The purpose of this study was to investigate how three Swedish news publications writes about integration and immigrants. The news articles were analyzed with a rhetorical analysis. The method was supplemented with theories of media and ethnicity, agenda setting theory and gatekeeping theory. This study resulted in the conclusion that racist discourses are found in the three news publications, regardless of political color, writer or article genre. Many of the articles makes a clear division of "us and them", where "them" is defined by the text's "us", who are often Swedes. "Them" is described by the attributes that ”us” don't want to be associated with. Immigrants are often portrayed as victims of their culture or as a threat to Western society. There is also a clear link between immigrants, Islam and Muslims irrespective of where the immigrants come from. The articles on integration continues to talk of immigrants as a unified group but these articles are accusing politicians and organizations to a greater extent, for the integration problematics. Both topics are discussed mainly on the basis of values and feelings and statistics showing the whole context is missing.

Distribution tables have become ubiquitous to the tax policy debates surrounding major legislative initiatives to change tax law at the federal level. The fairness of any proposed change to federal tax policy has become one of the most highlighted components of tax policy discussions. The presentation of tax data within distribution tables can hide or omit important information that is required in order to effectively evaluate the merits of any tax legislation. Many producers of distribution tables show only the information necessary to present their policy preferences in the best possible light. The different economic assumptions and presentations of data used by the various groups that release distribution tables have the inherent consequence of providing the public with numerous tables that are often used as political ammunition to influence and shape debate. The purpose of this research is to contribute to the tax policy research literature by exploring the limitations and biases inherent in specific designs of tax distribution tables and in specific methodological approaches to tax distribution analysis. This is done by means of a systematic examination of how different designs and methodologies provide an incomplete picture of a proposed change to federal tax policy. By comparing distribution tables as used by different groups to provide alternative perspectives of various tax proposals, the research shows how the use of tax distribution tables often provides misleading results about the impact of proposed tax legislation in order to influence and shape the issues surrounding a proposed change to federal tax policy. A method for evaluating tax distribution tables is proposed which highlights the deficiencies of design and methodology which characterize the present use of tax distribution tables. An index of questions is provided as part of this research project to serve as a new tool of policy analysis, an index termed the "Tax Distribution Table Scoring Index" (TDTSI). The TDTSI will assist in balancing the different perspectives presented via tax distribution tables by identifying the biases and limitations associated with different methodologies and presentations of data. / Ph. D.

In the advancement of technology, one innovation has taken the world by storm:AI. The way media portrays various subjects might affect how they are received by society at large, therefore this study aims to understand the tone and portrayal of AI in Swedish mews media in order to see how AI is presented to the society today. To examine how AI is decipted and presented in the media, a quantitative content analysis of three Swedish newspapers, a daily, an evening, and a business newspaper, was conducted during the first quarter of 2024. The study is based on framing theory and agenda-setting theory to see how the different newspapers depict AI and wheter there are differences between them and their agendas. The theories adress how the articles depict AI where agenda-setting theory adresses genres and topics while framing theory shows how they are framed. Previous research shows that the subject needs to be further investigated as AI is an innovation that is constantly evolving. What previous research also clearly demonstrates is that AI is highlighted from a threatening perspective in other countries, which increased the importance of examining how it is portrayed in Swedish news media. The result shows that the Swedish newspapers differ from each other in their agendas and how they frame AI while som similarities are found primarily between Aftonbladet and Svenska Dagbladet, while Dagens Industri differs from the rest.

This study shows that media and misinformation in media can have a direct impact on policymakers during the agenda setting stage of the policy process. Through a theoretical framework based on the network agenda setting model, discourse theory, WPR-approach and previous research regarding misinformation about transgender people, the case of two anti-trans legislation initiatives, one of which was an emergency measure, in North Dakota, USA, from 2023, are explored. Through qualitative, content analysis, WPR-analysis and discourse analysis, an examination of the impact of misinformation about transgender people on Fox News, from the 13th of december 2022 to the 23rd of january 2023, on policymakers in North Dakota is presented. The study found that there are considerable similarities between the discourse about transgender people on Fox News and the problem representation in the anti-trans legislation initiatives, in addition to substantial amounts of misinformation about transgender people on Fox News. These findings imply that policymakers can be affected by misinformation in news media, which in turn can affect democratic systems through the potential erosion of trust, political accountability and democratic rights.

