Swedish Media, Fundamental Values and the Opinion Corridor in the 2018 Election

Year 2021, , 12 - 34, 14.10.2021

Greg Simons

https://doi.org/10.32739/etkilesim.2021.4.8.136

Abstract

Sweden is usually ranking very highly in terms of global democracy and transparency indexes. The 2018 elections in Sweden were very divisive and bitterly fought, where there was an open conflict between the mainstream political establishment parties and the anti-political establishment Swedish Democrats. Mainstream Swedish media were not neutral bystanders in the election coverage, in the months before and after the September 2018 elections. The election coverage framing featured an idealised national myth that uses the notion of various acceptable fundamental values to define it, and an idealised Swedish society. Those actors whose values and norms that do not fit these ideals were subjected to attack and derision within a concept of consensus enforcement known as the opinion corridor, which is akin to the spiral of silence.

Keywords

framing theory, national myth, mass media, fundamental values, opinion corridor

2018 Seçimlerinde İsveç Medyası, Temel Değerler ve Kanaat Koridoru

Abstract

İsveç, küresel demokrasi ve şeffaflık endeksleri açısından çoğunlukla en üst sıralarda yer almaktadır. İsveç’teki 2018 seçimleri, ana akım siyasi partiler ile anti politik İsveç Demokratları arasında açık bir çatışmanın olduğu, kutuplaştırıcı bir iklimde gerçekleşmişti. Ana akım İsveç medyası, Eylül 2018 seçimlerinden önceki ve sonraki aylarda, seçim haberlerinde objektif değillerdi. Seçime dair haberlerin çerçevesi, idealize edilmiş bir ulusal efsaneyi ve idealleştirilmiş bir İsveç toplumunu içeriyordu. Bu ideallere uymayan değerleri ve normları olan aktörler, suskunluk sarmalına benzeyen, bir görüş birliğine zorlayan ve kanaat koridoru olarak bilinen yaklaşımla saldırı ve küçümsemeye maruz kaldılar.

Keywords

çerçeveleme kuramı, ulusal mit, kitle iletişim araçları, temel değerler, kanaat koridoru

Supporting Institution

IRES, Uppsala University (Sweden) and Humanitarian Institute, Ural Federal University (Russia)

