Text genres stabilized Email Memo CVCover letter Congressional

Text genres (stabilized? ) Email / Memo CV/Cover letter Congressional hearing Presidential speech (ex. concession, acceptance) Code of ethics Press Release 1

Text genres We will be practicing writing them! but first…. theoretical framework 2

The press release : a key genre in corporate communication (based on P. Catenaccio 2008) 3

WHO? WHAT? WHEN? HOW? WHY? 4

WHO: issued by companies, institutions, individuals WHAT: promotional tool (less expensive than ad) WHEN: newsworthy info HOW: sent as e-mail / posted WHY: professional info for future articles 5

Communicative purpose General: communication towards outside (external corporate communication: public relations, investor relations, mkt) Specific: launch products, announce initiatives, inform on company “health state”, reply to external inputs… 6

What for? Image building various stakeholders who may affect public perception reputation (non-tangible aspect) 7

Stakehoders Internal shareholders, executives, managers, employees… External • primary(customers, suppliers, banks…) • secondary(pressure-groups, community…) 8

Multiple audience Press release journalist mass media audience + website communication (no press mediation) 9

Advent of the World Wide Web the Internet expanded the potential reach of press release BUT no control of materials, proliferation of unreliable documents: misinformation 10

Will the press release die? ! 2006: 100 th birthday PR practitioners initiated a discussion on its presumed unsuitability in the digital era will face challenges that are of a linguistic, dicoursive, textual and most of all professional nature PR is a key genre in corporate communication: flexible, adaptive PR 11

Definition of genre It is a recognizable communicative event characterized by a set of communicative purpose(s) identified and mutually understood by the members of the professional or academic community in which it regularly occurs. Most often it is highly structured and conventionalized with constraints on allowable contributions in terms of their intent, positioning, form and functional value. (Swales 1990) 12

“discourse communities” people sharing explicitly defined common interests and purposes (PR writers, journalists). Same expectations. specialised communication: ESP needs to be taught! 13

“How to write the perfect press release” Best-sellers, software packages, manuals… Google: 245, 000 results ! Homogeneity = highly standarised format (despite recommendations: “stand out!”), ready-to-use for novices 14

Genre-based view topic (i. e. tragedy…) Genre formal features Contemporary genre theory: focus on functional and situational aspects 15

PR features • Effective: reach its intended audience and do what it is designed to do • Newsworthy: overinflated use • Relevant : tailored for readers • Organised in an “inverted pyramid” structure • Quotable statements by corporate officers • Accurate (spelling, punctuation) 16

the inverted pyramid The first few lines of a text are likely to be read, the remaining part of the text will only be read if the readers’ attention has been caught Keep in mind the 5 -Wh principle! 17

Genre-based press release studies Preformulation Jacobs (1999) : strong headline + concise lead + inverted pyramid + boilerplate description: to facilitate the copying of parts of the PR it involves metapragmatic features (awareness of the writer): – – – self reference self-quotation explicit semi-performatives 18

Self-Reference third person (organization’s proper name) nominal anaphora: initial self-reference through a proper name combined with subsequent definite description (e. g. : “X, the worldwide-known pharmaceutical company…”) 19

(Self) Quotation Often fictional (pseudoquotation) Manipulates audience Journalists are not compelled to subscribe to the issuers’ story Frequently used to communicate selfpromotional info 20

Explicit Semi-Performatives Verbs/utterances “where the linguistic action and its description coincide” (Verschueren 1995). Utterances that accomplish [an act] in their very enunciation (Austin 1962) e. g. : “I apologize for being late” 21

Explicit Semi-Performatives (continued) Semi-performatives: performatives with a third person subject e. g. : “The company hereby undertakes to replace any can of Doggo-Meat that fails to please, with no questions asked” 22

Headline Effective press releases have a newspaper-like headline. It helps journalists decide at a glance if the press release is worth reading at all and, if they decide it is, it may well serve as a useful preformulation for “their” headline Just like for newspaper articles the headlines of press releases should be clear and informative not: Philips announces annual results but: Philips reports $ 1. 2 bn profit for 2003 23

Lead Just like in newspaper articles, the first paragraph of a press release serves as a lead, indicating the place and date of the news and answering the WH-question what's the news? who's involved? when and where and how did it happen? 24

Paragraphs The body of a press release is divided into paragraphs following the pyramid structure that is also typical of news reporting: the most important information is in front 25

Boilerplate ● Often in the final paragraph ● It provides a short profile of the organization that issues the press release: what it does, where it's located, etc. ● Preformulated nature useful for journalists 26

End Press releases typically end with the words "End of press release“ or # 27

Textual outcomes of PR in the media Textual perspective (Maat 2007; 2008) Changes made to PR by journalists: seplification + neutralization adapt specialized contents tone down promotional language 28

Textual outcomes of PR in the media (continued) GENRE CHAINS: Chains of interrelated genres wich serve different communication purposes. i. e. research article PR announcing the findings newspaper article reporting on it 29

PR: informational or promotional? are sent to the journalist community in the convicton that a third-party endorsement is the best way to promote a company’s reputation PR BOTH informative AND promotional “hybrid genre”, crossing boundaries 30

