Apology as Power Intervention: The Case of News of the World

Abstract

This essay analyzes, via the Rhetoric of Social Intervention (RSI) model, Rupert Murdoch's attempts to maintain a cooperative relationship with the British public despite his news organization's power-code violations. It finds that Murdoch's apologies failed to prevent a relational shift because they failed to account for power code. Also, the lateness of the Murdoch executives’ recognition of their social-system interdependency encouraged relational change. This essay contends that apology is part of a social-system dynamic in which interveners negotiate adherence to or change in the power code that underlies power-sharing systems created to meet symbolically constructed needs. In addition, the findings help clarify and support the RSI assumption that interventions involve multiple interconnected interveners, who, in their ongoing, simultaneous efforts, communicatively promote and impede social change and continuity. However, this study is limited by its emphasis on power intervention. Future studies should explore the potential shifts in interpretations of need and worldview that accompany power shifts to create a more holistic perspective of social change that might result from apology.