References

• Allen, W. L. & Blinder, S. (2018), Media Independence Through Routine Press-State Relations: Immigration and Government Statistics in the British Press, The International Journal of Press/Politics, 23(2), pp. 202-226.
• Asp, K. (July 1983), The Struggle for the Agenda: Party Agenda, Media Agenda, and Voter Agenda in the 1979 Swedish Election Campaign, Communication Research, 10(3), pp. 333-355.
• Baines, P. R. & O’Shaughnessy, N. J. (2014), Political Marketing and Propaganda: Uses, Abuses, Misuses, Journal of Political Marketing, 13(1-2), pp. 1-18.
• Benson, R. (2010), What Makes for a Critical Press? A Case Study of French and U.S. Immigration News Coverage, The International Journal of Press/Politics, 15(1), pp. 3-24.
• Bengtsson, S. & Johansson, S. (2020), A Phenomenology of News: Understanding News In a Digital Culture, Journalism, DOI: 10/1177/1464884919901194.
• Bernays, E. L. (1947), The Engineering of Consent, The ANNALS of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, 250, pp. 113-120.
• Bolsen, T. (2011), The Construction of News: Energy Crises, Advocacy Messages, and Frames Towards Conversation, International Journal of Press/Politics, 16(2), pp. 143-162.
• Boréus, K. Bergström, G. (2017), Analysing Text and Discourse: Eight Approaches for the Social Sciences, Thousand Oaks (CA): Sage Publishing
• Brewer, P. R. (2002), Framing, Value Words, and Citizens’ Explanations of Their Issue Opinions, Political Communication, 19(3), pp. 303-316.
• Cacciatore, M. A., Scheufele, D. A. & Iyengar, S. (2016), The End of Framing as we Know it … and the Future of Media Effects, Mass Communication and Society, 19(1), pp. 7-23.
• David, C. C., Atun, J. M., Fille, E. & Monterola, C. (2011), Finding Frames: Comparing Two Methods of Frame Analysis, Communication Methods and Measures, 5(4), pp. 329-351.
• Della Vigna, S. & Kaplan, E. (2007), The Fox News Effect: Media Bias and Voting, The Quarterly Journal of Economics, 122(3), pp. 1187-1234.
• Dirikx, A. & Gelders, D. (2010), To Frame is to Explain: A Deductive Frame-Analysis of Dutch and French Climate Change Coverage During the Annual UN Conferences of the Parties, Public Understanding of Science, 19(6), pp. 732-742.
• Edwards, L. (2001), Media Politik: How the Mass Media Have Transformed World Politics, Washington DC: The Catholic University of America Press.
• Entman, R. M. (2004), Projections of Power: Framing News, Public Opinion, and U.S. Foreign Policy, Chicago: University of Chicago Press
• Esaiasson, P. (September 1991), 120 Years of Swedish Election Campaigns: A Story of the Rise and Decline of Political Parties and the Emergence of the Mass Media as Power Brokers, Scandinavian Political Studies, 14(3), pp. 261-278.
• Esser, F. & Spanier, B. (2005), News Management as News: How Media Politics Leads to Metacoverage, Journal of Political Marketing, 4(4), pp. 27-57.
• Filimonov, K., Russmann, U. & Svensson, J. (July-September 2016), Picturing the Party: Instagram and Party Campaigning in the 2014 Swedish Elections, Social Media + Society, pp. 1-11, DOI: 10.1177/2056305116662179.
• Hyett, N., Kenny, A. & Dickson-Swift, V. (2014), Methodology or Method? A Critical Review of Qualitative Case Study Reports, International Journal of Qualitative Studies on Health and Well-being, 9(1), DOI: 10.3402/qhw.v9.23606.
• Hänggli, R. (2020), Origin of Dialogue in the News Media, Cham (Switzerland): Palgrave MacMillan.
• Kilgo, D. K. & Harlow, S. (2019), Protests, Media Coverage, and a Hierarchy of Social Struggle, The International Journal of Press/Politics, 24(4), pp. 508-530.
• Knupfer, C. B. (2017), Diverging Projections of Reality, Journalism Studies, DOI: 10.1080/1461670X.2017.1387072.
• Larson, A. O. (2017), Going Viral? Comparing Parties on Social Media During the 2014 Swedish Election, Convergence: The International Journal of Research into New Media Technologies, 23(2), pp. 117-131.
• Lasswell, H. D. (1948), The Structure and Function of Communication in Society, in Bryson, L. (editor), The Communication of Ideas, New York: The Institute for Religious and Social Studies, 202-243.
• Lewin, K. (1947). Frontiers in Group Dynamics II: Channels of Group Life; Social Planning and Action Research. Human Relations, 1(2), 143-153.