PR: informational or promotional? (continued) -Jacobs (1999) : “ ‘unpaid publicity’[…] keeps the middle ground between advertising and news reporting” -Fairclough: “commmodification” of discourse -Bhatia: “promotionalization” (ad colonises professional genres, but for PR mixing was constitutive) 31

only informational text? ! Obviously not, from the very beginning (early 20 th cent. ) were charged with AD under false pretence (next slide) PRs 32

only informational text? ! “the father” of PR (Ivy Lee) accompanied his PRs with a “Declaratin of Principles” (1906) (next slide) 33

“This is not a secret press bureau. All our work is done in the open. We aim to supply news. This is not an advertising agency; if you think any of our matter properly ought to go to your business office, do not use it. Our matter is accurate. Further details on any subject treated will be supplied promptly, and any editor will be assisted most cheerfully in verifying directly any statement of fact. In brief, our plan is, frankly and openly to supply to the press and public of the United States prompt and accurate information concerning subjects which it is of value and interest to the public to know about. ” 34

Distrust Most of the initial distrust persisted and these days jounalists remain wary of PR. Journalists may complain: inaccuracy, too much promotional material The preformulated nature of PR may be subject to editing (recontextualization) 35

Communicative purpose It is one of the main criteria used to determine genre membership. Lassen (2006) argued the PR cannot be considered a genre because it doesn’t have a univocally communicative purpose BUT -Is the product of a “typified rhetorical action” (Miller, 1984) -Is grounded in recognised social practices -Has its own history -Is socially situated -Has a commonly acknoledged communicative purpose 36

informative vs. persuasive news discourse primarly informative intent (vs. persuasive) NB: the PR community commonly believes that a degree of sobriety enhances credibility 37

Multi-functional discourses The purposes of some genres may be hard to identify and declarations (ex. Lee) may be misleading: there may be substantial difference between what is the intended purpose of a text and its perception. PR is characterised by a layering of discourses and purposes (ex. of interdiscursivity) 38

Communicative purpose Impossibility of univocally inferring the communicative purpose of a text from its form and content because purpose is linked to circumstances under wich a communicative act takes place (context of production/reception) 39

Context (in its pre-technological state) PR are “mediated” by journalists necessary go-betweens between company and end-readers 40

Context On the one hand PR writers must persuade journalists PR are newsworthy, on the other the general public that the company is e. x. profitable 41

journalists vs. general readers Journalists = expected to be persuaded by factual elements General readers = persuaded by positively connotated language promotional (more effective) 42

Manuals say… Media coverage through PR is more powerful and economical than AD BUT They insist PR must avoid overtly promotional language Paradox: the end is promotion but overt promotion must be avoided (the less PR is pormotional , the more it is likely to be used!) 43

PR: a media communication strategy To be successful, PR writers and members of the press need mutual comprehension about pormotional intentions: they’re prominent but must not exceed. PR writers and journalist share a discursive competence (journalists expect a degree of propmotional language) 44

World Wide Web as main distribution channel of PR Different partecipation (next lesson) What counts for much is the opportunuty to bypass journalists BUT approval is provided by reproduction of PR on the part of reporters 45

(Mc. Laren and Gurău 2005) genre-analysis perspective: news article move structure 1°Announcement Headline Summary of main points Lead: Announcing newsworthy information 2° Elaboration Detailing product/service/company/other event which is the object of the release Positive evaluation of situation/event/product 3° Comments Explicit promotional component: attributed to company officials, standard users … 4°[Editor’s note] Establishing credentials (boilerplate information) 46

PR / news article: structural closeness (Catenaccio 2008 ref. Mc. Laren/ Gurău) PR NEWS ARTICLE 1° Announcement 2° Elaboration 3° Comments 4° Contact details 5° [Editor’s note] 1° Announcement 2° Elaboration 3° Comments 4° NO 5° [Editor’s note] Closeness of the two genres is a consequence of the use of PR (its reproduction) Morton (1988) on the positive correlation between cameraready copy and publication rate. You might publish a PR in a newspaper without indicating its source and it would turn into a news article. 47

Differences The real identity of PR is betrayed by the positive bias towards the company. This is linked to promotional discourse lexical and stylistic choices 48

Vonage hopes to raise $250 m in flotation By Richard Waters in San Francisco FT. com, February 8 2006 20: 31 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 Vonage, the US voice-over-internet protocol (VOIP) telephone company, on Wednesday announced plans to raise $250 m through an initial public offering in order to maintain the rapid expansion of its heavily loss-making business. The company’s pursuit of a stock market listing comes despite a warning that it expects to continue to report big losses for the foreseeable future as it tries to cement its early lead over big telecoms and cable TV companies in the new VOIP market. Vonage’s decision to seek a stock market listing rather than an outright sale of the company was a surprise given the push by bigger rivals into the internet telephony market, some analysts said. “I would have thought it would have been cheaper for [a cable company] to buy Vonage than to build it themselves, ” said Ford Cavallari, an analyst at Aventis. Some cable and telecoms companies have started to “bundle” internet telephone service with their other services, bringing a new level of competition for stand-alone providers like Vonage. With little more than 1 m users, the company needs to invest heavily to increase its customer base and start to benefit from economies of scale of the telecoms business, said Mr Cavallari. In preparation for its IPO, Vonage also said on Wednesday that its founder, Jeffrey Citron, had stepped down as chief executive officer, though he would remain chairman. Mr Citron was banned from the securities industry by the Securities and Exchange Commission as part of a settlement of accusations surrounding Datek Securities, an online trading firm he founded, though he did not admit any wrongdoing. In a filing with the SEC on Wednesday, Vonage revealed that its marketing spending in the first nine months of last year, at $176 m, exceeded its revenues of $174 m. According to internet measurement firm Nielsen Net. Ratings, it spent more on internet advertising last year than any other company. While Skype, the VOIP company that was bought by e. Bay last year, has been able to amass a broad global audience thanks to the “viral” effect of the internet, Vonage’s business model is closer to that of a traditional telecoms company. It charges users a flat monthly fee for its service, and uses traditional marketing and distribution channels to attract customers. However, by relying on the broadband services of cable and telecoms services to deliver its service it avoids the infrastructure costs of bigger competitors, allowing it to charge a low monthly price of $24. 99 for its US domestic residential service. Vonage’s decision to go public to raise more cash comes as it prepares another significant ramp its marketing spending in an effort to outrun its bigger rivals. The company said it had also raised $250 m through a private sale of convertible securities over the last two months. Together with the cash from an IPO, that will take its total funding to date to more than $850 m. 49

