“Behöver ni rannsaka er själva?” En studie om ansvarsutkrävande intervjuer under två politiska skandaler

Abstract

Title: “Do you need to scrutinize yourselves?” A study on accountability interviews during two political scandals. Authors: Felix Laurent & Nora Hällström Level: Bachelor thesis in Journalism Term: HT 2024 Supervisor: Bengt Johansson This thesis aims to compare how accountability is performed in live political TV interviews in the context of two different political scandals. The thesis examines accountability mechanisms in interviews with the Social Democrats' parliamentary group leader Lena Hallengren in Aktuellt and the Sweden Democrats' party leader Jimmie Åkesson in Agenda, and aims to contribute to an increased understanding of how Swedish news journalism, through political accountability, fulfills its role as a watchdog of power. The theoretical framework is conversation analysis, which examines details, patterns, and structures in interactions. The thesis also draws on journalism's normative task of scrutinizing power and holding those in power accountable. The study uses conversation analysis as a method to identify accountability mechanisms in transcripts of the two interviews. A comparative approach is used to analyze similarities and differences. The results show how the two accountability interviews have several similarities, but also differences that affect how accountability is performed. Lena Hallengren is to a greater extent asked explicitly accountability questions, where she is clearly asked to explain and justify the Social Democrats' actions. Jimmie Åkesson, on the other hand, is mostly asked implicitly accountability questions, where he is asked to acknowledge or deny claims and information. Jimmie Åkesson is also confronted with criticism from specifically named third parties to a greater extent than Lena Hallengren, which places higher demands on his answers. The results show that the politicians are treated differently, and the implications of these results will be discussed.