Managing impressions of culpability: a membership categorisation analysis of 1MDB’s CEO radio interview

• Main Author: Yoong, David
• Format: Conference or Workshop Item
• Language: English
• Published: 2018
• Subjects: P Philology. Linguistics
• Online Access: http://eprints.um.edu.my/19598/1/David_Yoong_-_Managing_Impressions_of_Culpability.pdf; http://eprints.um.edu.my/19598/
• Institution: Universiti Malaya

Ever since its inception, 1MDB has been associated with rife corruption, fiscal mismanagement, and political scandals. Insider leaks and unflattering international reports of this strategic development company have not only affected a wide range of public opinion and discourses, but also tainted Malaysia’s reputation, and had a destabilising effect on the nation's economic, political and societal health. 1MDB’s dealings have been a subject of news reports, legal and criminal inquiry in various parts of the world. In fact, the US Department of Justice declared 1MDB a symptom of the worst form of kleptocracy that put the spotlight on the then Prime Minister of Malaysia, Dato’ Sri Najib Razak. To counter the narrative of misconduct and distrust, numerous initiatives were performed including roadshows and an interview of 1MDB’s CEO by a prominent independent radio station, BFM. This 1-hour long radio interview is the focus of this research. Coming from a membership categorisation analysis lens, this research examines the types of categories that were invoked by the CEO to deflect and manage impressions of culpability in an adversarial interview. Studying this interview helps us understand the CEO’s communicative strategies in deploying categories, and how counter categories and narratives work to make the question “Who to trust?” difficult to answer.