Magisteruppsatserhttps://hdl.handle.net/2077/31582024-03-29T13:20:15Z2024-03-29T13:20:15ZMEASURING POPULISM ON TWITTER DURING PRESIDENTIAL ELECTIONS IN LATIN AMERICA - A dictionary-based approach.Hernandez Diaz, Jose Andreshttps://hdl.handle.net/2077/740922023-10-06T13:53:13Z2022-11-08T00:00:00ZMEASURING POPULISM ON TWITTER DURING PRESIDENTIAL ELECTIONS IN LATIN AMERICA - A dictionary-based approach.
Hernandez Diaz, Jose Andres
Arguably, populism has become increasingly topic across different spheres: the media, the academia and even the vox populi; and it has become quite common to find political movements and leaders labelled as populists. Therefore, one can say that Populism is on the rise across the globe.
Large debate takes place to define what populism is, what the criteria to label a political leader as populist should be, and whether it is healthy or not for democracies. However, must of the research on Populism seems to take place in the European and North American context, and to a lesser extent in other areas such as Latin America – area that some scholars have labelled as “the land of Populism”.
Following a communication-centred understanding of Populism and a dictionary-based quantitative text analysis, this study aims to determine to what extent Latin American political candidates use populist communication during their campaigns using Twitter. In total, N=13,256 tweets from 30 different candidates across the Latin American region were analysed. The results show that most candidates engage to a certain extent with populist communication. Moreover, on top of demonstrating which candidates engaged with populist messages, the study provides insights into the type of messages employed to communicate the populist idea. Lastly, the study analyses the relationship between populist communication and mis- and disinformation as a label. The results show a correlation (R=0,060***) between populist communication and disinformation as a label to discredit or delegitimize the media or opponents.
2022-11-08T00:00:00ZMEDIA USE AND VACCINE HESITANCY - A qualitative study of individuals’ media use and vaccine choice in the covid-19 eraHemmingsson, Ellenhttps://hdl.handle.net/2077/740892023-10-06T11:30:09Z2022-11-08T00:00:00ZMEDIA USE AND VACCINE HESITANCY - A qualitative study of individuals’ media use and vaccine choice in the covid-19 era
Hemmingsson, Ellen
Vaccine hesitancy has long been recognized in separate research disciplines concerning different vaccines and societal contexts to comprehend what factors determine individuals’ vaccine choices. Likewise, communication scholars have distinguished how it is possible to select the information that aligns with pre-existing beliefs – particularly in the high-choice media environment with copious information channels. Considering that many
individuals stayed at home for large parts of 2020 and 2021, abundant opportunities existed to choose what information to consume. Thus, given the enormous supply of information related to covid-19, this might have affected individuals’ perceptions about the virus and later of the supplied vaccines, leading to vaccine hesitancy.
Therefore, this study departs from the field of political communication. The purpose is to examine how Swedish citizens who have not received a covid-19 vaccine reason regarding their decision and to understand their world of thinking concerning media use, virus-related information, and trust towards traditional media, as well as societal institutions and other members of the public. The main focus is, however, on media use. The study employs a qualitative method with a receptive approach and uses the theories of the Reinforcement Spirals Model and Selective Exposure as a prism through which the research process and analysis are performed. Semi-structured interviews were held with 20 Swedish citizens who had chosen not to take the vaccine. The gathered data was then
divided into a thematical analysis and shed light on different aspects related to media use, institutional and interpersonal trust, pandemic implications, and perceptions of vaccines.
The results suggest that a confirmation bias operates through selective exposure to vaccine information. The research also considers the Reinforcement Spirals Model, where some of the findings imply that the role of selfperceived
identity is an underlying aspect of vaccine hesitancy. Although the findings cannot be generalized to a larger population, the lack of societal debate and reporting on different perspectives from traditional media during
the pandemic caused a decrease in trust related to the mass media, the government, and associated agencies. As a result, many turned to other information sources, primarily online, where user-generated content seemed to reinforce their skepticism towards the establishments mentioned above. The research findings underline that it can
be problematic from a democratic stance if certain groups of people create counter-publics where alienation and suspicion of established democratic channels are encouraged and magnified, rather than feeling that they are allowed to participate in the mainstream public debate on equal terms as vaccinated citizens.