Advertising genres: move structure (Bhatia 2004) (for advertising presented in mainly linguistic form, no other semiotic codes) 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. Headline Targeting the market Justifying the product or service Detailing the product or service Esteblishing credentials Celebrity or typical user endorsement Offering incentives Using pressure tactics Soliciting response 50

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PR: move structure PR frame (caption) 2. Headline 3. List of main points 4. Time reference (+ ‘for immediate release’) 5. Lead: annnouncing newsworthy info 6. Justifying the product/service 7. Detailing the product/service 8. Explicit promotional component (company officials, independent expert, standard user) 9. Boilerplate description 10. Contact details 11. Company logo 1. 54

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Explicit indicators These marginal features provide an essential framing for the correct interpretation of the text (if not reproduced: news report). They alert the receiver (expextations) to the promotional intent. Once the framing is dropped the promo is “objectified”, less likely to be considered critically. They’re peripheral (also visually) to the part of the PR that aims at being reproduced 56

PR: move structure(continued) While not all moves are always present, some are“obligatory”: -Periphery logo, caption -Core headline, lead, justification of newsworthiness 57

Informative vs. promotional features The peripheral collocation of some of the most advertisement-like features (logo, contact details= a respose is invited) does not mean that promotinal features are located in the periphery and the informative in the core: intrusion (no textual chunks univocally related to a single purpose) NB: promotional need to be interpreted in a broader sense (i. e. in a crisis response situation: face-saving strategies) 58

PR: move structure Move structure applies not only to productrelated and company-promoting PR, but also to other types of corporate PR, not of a promotional nature but covering other aspects of corporate activity In 2001 Enron tryed to save its reputation 59

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PR in the Internet era: e-release Electronic distribution (i. e. virtual newsrooms) -PR accesible to the GENERAL public -bypass journalist as gatekeepers (BUT reproduction by reporters still crucial). -appear on the company website with no delay -audience: multiple stakeholders (Mc. Laren/ Gurău, 2005) indentified ex. investors as the main addressee: however PR still meant for the press -expanded the potential reach of PR that can be forwarded to selected contacts 62

From its origins to recent days At the beginnig: Web used simply as an efficient mean of distribution (same format: frozen) Now: subatantial changes in textual features , content, distribution from static PDF to HTML (Hyper. Text Markup Language): interactive forms, embedded images, hidden info (i. e. tags to retrieve the document) EVEN IF standard print versions continue to be sent to journalists 63

Genre theory and the webgenres (Garzone 2007) Webgenres are more receiver-oriented. PR’s intended addressees are journalists but… PR writers must consider other categories of users textual features communicative purpose 64

Genres as professional practices Defined and identified by: - textual features - but also: production, distribution, reception 65

Distribution 1. Newswire agencies 2. e-release distributor 3. Corporate websites 66

Distribution (continued) Both newswire agencies and e-release distributors claim to be able to give visibility (PR designed to be picked up by search engines) SEO (search engine optimization): PR must be worded + keywords + tags (HTML) 67

Distribution (continued) Corporate websites: in 2002 only 30% had dedicated newsroom (Fortune 500) Now: most companies have newsrooms directly accessible from their homepages Many PR are published in PDF format (= printed versions sent to journalists) An increasing number of companies are opting for both PDF and HTML text changes 68

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E-release: textual features PR published in HTML format in newsroom section : -Occupies the central position - Is surrounded by a number of framing features 71

Differences In terms of textual features: greater distinction between core and peripheral features: • labels (“news release”) remain unchanged • Contact details more peripheral (scroll down effort) 72

Differences (continued) Core features: Often only headline and lead are visible “inverted pyramid” 73

Differences (continued) Introduction of hypertextual features: Dynamic organization of information through links (non-linear) more active reader 74

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Differences (continued) multimodal nature journalists are no longer privileged recipients 76

“Genre repertories” Orlikowski and Yates (1994): Sets of genres used within a community for a range of communicative purposes. PR still key genre but growing trend for multimodal contents challenge 77

The death of the press release? ! By Tom Foremski for Silicon. Valley. Watcher (February 27, 2006): in favour of the deconstruction of PR (“nearly useless” piece of corporate communication) 78

Foremski (continued) Controversial: - is “simply informative” possible? - traditional move structure should be “pre -sectioned" and tagged 79