En un context de "democràcia hipermediàtica", en una societat que creix en clau audiovisual de la mà d'uns mitjans de comunicació que alhora evolucionen a gran velocitat de la mà de les noves tecnologies de la comunicació, la política no esdevé un ens aliè a aquesta realitat. La política, avui més que ahir, es converteix en un procés comunicacional on per exemple els líders polítics ja no poden deixar de ser alhora líders mediàtics si volen triomfar-hi. Però dirigents a banda, l'exercici de la política sotmet el seu llenguatge i el seu tempo als d'uns mitjans de comunicació que així s'hi imposen. La construcció de les agendes pública, política i mediàtica consisteix en una constant interacció i en una contínua disputa on uns i altres miren de fixar-hi els seus continguts i el seu ritme. Però així com l'ascendent dels mèdia sobre l'agenda ciutadana queda evidenciat a través de múltiples estudis emmarcats en l'àmbit de l'agenda-setting, la influència dels mitjans de comunicació en la construcció de l'agenda política és un àmbit menys estudiat des d'un punt de vista acadèmic. En aquest sentit, partint de la teoria de l'agenda-setting i del seu estadi evolucionat de l'agenda-building ens hem proposat demostrar com els mèdia tenen una influència sobre la política, de base, superior que a la inversa. Així és com el màrqueting polític esdevé una peça clau d'aquesta dinàmica, ja que quan les campanyes polítiques duren els quatre anys de legislatura, quan els polítics i la seva activitat es veuen constantment exposats a l'escrutini d'uns mitjans de comunicació que els fan estar de campanya permanent, llavors s'imposen en les rutines polítiques la simplificació del llenguatge, la personalització i la tàctica per damunt de l'estratègia. I tot això té conseqüències que condicionen d'arrel l'exercici de la política. Això té conseqüències sobre aspectes bàsics que regeixen la vida de les persones. I aquest va ser el cas de l'Estatut de Catalunya aprovat l'any 2006. Un text legislatiu que va ser fortament mediatitzat i que arrel de l'exposició pública de tot el seu procés de conformació, a través d'un enquadrament majoritàriament negatiu, va veure fortament condicionat a la baixa el seu resultat final. / En un contexto de "democracia hipermediática", en una sociedad que crece en clave audiovisual de la mano de unos medios de comunicación que a la vez evolucionan a gran velocidad de la mano de las nuevas tecnologías de la comunicación, la política no es ajena a esta realidad. La política, hoy más que ayer, se convierte en un proceso comunicacional donde por ejemplo los líderes políticos ya no pueden dejar de ser a la vez líderes mediáticos si quieren triunfar. Pero dirigentes aparte, el ejercicio de la política somete su lenguaje y su tempo a los de unos medios de comunicación que así se imponen. La construcción de las agendas pública, política y mediática consiste en una constante interacción y en una continua disputa donde unos y otros miran de fijar sus contenidos y su ritmo. Pero así como el ascendente de los media sobre la agenda ciudadana queda evidenciado a través de múltiples estudios enmarcados en el ámbito de la agenda-setting, la influencia de los medios de comunicación en la construcción de la agenda política es un ámbito menos estudiado desde un punto de vista académico. En este sentido, partiendo de la teoría de la agenda-setting y de su estadio evolucionado de la agenda-building nos hemos propuesto demostrar cómo los media tienen una influencia sobre la política, de base, superior que a la inversa. Así es como el marketing político se revela como una pieza clave de esta dinámica, ya que cuando las campañas políticas duran los cuatro años de legislatura, cuando los políticos y su actividad se ven constantemente expuestos al escrutinio de unos medios de comunicación que los hacen estar de campaña permanente, entonces se imponen en las rutinas políticas la simplificación del lenguaje, la personalización y la táctica por encima de la estrategia. Y todo ello tiene consecuencias que condicionan de raíz el ejercicio de la política. Eso tiene consecuencias sobre aspectos básicos que rigen la vida de las personas. Y éste fue el caso del Estatut de Cataluña aprobado el año 2006. Un texto legislativo que fue fuertemente mediatizado y que a raíz de la exposición pública de todo su proceso de conformación, a través de un encuadre mayoritariamente negativo, vio fuertemente condicionado a la baja su resultado final. / In a context of "hypermediatic democracy", in a society that grows in an audio-visual sense by mass media that at the same time evolve quickly by the new technologies of the communication, politics is being strongly influenced by the media. Politics, today more than yesterday, becomes a communicational process where for example the political leaders no longer can simultaneously stop being media-leaders if they want to prevail. The mass media language and tempo prevail on politics. The public agenda-building, the policy agenda-building and the media agenda-building consists of a continuous interaction and fighting to set contents and rhythm. But as well as the influence of the mass media in the public agenda is demonstrated through multiple studies framed in the scope of the agenda-setting, the influence of mass media in the policy agenda-building is a less studied scope from an academic point of view. In this way, starting with the Agenda Setting Theory and its evolved stage of the Agenda Building, we have seted out to demonstrate how the media have a strong influence on politics, from the base, more important than the influence of politics on the media. In this way, political marketing becomes a key piece of this context. When political campaigns exists trough the four years of the mandate, when the politicians and their activity are continuously exposed under the scrutiny of mass media, when they are involved in a permanent campaign, then prevail in the political routines the simplification of the language, the personalization and the tactics over the strategy. And all it has consequences on politics. That has consequences on basic aspects that govern the life of the people. And it was the case of the approved Estatut of Catalonia 2006, a legislative text that was strongly followed by the media. As a result of the public exhibition of all its process of conformation, through a mainly negative frame, its final result was strongly devaluated.

