<p><p>The purpose of this study is to compare the representation of criminals in the Swedish television show “Efterlyst” regarding ethnical background between the year 1998 and the year 2006. The aim is to determine if and how the representation of ethnicity have changed over the examined years. We have then examined 13 shows from each year and categorized the criminals by ethnicity, type of crime and length of each segment. We have come to a conclusion that the show has a noticeable overrepresentation of criminals with non-Swedish ethnical background. We have also concluded that the show delivers better and more precise descriptions of the criminals in the episodes from 2006 compared to those from 1998, making it easier to determine the suspects’ ethnicity. We believe that ”Efterlyst”, together with other media, contributes to how we, in Sweden, look upon criminality and criminals in terms of ethnical background. With that said we believe the show, as well as other media, has a responsibility not to over represent any ethnical group.</p></p>

The purpose of this study is to compare the representation of criminals in the Swedish television show “Efterlyst” regarding ethnical background between the year 1998 and the year 2006. The aim is to determine if and how the representation of ethnicity have changed over the examined years. We have then examined 13 shows from each year and categorized the criminals by ethnicity, type of crime and length of each segment. We have come to a conclusion that the show has a noticeable overrepresentation of criminals with non-Swedish ethnical background. We have also concluded that the show delivers better and more precise descriptions of the criminals in the episodes from 2006 compared to those from 1998, making it easier to determine the suspects’ ethnicity. We believe that ”Efterlyst”, together with other media, contributes to how we, in Sweden, look upon criminality and criminals in terms of ethnical background. With that said we believe the show, as well as other media, has a responsibility not to over represent any ethnical group.