of separate bubbles and more like a cloud, or a boiling kettle of stew.

A small change in any social system creates a change in every other related system – the “butterfly effect” (Walby, 2007, p. 455; Sellenow, et al., 2002). Thus, the publication of a series of cartoons can cause a major crisis and the near-collapse of a company’s important overseas market. 3.3 Situational Crisis Communication Theory The response of Arla Foods to the cartoon crisis can be examined in the context of Situational Crisis Communication Theory (SCCT). A crisis is a sudden and unexpected event that poses a threat to the current situation; for companies, this means a financial threat and a threat to the company’s reputation, which if not addressed will lead to damage to either or both (Coombs, 2007, p.

164, 166; 2010, p. 19). SCCT can also be used to predict threats from crisis events, allowing an organization to plan a strategy to avoid harm or compensate for the damage the crisis will cause (Coombs, 2007, pp. 165-166). Arla Foods was facing a threat to both its financial position and its reputation from two different directions: First, from the backlash in its Islamic markets against the offensive cartoons’ publication, and second, from a negative response among Danish consumers and media to the company’s attempts to manage the crisis.

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