Foremski (continued) Consequences: a leading PR company published a PR template taking up his suggestions… 80

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The PR template can be downloaded and used for free NB: self-definition: “Social Media PR” suitable for blogs 82

PDF format seems to go against the evolution of the genre. BUT it gives unity (vs. set of separate building blocks) NB: suplementary peripheral features (i. e. RSS feeds) 83

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PR releases by Social Media Group and Digital Snippets More recent, more emphasis on fragmentation: “digital snippets” replicate the inverted pyramid of PR -Header -Boilerplate migrates to the top (still peripheral) -Quotes downgraded to “additional info” TENDENCY TO OBJECTIFY INFO Facts not organised into a story but left to speak for themselves 85

PR release by Social Media Group and Digital Snippets (continued) -vertical frame reintroduced: typical of webpage organization multimedia contents video, audio… 86

both examples…. Give emphasis to FUNCTIONS which the different parts of the PR are meant to serve genre-based perspective 87

Changes in partecipation framework different publics/multiple audiences: journalists (specialized community, historically the main addresses, gatekeepers) + general readers (see ref. to social media in both ex) 88

Polarization promotional vs. informative purpose Web publishing potential clients more promotional PR linguistic changes in e-release (Strobbe and Jacobs 2005) + “reaction” (see Foremski) 89

Future? At this stage in the evolution of the genre it is too early to evaluate. However, multimedia contents are effective and captivating and increasingly used 90

M&As press releases M&As for an increasing number of companies. Quick integration is required, but: - conflicts of interest - organizational resistance - various kinds of power at play. Studies: sociopsycilogical+organizational+cultural (culture clash management) 91

M&As: identity Now binomial BUT legally different (power assymmetry). The targert company becomes part of the acquirer, in merge the identity of the target company (should) be protected and partners (should) construct a new identity from their union integration problems 92

M&As: identity(continued) In the past: “take-over” referred to the purchase of a majority stake in a smaller company on the part of a larger one (emphasis on hostile situation: connotation) Now: “merger” is more frequent even if originally used for companies of a similar size 93

M&As: identity(continued) Identity self-represetation: one of the key features in PR. In mergers, are companies given equal chance to portray themselves? 94

M&As: identity(continued) No, they aren’t ! They all display a clear buyer orientation: - PR usually issued by acquiring company - no boilerplate of the target company - no contact details of the target company 95

PR announcing partnerships 96

PR announcing partnerships Both companies’ logos (at the top corners) - Both compaiens subject position - Both companies provide boilerplates+contact details - PR issued jointly BUT - acquirer mentioned first (Man Group) - its logo up left (our left-to-right reading) - quote from acquirer’s CEO appears first - boilerplate from acquirer appears first - 97

M&A press release: issuers [Corpus: 48 PR from list of M&A published weekly by CNN Money] Source Joint Acquirer Target Number of releases 4 41 3 NB: target company passive 98

M&A press release: contact details and boilerplates identity • Companies issuing PR provide their own contact details, even if sometimes info are also given to reach the target company • Similar trend for boilerplates BUT more boilerplate descriptions of target company (8 out of 41, some no boilerplates at all). Generally the acquirer description comes first. 99

M&A press release: pseudoquotes High number of quotes attributed to the target company in PR issued by acquirers Voicing partner’s supporting opinion in acquisition processes in order to project an image of cooperation wich reinforces the idea of collaboration 100

Representing identity in pseudoquotes Pseudoquotes: approved statements attributed to company officials, tipically commenting on the events Priviledged loci for the voicing of subjective opinions: journalists can use them without necessarily endorse the company’s opinion NB: for every kind of sectors and markets 101

Fair. Point Completes Acquisition of Cass County Telephone Assets July 26, 2006: 5: 00 p. m. EST CHARLOTTE, N. C. , July 26. Communications, Inc. announced today that it has completed the purchase of the assets of Cass County Telephone Company Limited Partnership and LEC Long Distance, Inc. (collectively, Cass County) for the purchase price of approximately $33. 0 million, subject to adjustment. Cass County provides telecommunications and Internet services to rural areas of Missouri and Kansas. Cass County has approximately 8, 600 access line equivalents currently in operation, consisting of approximately 6, 800 residential lines, 1, 000 business lines and 800 high speed data (HSD) ubscribers. Cass County also has HSD infrastructure which supports approximately 90% of its customers with a current penetration rate of approximately 11%. This transaction supports Fair. Point's strategic objective of creating shareholder value through accretive acquisitions as the price paid for Cass County is less than 5. 75 times the projected EBITDA from the acquired assets in the first full year of operation. Fair. Point expects that the acquired assets will generate approximately $11 million in revenue in the first full year of operation. Additionally, the areas served by Cass County have experienced new home growth and Fair. Point expects this trend to continue. “The acquisition of Cass County is a clear example of our corporate vision in action, ” said Gene Johnson, Chairman and CEO of Fair. Point. “As such, we expect this transaction will be immediately accretive to free cash flow and will improve our dividend payout ratio. Furthermore, we are very excited about the prospect of offering new products and services to this customer base. ” Johnson continued, “Specifically, we believe the growth prospects in the areas served by Cass County and the relatively low HSD penetration will present excellent opportunities. Additionally, today's transaction is in line with our strategy to focus on increasing shareholder value through a combination of organic and external growth. We are committed to pursuing opportunities that improve our cash available to pay dividends and enhance our operating position. ” About Fair. Point is a leading provider of communications services to rural communities across the country. Incorporated in 1991, Fair. Point's mission is to acquire and operate telecommunications companies that set the standard of excellence for the delivery of service to rural communities. Today, Fair. Point owns and operates 29 rural local exchange companies (RLECs) located in 18 states offering an array of services, including local and long distance voice, data, Internet and broadband offerings. 102

