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Journal of Business Communication
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A Hegemonic Model of Crisis Communication

Truthfulness and Repercussions for Free Speech in Kasky v. Nike

John P. McHale

Illinois State University, jpmchal{at}ilstu.edu

Joseph P. Zompetti

Illinois State University

Mary Anne Moffitt

Illinois State University

This study utilizes the hegemonic model of crisis communication to critically analyze the ideological implications of Nike's sweatshop labor crisis that culminated in the Kasky v. Nike court case. This groundbreaking case merits further examination and, informed by Gramsci's notion of hegemony, reveals the underlying ideological struggle present in the Nike crisis: a struggle for voice, power, and free corporate speech. Activist voices opposing sweatshops, Nike's defenses, and eventually, the legal decisions of the U.S. court system constituted competing voices in these ideological struggles over what is acceptable or right corporate behavior. This hegemonic struggle influenced standards for international labor, public relations efforts that misrepresent facts, and consideration of corporate public relations as free or commercial speech. This hegemonic model of crisis communication, unlike previous theories, recognizes the dynamic struggle between voices with various levels of power and the important ideological implications resulting from competing voices in crisis communication.

Key Words: crisis communication • hegemony • Gramsci • Nike • sweatshop • image restoration • Kasky v. Nike • freedom of speech • commercial speech

Journal of Business Communication, Vol. 44, No. 4, 374-402 (2007)
DOI: 10.1177/0021943607306137
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