“It’s your job to smell rats, Kasper”
(2014) SKPM08 20141Department of Strategic Communication
- Abstract
- Denmark is the least corrupt country in the world, meaning that the country’s political system is characterized by openness and transparency. Danish politicians distance themselves from backroom deals and secret negotiations. The mediatization of politics has put pressure on the appearance of politicians and the need for employing spin doctors who can cope with the media is increasing in Western democracies. A rising number of spin doctors entering the political domain in Denmark and the Danish media writing unfavourably about these advisers led the Danish government to show concern and clarify the role of the spin doctor in a report issued by the Danish Ministry of Finance in 2013.
A reason for the concern is that little is known about... (More) - Denmark is the least corrupt country in the world, meaning that the country’s political system is characterized by openness and transparency. Danish politicians distance themselves from backroom deals and secret negotiations. The mediatization of politics has put pressure on the appearance of politicians and the need for employing spin doctors who can cope with the media is increasing in Western democracies. A rising number of spin doctors entering the political domain in Denmark and the Danish media writing unfavourably about these advisers led the Danish government to show concern and clarify the role of the spin doctor in a report issued by the Danish Ministry of Finance in 2013.
A reason for the concern is that little is known about what spin doctors actually do when assisting the ministers. Their work is carried out away from the public eye. One of the main ways people learn about professions they have none or little experience from is through the fictive lens, and in the Danish political TV drama Borgen, viewers get to follow the spin doctor Kasper Juul in his close work with the Prime Minister Birgitte Nyborg.
This thesis looks at the role of the fictitious spin doctor Kasper Juul in comparison to the official definition of the spin doctor as outlined by PR trade organizations and the Danish Ministry of Finance. Through a qualitative media content analysis of Borgen, the thesis shows that Kasper Juul is acting far from what the official definition tells us spin doctors do. Borgen illustrates that Kasper Juul as a representative for the PR profession is skilful, appreciated and highly professional, but his skills and competences are not the ones we find in the majority of PR books. This means, that if we buy the argument that media content reflects culture and society, Borgen may portray true PR work, while the official definition of the PR profession is idealized and far from reality. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
http://lup.lub.lu.se/student-papers/record/4699137
- author
- Peyron, Ulrika LU
- supervisor
- organization
- course
- SKPM08 20141
- year
- 2014
- type
- H2 - Master's Degree (Two Years)
- subject
- keywords
- Fiction, media, Borgen, spin, spin doctor, ethics, code of ethics, Denmark, politics
- language
- English
- id
- 4699137
- date added to LUP
- 2014-11-07 10:46:40
- date last changed
- 2014-11-07 10:46:40
@misc{4699137,
abstract = {{Denmark is the least corrupt country in the world, meaning that the country’s political system is characterized by openness and transparency. Danish politicians distance themselves from backroom deals and secret negotiations. The mediatization of politics has put pressure on the appearance of politicians and the need for employing spin doctors who can cope with the media is increasing in Western democracies. A rising number of spin doctors entering the political domain in Denmark and the Danish media writing unfavourably about these advisers led the Danish government to show concern and clarify the role of the spin doctor in a report issued by the Danish Ministry of Finance in 2013.
A reason for the concern is that little is known about what spin doctors actually do when assisting the ministers. Their work is carried out away from the public eye. One of the main ways people learn about professions they have none or little experience from is through the fictive lens, and in the Danish political TV drama Borgen, viewers get to follow the spin doctor Kasper Juul in his close work with the Prime Minister Birgitte Nyborg.
This thesis looks at the role of the fictitious spin doctor Kasper Juul in comparison to the official definition of the spin doctor as outlined by PR trade organizations and the Danish Ministry of Finance. Through a qualitative media content analysis of Borgen, the thesis shows that Kasper Juul is acting far from what the official definition tells us spin doctors do. Borgen illustrates that Kasper Juul as a representative for the PR profession is skilful, appreciated and highly professional, but his skills and competences are not the ones we find in the majority of PR books. This means, that if we buy the argument that media content reflects culture and society, Borgen may portray true PR work, while the official definition of the PR profession is idealized and far from reality.}},
author = {{Peyron, Ulrika}},
language = {{eng}},
note = {{Student Paper}},
title = {{“It’s your job to smell rats, Kasper”}},
year = {{2014}},
}