Identity stategies in pseudoquotes Identity building process involves different media and audiences, however PR is the “official” voice of the company. Dominating strategies are: - projection of continuity in change - emphasis on corporate culture 103

Projection of continuity in change M&A is potentially theatening to companies’ identity. Companies present change as evolution and put emphasis on continuity see examples 104

Projection of continuity in change (1) The acquisition of Park Place provides ANL with another outstanding community on the state's east coast. As with our recent acquisition […] the community provides an opportunity for ANL to create significant incremental value […]. As with other locations in Florida, we will utilise our skills in the senior lifestyle living and community development business to create another high-quality ANL community. […] This acquisition continues our focus on resort-style, destination communities, […] where we believe there will be continued growth and value creation for our residents and shareholders. (American Land Lease/Park Place Manufactured Home Community) (2) Consistent with our strategy …. (National City/Fidelity Bankshares) (3) We are delighted to have been afforded the opportunity to purchase these outstanding properties, once again utilising our longstanding network of relationships. (Cedar Shopping Centers/Supermarket anchored properties) (4) We look forward to continuing to grow the organisation through developing client relationships. (Iberiabank/Pocahontas Bancorp) 105

Idea of consistency in change (1) We intend to build on … (National City/Fidelity Bankshares) (2) We are excited to have found the right partner to assist us with our expansion […] First Community Bank has an outstanding Board of Directors, associates, and client base. (Iberiabank/Pocahontas Bancorp) (3) Joining forces with National City will enhance our product and service offering and greatly expand the channels …. (National City/Fidelity Bankshares)… (4) The Carlisle property further enhances our core and development portfolio in central and eastern Pennsylvania. (Cedar Shopping Centers/Supermarket anchored properties) (5) ADP's global presence and payroll expertise will surely enrich and expand core product features while broadening our reach in the HR/Benefits space. (ADP/Employase) (6) IST will greatly increase our presence with key customers in the intelligence community, DOD, and Homeland Security […] Combining the SIGINT and advanced countermeasure technologies of IST with EDO’s specialised surveillance, communications, and forceprotection products will strengthen our presence in a number of strategically important, growing business areas. IST has some unique capabilities that have been recognised by its customers. As part of EDO, these capabilities can be enhanced to an even larger scale. (EDO/Impact Science and Technology). 106

Projection of continuity in change (comparative structures) (1) This is an exciting new chapter for PAE […] The synergies created by this combination will significantly benefit our customers, business partners, and employees. With access to greater resources, more expansive operational flexibility, and a broader spectrum of services, we will be better positioned to address our customers’ expanding, specialised, and ever-evolving needs. (Lockheed/PAE) (2) We believe that IMS/Vo. IP is an important and growing market and that Convedia's market leading products and strong customer relationships, together with Radi. Sys' ATCA leadership, creates a broader and more compelling portfolio of solutions for our customers across a larger addressable market. (Radisys/Convedia) (3) EDO will benefit from a substantially increased presence with the Army, while CAS will benefit from a larger customer base and EDO’s broad technical diversity and capabilities. (EDO/CAS) 107

2 nd strategy for identity: emphasis on corporate culture -pseudoquotes provide reassuring comments on the good cultural fit, compatibility, of companies involved (representing mergers as “good metches”, “weddings”) -companies are portrayed as sharing a commitment (to customers, communities, ethics) and object see exaples 108

(1) We’re proud to team up with a company that shares our commitment to our customers and our communities. […] (National City/Fidelity Bankshares) (2) Sterling …. shares our commitment to customer service. […] Together we will ensure that this is a seamless transition. (Digital Realty Trust/ 120 E. van Buren Street) (3) Lockheed Martin undoubtedly shares our commitment to performance excellence, ethics, and integrity, our promise to partner with our customers, and our dedication to providing rapid response and quality services. (Lockheed/PAE) (4) This acquisition is the logical outcome of Qualphone's and QUALCOMM's common goal of simplifying the deployment of 3 G services around the world. (Qualcomm/Qualphone) (5) Yamana and Viceroy have been involved in strategic discussions for some time and in that time it has become very apparent that not only do Viceroy and Yamana share a common strategic outlook, but we espouse a common vision for our shareholders. (Yamana Gold/Viceroy) 109

Emphasis on autonomy of the target company (1) First community was founded on the belief that customers prefer local decision-making when choosing a bank. […] Iberiabank operates a relationship-focused, local decision-based banking model similar to ours. […] Robert Head will provide synergistic leadership while understanding our local client needs. (Iberiabank/Pocahnotas Bancorp) (2) Local decision making is and will remain a central theme of National City’s business model, as will a commitment to supporting the communities it serves. (National City/Fidelity Bankshares) 110

