Summary of results

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5. Conclusion

The purposes of this research are to investigate the relationship between celebrities’

blogs, the mass media and audiences in the new media era, and realize how blogs are used by celebrities to repair their image in an image crisis. The following outlines the major results, contributions, and limitations of the study, and provides some recommendations for future research in this field.

5.1 Summary of results

The analysis shows that, when a celebrity encounters an image crisis, “Reducing the Offensiveness of the Event” is the major strategy used in blogs; in terms of the variant strategies used, “bolstering” has the utmost presence, followed by “transcendence”, attack

“accuser” and “denial”. The research findings are basically consistent with Benoit’s (1997) investigation of Hugh Grant’s image restoration discourse of his lewd behavior in the mass media. Both cases used “bolstering”, “attack one’s accuser” and “denial” to repair their image. This suggests that celebrities use similar image remedy strategies in both traditional media and new media. However, Hugh Grant used “mortification” as the major strategy, while this was never used by Yi in her blog.

In his research, Benoit (1997) argued that it may be easier for entertainers to use mortification than politicians, since their mortifications will not lead to having a serious impact on people’s lives. Nevertheless, it is also important to consider the gender difference when discussing why mortification was not used in Yi’s case. Woman receive higher moral censorship by the public than men. A woman tends to be more severely criticized if the same extramarital situation happens. In Hugh Grant’s case, he admitted his mistake and did not offer excuses to minimize the damage, and this may have given his apology a genuine

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feeling and gained a positive influence. Nevertheless, if a woman confesses her extramarital wrongdoings in public, the same positive feedback may be gainedt to a lesser extent Gender difference may explain why mortification was never shown in Yi’s case.

Although the image remedy strategies conducted by Hugh Grant and Yi are similar, it cannot be argued that these image strategies are “the” strategies used by every celebrity.

Different kinds of strategies have to be applied according to different image crises. For example, Andy Lau, a famous actor and singer in Chinese society, used mortification to confess to his fans in his blog in the first place, when he was found to be already married.

Thus, it is important to consider what types of strategies to use in different situations.

As for the second research question, the data analysis shows that, no matter what kind of image repair strategies are used by celebrities, their blogging posts tend to be put under the mass media’s framework, which offsets the celebrities’ remedial efforts. For example, ten of Yi’s 18 posts cited by Apple Daily are used in a negative fashion. Although their texts do get cited, they are often reported with extra explanations or not taken as being real fact.

However, if celebrities’ blogging content can be published and articulated in the right context, they have a greater chance to be fairly covered.

It is observed that the key points to make celebrities’ blogging content effective and influential in the mass media are clarity of articulation and the time point of publication.

Unlike being interviewed on the spot, when reporters use celebrities’ blogging content, they lack non-verbal cues for observation and what they have is only text. Thus, if celebrities cannot clearly articulate their words, they may be misunderstood by reporters. Also, when the mass media use celebrities’ blogging content, they do not necessarily take it as being the truth and often devise their own explanation. If ideas of texts are ambiguously written, they are hard to be perceived and also provide extra room for interpretation. If celebrities can articulate their ideas clearly or provide more non-verbal cues for reporters to follow, at least

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that will prevent the possibility of extended interpretations. Besides, it is best for celebrities to justify themselves in their blogs right after a newsworthy event. A celebrity’s social media platform garners the utmost attention when there are related news events about him or her, and almost any text published will be adopted as news material as a reflection of their moods. In Yi’s case, her first reported justification was right after news of the extramarital affair had broken out; her second reported justification was after the news of her traveling with Harlem. However, as the news value of events decreases over time, justifications are not necessarily used as news material because of less media attention. This decreases the possibility of their texts being seen in the mass media. Reacting fast on social media platforms increases the chances of being exposed in the mass media.

As for the comments left on Yi’s blog, it is observed from the analysis that audiences engage in a pull and push between celebrities’ blogs and mass media coverage, and celebrities’ blogging contents are a counter force against the coverage of the mass media.

However, if the mass media can provide audiences with more evidence to prove that Yi’s image is inconsistent with the favorable image in her blog, her fan base will be seriously influenced, especially if the evidence is credible. As for fans, the majority expressed an opinion that her blog is the more authentic side of her; and except for those that showed their strong dislike of her, some visitors also revealed that they felt her posts were sincerely written.

The relationship between celebrities, the media and audiences has already altered after development of blogs, and other burgeoning new media platforms are still coming out. In future, there will only be more media outlets shortening the distance between audiences and celebrities. Although they may be demonstrated in different formats and styles, no matter how the trend changes, it is imperative for celebrities to maintain a good and subtle balance with audiences and know how to provide the proper “contents”. In an era where information

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is much easier to share, to remodel and to reproduce, these contents will eventually decide how their fans and the traditional media interact with them, and will, to a very large extent, affect the image of them which is presented to the public.