NÄR LEGITIMITETEN HOTAS. En kvalitativ textanalys av Folkhälsomyndighetens kriskommunikation under förtroendekrisen efter Magnus Gissléns kritik 2025

Abstract

In August 2025, the Public Health Agency of Sweden (Folkhälsomyndigheten) found itself in a difficult position after facing extensive criticism regarding its fundamental medical knowledge and expertise. The criticism was raised by the former State Epidemiologist, Magnus Gisslén, who publicly questioned the agency’s ability to fulfill its responsibility of protecting Swedish public health. After resigning from his post due to disagreements with the agency’s management, Gisslén expressed on social media that the agency lacked sufficial medical knowledge and that he no longer trusted its capabilities to manage major health threats such as a future pandemic. The criticism quickly made the headlines of mainstream media, and directly challenged the core legitimacy of the agency as Gisslén suggested that the establishment of a new public authority is necessary. Consequently, the Public Health Agency entered an institutional crisis triggered by Gisslén’s whistleblowing, and had to engage in crisis communication to protect its credibility and legitimacy, not only among the public but also among other stakeholders. This thesis examines how the Public Health Agency responded to the criticism through its crisis communication in press releases and public statements during the period of August to late November 2025. The purpose of the study is to identify and analyze the communication strategies the agency used to defend its reputation and legitimacy following Gisslén’s whistleblowing. The study does not seek to evaluate the effectiveness of the communication, but rather to describe and interpret its development. The analysis is grounded in a theoretical framework consisting of three complementary perspectives: Image Repair Theory, legitimacy theory, and the theory of apologia (defense) and kategoria (accusation). Together, these theories provide a comprehensive understanding of how crisis communication is constructed and negotiated in complex institutional crises. The theory of apologia and kategoria explains and conceptualizes crisis communication as a dynamic interaction between accusations and defensive responses. Image Repair Theory offers a typology of communication strategies used in reputation management, while legitimacy theory explains how organizations seek to defend and restore different types of legitimacy through crisis communication. The study employs a qualitative text analysis of twelve texts published by the Public Health Agency and in mainstream media. The material consists of official press releases, opinion pieces, email responses, and appearances in nationally broadcast television programs. The results demonstrate that the agency employed several different communication strategies to defend multiple forms of legitimacy throughout the crisis. Initially, the agency’s response was highly confrontational, relying primarily on strategies such as bolstering, denial, and minimization, focusing on defending pragmatic and moral legitimacy. In the later stage of the crisis, the agency shifted toward the use of corrective actions and adopted a more neutral, institutional approach, primarily focusing on defending cognitive legitimacy. Overall, the findings show how crises of credibility are dynamic processes in which accusations and defensive responses continuously develop in relation to each other and to the actions of various actors and stakeholders. The results further show a tension in the agency’s crisis communication between repairing a damaged reputation through confrontative strategies and protecting its institutional role as a public health authority in a more neutral approach. This tension raises broader questions concerning the communicative challenges public authorities face in a time of increasingly contested legitimacy and intensified media scrutiny. Future research should therefore examine how public organizations design, construct and operate their crisis communication strategies and how such strategies influence public trust and credibility. Future studies should also include larger samples of cases, texts and public organizations to provide valuable insights into broader patterns of crisis communication within the public sector.