Emphasis on cultural compatibility 1) Culturally, the two companies are very compatible and we’re really looking forward to jointly addressing the rapidly growing wireless market. (Digi/Maxstream – press release issued by Digi) (2) We have found Max. Stream to be an open, high integrity culture, where great listening and teaming are highly valued, and where innovation is ingrained. […] These values are very compatible with the Digi culture. (Digi/Maxstream – press release issued by Maxstream) (3) Ultimately, we felt Digi was the right fit for our technology, our culture and our future (Digi/Maxstream – press release issued by Maxstream) (4 This is really an exciting combination – the strategic fit between the two companies is remarkable. (Digi/Maxstream – press release issued by Digi) (5) The founder of Mission Burritos, Wendy Mitchell, chose to sell to MRI because she felt that the corporate cultures were a good fit with continued consistency of product and service levels (Mexican Restaurants/Mission Burritos) 111

M&As press release: conclusions Acquiring company tends to be featured in a prominent position In text oreganization it correspons to priviledged position of acquirer-related info (logo, boilerplates, contact details, pseudoquotes) 112

M&As press release: conclusions (continued) At the same time: pseudoquotes by target company officials (alongside issuer’s) They confirm the prominent role of quotes in PR Identity definition (frequent topics, dominant themes, recurrent linguistic expressions) and self-representation strategies in a potentially threatening situation 113

PR and Crisis Communication Crisis: “a predictable event that occurs at an unexpected time and threatens the well being of stakeholders” (Heath 2004) threatens company’s image and identity Under pressure companies must do sth! 114

Crisis communication (continued) If crisis involves a social dimension (accidents, environmental disasters, financial crisis, recall of products…) prompt info NB: There’s an intrinsic news value of the story 115

Crisis communication (continued) If communication fails: -it reflects negatively on companies involved: reputation -competing versions might become established 116

Crisis communication (continued) PR was born in crisis situation(Pennsylvania Railroad, 1906) Nowadays much more promotional genre BUT in crisis situations PR is no more overtly pormotional but may attempt to be persuasive 117

Financial crisis background From 2001: corporate accounting scandals Enron, Andersen’s…. Crisis spreads to Europe: 2003 Parmalat 118

Parmalat and Enron’s press releases Corpus: 57 PR by Enron 59 by Parmalat (English versions issued at the same time as the italian ones) Some PR issued before the crisis proper (insolvency status) 119

Parmalat and Enron’s press releases (continued) Mixed method of analysis: • macrotextual point of view (format of the genre) • content (image preservation+restoration strategies) • linguistic analysis proper (lexical+syntactic regularities) 120

format of the genre Formal features (peripheral+core+boundary) make PR recognisable to journalists and general public. If one or more features are absent interpretative effort NB: some typical traits of PR(positive self-represantation, positive evalutative language) not suited to crisis 121

Formal features: peripheral+boundary BOTH Enron and Parmalat: logo+ caption (“news release”, “press release”) DIFFERENCES: -contact details -boilerplate descriptions 122

contact details Enron: name and ph number of corporate officer in prominent position (just below the logo in PDF versions, in the bottom frame in HTML) Parmalat: no name specified, no dedicated number, just a formula in the page footer (with other mandatory details) lack of willingness to give more info 123

Parmalat’s contact details Sede legale: 43044 Collecchio (Pr) – Via Oreste Grassi, 26 Codice fiscale e iscrizione nel Registro delle Imprese di Parma 00175250471 – Partita I. V. A. 01938950340 – R. E. A. Parma n. 188325 – U. I. C. n. 730 Sede amministrativa: 20122 Milano – Piazza Erculea, 9 – Tel. (39) 02. 8068801 – Fax (39) 02. 8693863 e-mail x_affari_societari_it@parmalat. net NB: both in the Italian and English versions 124

boilerplate descriptions Parmalat: typically omits them - foreign press might have used them (only descriptive apposition, “the Italian dairy giant”) - competing (more negative ) versions 125

boilerplate descriptions (continued) Enron: always use them. BUT, as time goes by: erosion of company’s image see exaples 126

boilerplate shrinks! 22 October 2001 (before SEC informal inquiry) Enron one of the world’s leading energy, commodity, and service companies. The company markets electricity and natural gas, delivers energy and other physical commodities, and provides financial risk management services to customers around the world. Enron’s Internet address is www. enron. com. The stock is traded under the ticker symbol “ENE. ” 26 June 2002 (after bankruptcy) Enron’s Internet address is www. enron. com NB: textual counterpart to the gradual erosion of campany’s image 127

Preformulation In order to be copied by journalists, PR contain preformulation devices (Jacobs 1999) -third-person self-reference -semi-perfomatives -pseudoquotes 128