2022-11-08T00:00:00ZPORTRAYING COVID-19 VACCINES IN ALTERNATIVE MEDIA - A content analysis of the framing of COVID-19 vaccines in Swedish alternative news mediaGolinski, Wilhelmhttps://hdl.handle.net/2077/737122023-10-06T11:38:36Z2022-09-30T00:00:00ZPORTRAYING COVID-19 VACCINES IN ALTERNATIVE MEDIA - A content analysis of the framing of COVID-19 vaccines in Swedish alternative news media
Golinski, Wilhelm
Purpose: The purpose of this thesis is to gain insights into alternative news media in crisis communication by addressing the news media portrayal of COVID-19 vaccines, inoculation campaigns and the implementation of vaccine mandates by alternative news media outlets in Sweden (Fria Tider and ETC/Dagens ETC). With an exploratory and comparative approach, the study’s overall aim is to investigate how news regarding COVID-19 vaccines (including the vaccines themselves, vaccination campaigns, vaccine passports and mandates) has been portrayed in different Swedish alternative media outlets, and how this compares to traditional mainstream media. The relevance of the chosen research problem revolves around the changed preconditions of alternative media in today’s media market and the function of the media as an information disseminator during crises.
Theory: Framing theory, alternative media anti-systemness matrix, issue attention cycle
Method: Quantitative content analysis
Result: The findings confirm that there are differences between the alternative news media outlets, also when compared against mainstream media, albeit the findings being indicative in nature. The differences concern the portrayal of actors with less praise, more criticism, and lower levels of neutrality. Alternative media were found to focus on the severity and threat to people’s health, with a greater tendency to define the problem and possibly casting blame, as well as a greater focus on conflicts and alarming content in prominent positions of the news items examined. Additionally, a larger share 3 of emotion-evoking frames was found in the main text of the news items. Differences between the alternative news media outlets were also found in terms of thematic/episodic framing, focusing on actors on different levels, which could indicate different approaches towards responsibility attribution.
2022-09-30T00:00:00ZSPREADING THE MESSAGE? - Populism in German newspapers and their presentation of a populist partyPhilippsen, Marikahttps://hdl.handle.net/2077/736422023-10-06T12:26:44Z2022-09-19T00:00:00ZSPREADING THE MESSAGE? - Populism in German newspapers and their presentation of a populist party
Philippsen, Marika
In academia, the concept of populism is a topic that is treated as frequently as it is controversially. In trying to grasp the concept, this study takes a two-parted approach as it is not only considering the concept in its entirety and examines the extent of its existence in German daily newspapers, but also how those newspapers deal with populist-minded politicians and parties. Through a theory-based breakdown of populism into its stylistic and ideological components as well as the additional consideration of the concept of media populism, which is closely related to populism, corresponding insights are gained. To this end, this study examines the con-tent of two national German daily newspapers, a tabloid (the BILD Zeitung) and one broadsheet newspaper (the Süddeutsche Zeitung), in three open ways, that allow for all possible outcomes: by means of a quantitative and two qualitative content analyses. Each of these analyses is characterised by different focal points and approaches to the concept of populism.
The findings allow the conclusion that both newspapers show clear populist characteristics, especially the stylistic aspect of populism stands out. In addition, it can be determined that the tabloid newspaper tends to show more populist traits than the broadsheet newspaper. A critical attitude towards populist German parties can be found in both newspapers, but here the broad-sheet dominates the tabloid. With reference to media populism, this study additionally establishes which role can be assigned to the two newspapers in the context of their reporting in a populist sense and how said reporting can ultimately be named for both.
2022-09-19T00:00:00Z