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Från orsak till verkan : berättarstrategier i Sveriges Televisions inrikespolitiska nyhetsförmedling 1978-2005

Krona, Michael LU (2009)
Abstract
The purpose of this thesis is to analyse the evolution of how domestic political news was constructed in television journalism from the end of the 1970s until the present day, and to discuss this in the context of contemporary political–economic changes in society. The empirical material is made up of domestic politics reporting on Swedish Television’s daily news programmes, Aktuellt (‘Current affairs’) and Rapport (‘Report’), in three different periods. The empirical checkpoints are the autumn of 1978, then 1987, and finally 2005. The theoretical framework builds principally on notions of power and mediated political discourse. Here the initial discussion of the concept of power owes much to theorists such as Michel Foucault and Jürgen... (More)
The purpose of this thesis is to analyse the evolution of how domestic political news was constructed in television journalism from the end of the 1970s until the present day, and to discuss this in the context of contemporary political–economic changes in society. The empirical material is made up of domestic politics reporting on Swedish Television’s daily news programmes, Aktuellt (‘Current affairs’) and Rapport (‘Report’), in three different periods. The empirical checkpoints are the autumn of 1978, then 1987, and finally 2005. The theoretical framework builds principally on notions of power and mediated political discourse. Here the initial discussion of the concept of power owes much to theorists such as Michel Foucault and Jürgen Habermas. In addition, the analysis enlists theoretical approaches to the public sphere to examine journalism’s role in public debate, primarily drawing inspiration from Habermas’ theories of the public sphere. Three distinct methodological approaches have been used. The platform used to analyse the empirical material is a critical discourse analysis inspired by Norman Fairclough, combined with a visual analysis of television journalism’s imagery and complemented by a descriptive quantitative analysis of the content, intended to serve as the basis for the detailed quantitative analysis of individual television appearances and the disposition of news packages. The analysis shows that political television journalism at the end of the 1970s had assumed a didactic mode of narration. In the news features from 1987 this journalistic focus had shifted to the politicians’ actions and policy measures. By the autumn of 2005 it is clear that journalism’s narrative strategies had switched to the consequences of these actions. An increased use of specialist language is evidence of the belief on the journalists’ part that the general public already had the necessary knowledge to be able to understand the jargon of the political sphere. Above this, imagery and editing is analysed in terms of notions of legitimacy, authority, and audiovisual interaction. It is shown, for example, that graphics fulfilled a didactic function in all three periods, but that as time went on technical developments and a more pervasive editing style reveal the steady rise of popularisation. Journalism’s investigative role, which was previously flagged using hasty camera movements and zooms, appears today to be pretty much a foregone conclusion, while the editing style contributes to an increased distance between politicians and citizens.The interplay between political–economic circumstances and television journalism’s mode of expression is reflected in one of the key arguments of the thesis: journalism is always a cultural expression, and remains a product of its time. (Less)
Abstract (Swedish)
Popular Abstract in Swedish

Syftet med avhandlingen är att analysera hur den tv-journalistiska konstruktionen av inrikespolitiska nyheter har sett ut och utvecklats från slutet av 1970-talet och fram till idag, samt att diskutera den i förhållande till samtida politisk-ekonomiska förändringar i samhället.

Det empiriska materialet utgörs av inrikespolitiska nyhetsinslag i Sveriges Televisions nyhetsprogram Aktuellt och Rapport från tre tidsperioder. Den empiriska resan börjar under hösten 1978, fortsätter 1987 och avslutas 2005. Det teoretiska ramverket bygger framförallt på tankar kring makt och medierade politiska diskurser. Som utgångspunkter i diskussioner kring maktbegreppet används teoretiker som Michel... (More)
Popular Abstract in Swedish

Syftet med avhandlingen är att analysera hur den tv-journalistiska konstruktionen av inrikespolitiska nyheter har sett ut och utvecklats från slutet av 1970-talet och fram till idag, samt att diskutera den i förhållande till samtida politisk-ekonomiska förändringar i samhället.