ENRON CORP. ELECTS WILLIAM POWERS, JR. TO BOARD OF DIRECTORS AND ESTABLISHES SPECIAL COMMITTEE TO EXAMINE RELATED PARTY TRANSACTIONS; SEC CHANGES INQUIRY TO FORMAL INVESTIGATION FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Wednesday, October 31, 2001 HOUSTON – The Board of Directors of Enron Corp. (NYSE: ENE) announced today the election of William Powers, Jr. to the Board, effective immediately. Powers is dean of the University of Texas School of Law in Austin, Texas. In addition, the Board has appointed a Special Committee, to be chaired by Powers, to examine and take any appropriate actions with respect to transactions between Enron and entities connected to related parties. In addition to reviewing the transactions in question, the Special Committee is charged with communicating with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and recommending any other actions it deems appropriate. Powers will be joined on the committee by independent directors Frank Savage, CEO of Savage Holdings LLC, Paulo Ferraz Pereira, executive vice president of the Brazilian-owned investment bank Group Bozano, and Herbert S. Winokur, Jr. , chairman and CEO of Capricorn Holdings, Inc. The Special Committee has retained William R. Mc. Lucas, a partner in the law firm of Wilmer, Cutler & Pickering, as its counsel. Mc. Lucas is a former head of the Division of Enforcement of the SEC. Wilmer, Cutler has retained Deloitte & Touche to provide independent accounting advice. Enron also reported that the SEC has opened a formal investigation into certain of the matters that were the subject of recent press reports and that previously were the subject of its informal inquiry. “I have asked the Board to take this action to address fully and forthrightly investors’ questions and concerns, ” said Enron Chairman and CEO Kenneth L. Lay. “Responding to the SEC offers us an additional opportunity to achieve this same goal for investors, and we will cooperate fully. We will also make every appropriate public disclosure during the course of the SEC’s investigation”. Powers currently holds the John Jeffers Research Chair in Law and the Hines H. Baker and Thelma Kelley Baker Chair in Law at the University of Texas School of Law, where he teaches torts, products liability, jurisprudence, legal process, civil procedure and contracts. He received his J. D. from the Harvard Law School in 1973. Enron is one of the world’s leading energy, commodities and services companies. The company markets electricity and natural gas, delivers energy and other physical commodities, and provides financial and risk management services to customers around the world. Enron’s Internet address is www. enron. com. The 129 stock is traded under the ticker symbol “ENE”.

Based on the information communicated by the Chairman, Cav. Lav. Calisto Tanzi, today’s Board of Directors’ meeting acknowledged: – the difficulties in liquidating Parmalat’s investment in the Epicurum Fund, which should have taken place on December 4, 2003, and the resulting delay in payment requested by the Epicurum Fund (which has in the meantime placed itself in liquidation), according to a repayment schedule that has yet to be defined; – the decision to delay repayment of € 150 million in bonds maturing on December 8, 2003 until the last possible deadline of December 15, 2003, in accordance with the regulations for bonds issued by Parmalat Finance Corporation. In view of the situation described by the Chairman, and with the aim of giving the market and financial institutions a sign of the Group’s willingness to find a transparent solution to what has recently become an increasingly difficult situation, the Board has engaged Mr. Enrico Bondi as a technical consultant, to draw up an eventual plan for the Group’s industrial and financial restructuring. The Chairman also announced that, as of December 8, 2003, Mr. Luciano Del Soldato has resigned his seat on the Board of Directors and his position as CFO. Cav. Lav. Calisto Tanzi reiterated the Tanzi family’s commitment, during this difficult time, to the Parmalat Group’s shareholders, bondholders, staff, customers and suppliers to preserve the Company’s value in the interests of all its stakeholders. Milan, December 9, 2003 130

pseudoquotes NB: Parmalat’s pseudoquotes, estremely infrequent, and in the form of reported speech pseduquotes are most likely to be reproduced in news articles (communication strategy) 131

Different textual organization Parmalat (see next slide): - no headlines - introductory paragraph is not a lead (concise exposition) - no commentary, just list - no evaluative lang. (no mitigation): should be typical of PR! NB: no interpretative key, the main point is presented in a very indirect way (double subordinate structure) variours actors are hard to indentify 132

Parmalat Finanziaria S. p. A. communicates that on 17 December 2003 Bank of America N. A. , New York Branch, informed Grant Thornton, the auditor of Bonlat Financing Corporation, a company based in the Cayman Islands and part of the Parmalat Group, that it does not have “an account” in the name of Bonlat. Further, Bank of America denied the authenticity of a document dated 6 March 2003 that certified the existence of securities and liquidity amounting to approximately € 3, 950 million as at 31 December 2002 relating to Bonlat. This document was taken as the basis for the certification of Bonlat’s 2002 accounts. The letter from Bank of America follows a request for information made on the same date by Grant Thornton. The above information was provided to Parmalat by Consob in the late afternoon of 18 December 2003. Further to the above, the Company has initiated the necessary urgent verifications. The Company also informs that the Chairman has called an Extraordinary Meeting of the Board of Directors to take place in the late afternoon of today with “Chairman’s Communication” on the agenda. 133

Different textual organization Enron (see next slide): - dual focus headline - positive comments - evalutative component (pseudoquotes) - typical peripheral features: (contact details, boilerplate) NB: dialogic component in E’s communication strategy 134