• Lopez, K. A. & Willis, D. G. (2004), Descriptive Versus Interpretive Phenomenology: Their Contribution to Nursing Knowledge, Qualitative Health Research, 14(5), pp. 726-735.
• McCombs, M. (1977), Agenda Setting Function of Mass Media. Public Relations Review, 3(4), 89-95.
• McDonald Ladd, J. & Lenz, G. S. (2009), Exploiting a Rare Communication Shift to Document the Persuasive Power of the News Media, American Journal of Political Science, 53(2), pp. 394-410.
• Matthes, J. (2012), Framing Politics: An Integrative Approach, American Behavioural Scientist, 56(3), pp. 247-259.
• Mazzoleni, G. & Schulz, W. (1999), “Mediatization” of Politics: A Challenge for Democracy? Political Communication, 16(3), pp. 247-261.
• Mulherin, P. E. & Isakhan, B. (2019), State-Media Consensus on Going to War? Australian Newspapers, Political Elites, and Fighting the Islamic State, The International Journal of Press/Politics, 24(4), pp. 531-550.
• Nelson, T. E., Clawson, R. A. & Oxley, Z. M. (September 1997), Media Framing of a Civil Liberties Conflict and its Effect on Tolerance, The American Political Science Review, 91(3), pp. 567-583.
• Noelle-Neumann, E. (June 1974), The Spiral of Silence A Theory of Public Opinion, Journal of Communication, 24(2), pp. 43-51.
• Nord, L. W. (2006), Still the Middle Way: A Study of Political Communication Practices in Swedish Election Campaigns, Journal of Press/Politics, 11(1), pp. 64-76.
• O’Shaughnessy, N. J. (2004), Persuasion, Myth and Propaganda, Journal of Political Marketing, 3(3), pp. 87-103.
• Papacharissi, Z. & de Fatima Oliveira, M. (2008), News Frames of Terrorism: A Comparative Analysis of Frames Employed in Terrorism Coverage in U.S. and U.K. Newspapers, Press/Politics, 13(1), pp. 52-74.
• Rodelo, F. V. & Muniz, C. (2019), Government Frames and Their Influence on News Framing: An Analysis of Cross-lagged Correlations in the Mexican Context, Global Media and Communication, 15(1), pp. 103-119.
• Schemer, C., Wirth, W. & Matthes, J. (2012), Value Resonance and Value Framing Effects on Voting Intentions in Direct-Democratic Campaigns, American Behavioural Scientist, 56(3), pp. 334-352.
• Scollon, S. (2003), Body Idiom in Platform Events: Media Representation and the Hegemony of the Vicarious Conversation, Social Semiotics, 13(1), pp. 89-102.
• Simons, G. (2019), The Anatomy of a Moral Panic: Western Mainstream Media’s Russia Scapegoat, Changing Societies and Personalities, 3(3), pp. 189-206
• Skovsgaard, M. (2014), A Tabloid in Mind? Professional Values and Organisational Pressures as Explanations of Tabloid Journalism, Media, Culture & Society, 36(2), pp. 200-218.
• Strömbäck, J. & Nord, L. W. (2006), Do Politicians Lead the Tango? A Study of the Relationship Between Swedish Journalists and their Political Sources in the Context of Election Campaigns, European Journal of Communication, 21(2), pp. 147-164.
• Strömbäck, J. & Dimitirova, D. V. (2006), Political and Media Systems Matter: A Comparison of Election News Coverage in Sweden and the United States, International Journal of Press/Politics, 11(4), pp. 131-147.
• Strömbäck, J. & Shehata, A. (2007), Structural Biases in British and Swedish Election News Coverage, Journalism Studies, 8(5), pp. 798-812.
• Strömbäck, J. & van Aelst, P. (2010), Exploring Some Antecedents of the Media’s Framing of Election News: A Comparison of Swedish and Belgian Election News, International Journal of Press/Politics, 15(1), pp. 41-59.
• Strömbäck, J. & Dimitirova, D. V. (2011), Mediatization and Media Interventionism: A Comparative Analysis of Sweden and the United States, International Journal of Press/Politics, 16(1), pp. 30-49.
• Viklund, J. (2015), Vid Politiska Debattens Gräns: Attityd, Hegemoni och Frågan om Volymer i Den Svenska Invandringsdebatten (At the Boundary of the Political Debate: Attitude, Hegemony and the Question of Volumes in The Swedish Immigration Debate) in Sigrell, A. &
• Qvarnström, S. (Eds.), Retorik och Lärande: Kunskap – Bildning – Ansvar (Rhetoric and Learning: Knowledge – Education - Learning), Studia Rhetorica Lundensia, Vol. 1, Lund: Lund University, pp. 211-230.
• Walter, D. & Ophir, Y. (2019), News Frame Analysis: An Inductive Mixed-method Computational Approach, Communication Methods and Measures, 13(4), pp. 248-266.