What she did next, though, stretches the boundaries of image repair, engaging in something more in line with image prepare—an approach in line with inoculation theory—to anticipate and prepare for attacks on image before they occur, using strategies of image repair proactively.
Josh Compton & Jordan Compton
The image repair rhetoric of Jane Rosenberg, courtroom sketch artist for the Tom Brady “Deflategate” case, expands our understanding of image repair rhetoric at the intersection of sport, legal, and popular communication. This analysis draws on the comprehensive work of Benoit’s typology of image repair. We found that Rosenberg used a number of image repair strategies, including evading responsibility, reducing offensiveness, mortification, and corrective action. Some strategies seemed to function as preemptive image prepare. Additional media coverage adapted much of her rhetoric into conventional, familiar sport narratives, including the “comeback” and/or “redemption” story. We discuss how these strategies fit—or did not—conventional strategies of image repair.
Compton, J., & Compton, J. L. (2018). The athlete’s image, visual representation, and image repair/image prepare: Tom Brady, Jane Rosenberg, and the courtroom sketches. The International Journal of the Image, 9(2). https://doi.org/10.18848/2154-8560/CGP/v09i02/73-88
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