Dividing a crisis management process into three stages, this study examined news coverage of swine flu crisis in terms of news frames, mortality exemplars, vaccine problems, evaluation approaches to risk magnitudes and news sources. Results revealed that various framing strategies were used in news media at different stages of the flu crisis.The frames of health risk, societal problems, political/legal issues and prevention/health education were mostly used at the pre-crisis stage, while the medical/scientific frame was regularly utilized at the post-crisis stage to highlight medical treatment and scientific research.The evaluation approaches were also employed differently. The qualitative approach was mostly used at the pre-crisis stage, while the quantitative and statistical approaches were applied frequently at the post-crisis stage. Health professionals were widely cited as news sources at each stage to increase public awareness of crisis severity, and government officials and politicians repeatedly appeared to function strategically toward the achievement of public-institution effectiveness at the pre-crisis stage.

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PurposeThe purpose of this paper was to examine the interplay between sports fanship and brand-related perceptions in the context of sports sponsorship. The effects of sport fans' self-enhancement strategies: Basking in reflected glory (BIRGing) and cutting off reflected failure (CORFing) were investigated in response to how sports fans connected themselves to a sponsor brand as well as whether their sponsor brand trust and loyalty were activated.Design/methodology/approachAn experiment was designed in the first study to examine immediate effects of team performance and sports fandom on sports fans' connection to the sponsor brand, while an online survey was conducted in the second study to investigate the joint effects of team performance and game venue on sports fans' sponsor brand trust and loyalty.FindingsThe first study found that both team performance and sports fandom yielded significant effects on sports fans' connection to the sponsor brand. Specifically, sports fans with higher fandom reported the highest connection to the sponsor brand after the success of their favorite team, while others with lower fandom exhibited the lowest connection after the failure of their favorite team. The second study suggested that team performance and game venue yielded both main and joint effects on sponsor brand trust and loyalty. Moreover, fan identification mediated the joint effects of team performance and game venue on both sponsor brand trust and loyalty.Originality/valueReplicating the concepts of BIRGing and CORFing into the context of sports sponsorship, this paper verified the vigorous roles of BIRGing and CORFing in influencing sports fans' perceptions of the sponsor brand. Moreover, both theoretical and practical insights into BIRGing and CORFing concepts applicable to examine the impact of the fan–team relationships on sport fans' perceptions of the sponsor brand through sports sponsorship would be generated for the advancement of sports business research.

A limited number of studies have examined the effectiveness of apology techniques in image restoration of athletes involved in sex scandals. This case study used Benoit’s (1995) image-restoration strategies to examine the apology techniques 3 athletes used to negotiate their sex scandals and attempted to encourage further discussion of these techniques. Three athletes’ sex scandals were comparatively analyzed, including those of golfer Tiger Woods, National Football League quarterback Ben Roethlisberger, and the National Basketball Association’s Kobe Bryant. This case study integrated the apology statements made by each athlete and examined sports-news coverage of the scandals from The New York Times, USA Today, and The Washington Post. This case study offers important insights on how these athletes restored their images and handled the crises surrounded their sex scandals.