Det empiriska materialet utgörs av inrikespolitiska nyhetsinslag i Sveriges Televisions nyhetsprogram Aktuellt och Rapport från tre tidsperioder. Den empiriska resan börjar under hösten 1978, fortsätter 1987 och avslutas 2005. Det teoretiska ramverket bygger framförallt på tankar kring makt och medierade politiska diskurser. Som utgångspunkter i diskussioner kring maktbegreppet används teoretiker som Michel Foucault och Jürgen Habermas. Utöver detta förankras avhandlingens analyser i offentlighetsteoretiska utgångspunkter där nyhetsjournalistikens roll i det offentliga samtalet politik diskuteras, främst med inspiration från Habermas teorier om offentlighet. I avhandlingen tillämpas tre metodologiska ansatser. Som plattform och grund för analysernas disposition används den kritiska diskursanalysen med inspiration från Norman Fairclough. Inom ramen för denna tillämpas även en visuell analys av tv-journalistikens. Dessutom integreras en deskriptiv kvantitativ innehållsanalys med avsikt att skapa underlag för kvalitativa analyser av aktörers förekomst samt fördelningen mellan journalistiska framställningssekvenser. Analyserna visar att den politiska tv-journalistiken under slutet av 1970-talet inbegriper ett didaktiskt berättande där stora ambitioner till bakgrundsbeskrivningar och orsaker synliggörs. I nyhetsinslagen från 1987 har detta journalistiska fokus övergått till att betona politikers agerande och handlingar. Under hösten 2005 tydliggörs hur journalistikens berättarstrategier utvecklats mot att belysa konsekvenser av dessa handlingar. Det synliggörs även hur en ökad användning av fackspråk vittnar om en tilltro från journalistikens sida till att publiken redan besitter nödvändiga kunskaper för att förstå termer inom den politiska sfären. Bildspråk och redigering analyseras också utifrån tankar om legitimitet, auktoritet och audiovisuell interaktion. Analyserna visar bland annat att grafiska sekvenser genom samtliga empiriska nedslag fyller en didaktisk funktion men den tekniska utvecklingen och en ökad redigering uttrycker en populariserande hållning ju närmre nutid som studeras. Journalistikens granskande funktion, som tidigare synliggjordes av bland annat hastiga kamerarörelser och inzoomningar, framstår idag som mer given och redigeringen bidrar till en ökad distans mellan politiker och medborgare. Samspelet mellan politisk-ekonomiska förutsättningar och tv-journalistikens uttrycksformer återspeglas i ett av avhandlingen bärande resonemang: att journalistik alltid är ett kulturellt uttryck för och produkt av sin samtid. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
supervisor
opponent
  • Professor Ekström, Mats, Örebro Universitet
organization
alternative title
Journalism's Evolutions : Narrative Strategies in Swedish Television's Coverage of Domestic Politics 1978-2005
publishing date
type
Thesis
publication status
published
subject
keywords
media, domestic politics, journalism, power, Television, narrative, news, discourse, public sphere, moving images, Fairclough
pages
305 pages
publisher
Lund University (Media-Tryck)
defense location
Hörsalen, Språk- och litteraturcentrum, Helgonabacken 12, Lund
defense date
2009-10-09 10:15:00
ISBN
978-91-628-7876-4
language
Swedish
LU publication?
yes
id
bb1430a5-3ce7-4c15-8132-b3f81e9dab66 (old id 1472270)
date added to LUP
2016-04-04 12:16:18
date last changed
2018-11-21 21:09:59
@phdthesis{bb1430a5-3ce7-4c15-8132-b3f81e9dab66,
  abstract     = {{The purpose of this thesis is to analyse the evolution of how domestic political news was constructed in television journalism from the end of the 1970s until the present day, and to discuss this in the context of contemporary political–economic changes in society. The empirical material is made up of domestic politics reporting on Swedish Television’s daily news programmes, Aktuellt (‘Current affairs’) and Rapport (‘Report’), in three different periods. The empirical checkpoints are the autumn of 1978, then 1987, and finally 2005. The theoretical framework builds principally on notions of power and mediated political discourse. Here the initial discussion of the concept of power owes much to theorists such as Michel Foucault and Jürgen Habermas. In addition, the analysis enlists theoretical approaches to the public sphere to examine journalism’s role in public debate, primarily drawing inspiration from Habermas’ theories of the public sphere. Three distinct methodological approaches have been used. The platform used to analyse the empirical material is a critical discourse analysis inspired by Norman Fairclough, combined with a visual analysis of television journalism’s imagery and complemented by a descriptive quantitative analysis of the content, intended to serve as the basis for the detailed quantitative analysis of individual television appearances and the disposition of news packages. The analysis shows that political television journalism at the end of the 1970s had assumed a didactic mode of narration. In the news features from 1987 this journalistic focus had shifted to the politicians’ actions and policy measures. By the autumn of 2005 it is clear that journalism’s narrative strategies had switched to the consequences of these actions. An increased use of specialist language is evidence of the belief on the journalists’ part that the general public already had the necessary knowledge to be able to understand the jargon of the political sphere. Above this, imagery and editing is analysed in terms of notions of legitimacy, authority, and audiovisual interaction. It is shown, for example, that graphics fulfilled a didactic function in all three periods, but that as time went on technical developments and a more pervasive editing style reveal the steady rise of popularisation. Journalism’s investigative role, which was previously flagged using hasty camera movements and zooms, appears today to be pretty much a foregone conclusion, while the editing style contributes to an increased distance between politicians and citizens.The interplay between political–economic circumstances and television journalism’s mode of expression is reflected in one of the key arguments of the thesis: journalism is always a cultural expression, and remains a product of its time.}},
  author       = {{Krona, Michael}},
  isbn         = {{978-91-628-7876-4}},
  keywords     = {{media; domestic politics; journalism; power; Television; narrative; news; discourse; public sphere; moving images; Fairclough}},
  language     = {{swe}},
  publisher    = {{Lund University (Media-Tryck)}},
  school       = {{Lund University}},
  title        = {{Från orsak till verkan : berättarstrategier i Sveriges Televisions inrikespolitiska nyhetsförmedling 1978-2005}},
  url          = {{https://lup.lub.lu.se/search/files/5967212/1472355.pdf}},
  year         = {{2009}},
}