”DEN STÖRSTA PÅVERKANSKAMPANJEN SVERIGE TRÄFFATS AV NÅGONSIN” En kvalitativ textanalys om medias inramning av desinformation före och efter LVU-kampanjen

Abstract

Different actors with malicious intent to influence the public opinion may use disinformation and influence campaigns to do so. During 2022 Swedish newspapers reported about the most wide-ranging influence campaigns to date that affected Swedish institutions, the LVUcampain. Previous research has shown that this type of critical event can affect medias framing of a phenomenon. Therefore, this study examines whether the LVU-campaign, as a critical event has had an impact on media’s framing of disinformation. Media’s framing of disinformation and how the frames differ over time is relatively under-researched. Hence, this essay contributes with new knowledge about media’s framing of disinformation and how the frames change over time. The hypothesis is tested through a qualitative text analysis of 20 articles published by three different news companies. The result shows a change in media’s framing of disinformation after the LVU- campaign’s attention in media, with the most significant change in frames describing threat perception and who the threat is. In conclusion, this study shows a change in media’s framing of disinformation, with the LVU-campaign as a contributing factor.