Abstract

One of the problems of crisis communication within authorities is the lack of meeting expectations

regarding crisis management. This study is based on this particular problem. Meeting expectations

within crisis management and crisis communication has previously been a struggle for the Swedish

authorities during crisis, -such as at the time of the Estonia disaster in 1994 and the 2004 Indian Ocean

Tsunami. The main purpose of this qualitative study is to examine how the Swedish Ministry of Foreign

Affairs and the Swedish Embassy in Ankara managed the crisis in Turkey in 2015 on social media. The

communicative actions, that is, crisis communication by these authorities, during the crisis in Turkey in

2015 was valued based on what crisis communication research says is effective crisis communication

and analyzed using text analysis. Situational Crisis Communication Theory, the Three-way model, Crisis

Response Strategies and leadership theory were the basis for this study and when framing the thesis

questions:

1. How did The Swedish Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Swedish Embassy in Ankara manage

the crisis in Turkey in 2015, on social media such as homepage, Facebook and Twitter?

2. How can the communicative efforts be valued based on research on effective crisis

communication?

a.) How are the communicative efforts integrated with the development of the crisis?

b.) What type of leadership is seen in the crisis communication?

c.) What kind of Crisis Response Strategies can be identified in the crisis management?

d.) How can the crisis be understood based on Situational Crisis Communication Theory?

The Swedish Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Embassy of Sweden in Ankara did effectively manage

the crisis on social media, during the crisis in Turkey in 2015, based on research in effective crisis

communication. Both authorities managed to fulfill the expectations placed upon them, and an

improvement could be seen against the past crisis management by Swedish authorities. In conclusion, it

can be said that the crisis management during the crisis was open, integrated and updated. Crisis

Response Strategies were easily identified, as well as a strong centralized leadership. Finally, the

organizations managed to protect themselves from organizational harm as well as protect the

stakeholders from further damage by updated communication efforts and strong measures.

Keywords:

Crisis, authorities, crisis communication, effective crisis communication, crisis management