ENRON CORP. ELECTS WILLIAM POWERS, JR. TO BOARD OF DIRECTORS AND ESTABLISHES SPECIAL COMMITTEE TO EXAMINE RELATED PARTY TRANSACTIONS; SEC CHANGES INQUIRY TO FORMAL INVESTIGATION FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Wednesday, October 31, 2001 HOUSTON – The Board of Directors of Enron Corp. (NYSE: ENE) announced today the election of William Powers, Jr. to the Board, effective immediately. Powers is dean of the University of Texas School of Law in Austin, Texas. In addition, the Board has appointed a Special Committee, to be chaired by Powers, to examine and take any appropriate actions with respect to transactions between Enron and entities connected to related parties. In addition to reviewing the transactions in question, the Special Committee is charged with communicating with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and recommending any other actions it deems appropriate. Powers will be joined on the committee by independent directors Frank Savage, CEO of Savage Holdings LLC, Paulo Ferraz Pereira, executive vice president of the Brazilian-owned investment bank Group Bozano, and Herbert S. Winokur, Jr. , chairman and CEO of Capricorn Holdings, Inc. The Special Committee has retained William R. Mc. Lucas, a partner in the law firm of Wilmer, Cutler & Pickering, as its counsel. Mc. Lucas is a former head of the Division of Enforcement of the SEC. Wilmer, Cutler has retained Deloitte & Touche to provide independent accounting advice. Enron also reported that the SEC has opened a formal investigation into certain of the matters that were the subject of recent press reports and that previously were the subject of its informal inquiry. “I have asked the Board to take this action to address fully and forthrightly investors’ questions and concerns, ” said Enron Chairman and CEO Kenneth L. Lay. “Responding to the SEC offers us an additional opportunity to achieve this same goal for investors, and we will cooperate fully. We will also make every appropriate public disclosure during the course of the SEC’s investigation”. Powers currently holds the John Jeffers Research Chair in Law and the Hines H. Baker and Thelma Kelley Baker Chair in Law at the University of Texas School of Law, where he teaches torts, products liability, jurisprudence, legal process, civil procedure and contracts. He received his J. D. from the Harvard Law School in 1973. Enron is one of the world’s leading energy, commodities and services companies. The company markets electricity and natural gas, delivers energy and other physical commodities, and provides financial and risk management services to customers around the world. Enron’s Internet address is www. enron. com. The 135 stock is traded under the ticker symbol “ENE”.

Crisis: image restoration/preservation Restoration strategies (Benoit 1995) - denial - evasion of responsability - reduction of offensiveness - corrective action - mortification (legal advisers recommend vagueness) 136

Enron Following the first rumours Enron made use of: - denial - evasion of responsability - reduction of offensiveness + Strenghtening the image of the company by means of positive actions (see PR announcing special committee) 137

Parmalat At the beginning: - denial - counterattacks targeting unknown entities: narrative of “victimisation”(Gilpin 2008) When denial was no longer possible: no more coherent narratives but episodic accounts of increasingly dramatic events, insistence on external factors (to reduce company’s responsability BUT giving the idea of a loss of control) 138

Microlinguistic analysis - Quantitative analysis (Wordsmith Tools 4. 0) - Limited to the body of PR (no peripheral features and boilerplates) • E: 57 texts = 17, 746 words • P: 59 texs = 12, 783 words E’s PR are longer but more repetitive (number of diffrent words) 139

wordlists The 5 most frequent words Enron corpus: company (0. 89%), will (0. 81%), board (0. 75), we (0. 53%), and our (0. 49%) Parmalat corpus: extraordinary (0. 79%), Finanziaria (0. 63%), group (0. 63%), administration (0. 62%), and company (0. 59%). 140

worldlists Both: self-referentiality (E>P) Both: will (E 0. 81%>P 0. 43) orientation to the future 141

keywords Enron corpus: said (73. 49), we (61. 27), our (57. 12), announced (48. 85). Parmalat corpus: words used in the company description (Parmalat, Finanziaria, extraordinary, administration), followed by the verb form communicates (62. 23) and by the noun decree (41. 47) – a term linked to the legal aspects of the Italian bankruptcy proceedings, like the lexical items commissioner (36. 28), request (29. 56) and legislative (27. 64) P: dominant bureaucratic element 142

verb tenses Parmalat opts for the present tense doesn’t serve the purposes of preformulation (journalists need to adapt) NB: in E corpus higher frequency of said (connected to pseudoquotes) 143

Self-representation in the Enron corpus Concordance lists extracted for we (always in quotations) The most common patterns are: we will, we are, we believe. 144

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we will Generally followed by active verbs subject as an actor active commitment on the part of Enron 146

we believe Introduces statements to justify past or indicate possible future developments speaker’s good faith + reduces certainity of what follows (limiting legal responsability) 147

we are In combination with: - progressive form (i. e. to continue) - adjectives (i. e. pleased, gratified, hopeful) It reveals Enron’s proactive attitude despite the circumstances 148

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Self-representation in the Parmalat corpus Will occours less frequently thus indicating a weaker orientation to future will nearly always occurs in the pattern will be and is typically associated with passive forms 150

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Parmalat Passive p articipant in events initiated by other actors: Parmalat Finanziaria has decided to accept the request of liquidation … l Parmalat Finanziaria complained …. will reserve its action against the instigators l Parmalat has noted the above and has reserved any decision l 152

Parmalat Even when active participation in a process is implied, the action is often described by means of a grammatical metaphor which deflects attention from the participants to the event: l …negotiations are still in progress … 153

Parmalat • “Parmalat S. p. A intends to act to preserve the value of the Company and its brands” intend is used to convey intentionality BUT it is weaker than will and conveys a lack of confidence on the part of Parmalat 154

Strategic choises in crisis PR: CONCLUSIONS Enron: -presents corporate decisions before the descriptions of negative events which have prompted them -lexical level: suggests optimism -dialogic dimension (contact details, pseudoquotes, boilerplate) Parmalat: reacts rather than act (ineffective communication strategy) 155