In this dissertation the construction of two coastal railways, the East Coast Line and the Bothnia Line, in the Norrland region of northern Sweden is used as a case study of how regionally based interest groups are formed, and how they gain access to decision-making processes on a national level. In periods when a number of preconditions were in place, a window of opportunity opened for the coastal railway that the regional elites could exploit. Among these was the ability to form a coherent regional interest group, through institutions that created platforms and power-bases that enable regional elites to co-operate and act on regional and national levels.The existence of an institutional framework that was adapitve towards regional railway promotion was also important. The study shows that the coastal railway had a very flexible role on the agenda, as it provided a fixed solution against which actors could pin a multitude of different problems. An important factor for explaining the development of the coastal railway question in Norrland was the ideological notion of the region itself. Being a vast, resource-rich and sparsely populated region, Norrland had almost always received special consideration in both public opinion and national policy making. It also created a remarkable stubbornness among the regional actors in working for the coastal railway. Regional interest groups had also learnt that linking their claims to Norrland's peripheral position had high legitimacy on the national arena, by claiming the need for regional fairness and/or the national importance of the regional export-intensive industries. This was instrumental in justifying the repeated exemptions from the national railway policy regimes that ultimately were decissive in making the regional elites successful.

India experienced huge media coverage from all over the world associated with the Nirbhaya-case in 2012, when a young middleclass girl was brutally raped in a bus by five men in Delhi. After this horrifying incident a lot of demonstrations followed all over India. Women in the urban areas was arguing for the same rights as men and was standing up for a more equal society where everybody is able to live as freely as someone else, no matter what gender you was born with. This study aim to examine what experiences, perceptions and opinions Indian journalists in English written press have of their reality from a gender perspective. We wanted to know how and when Indian journalist represent women and if there is a certain way of thinking about representation of women in the media content. In interviews with a total of eleven journalists and ethnographic observations in two of India’s largest cities we tried to examine the structures and perceptions that influenced the journalist’s worldview and thus also the messages that appears in the news. By using the theory of structuration, agenda setting, performativity and intersectionality we examined what structures that the journalists live and operates within and how this is affecting the media content.

The purpose of this study was to illustrate how the Swedish tabloid press construct their sports sections front pages and what they present on these pages. A second purpose, and by the first following, was to investigate the items these newspapers offer the audience to add to their daily agendas. The aim to show a bigger picture of the front pages content was reached by implementing a content analysis of 196 front pages from the two largest tabloid newspapers in Sweden, Aftonbladet and Expressen, during a period of four years. The study examined 98 items per newspaper and since the aim was to examine sports journalism the units were chosen from the two newspapers sports sections, Sportbladet and SportExpressen. The great conclusions that were made during this process were the differences in between genders, the dominating sports and what big part sponsors have in sports. The most common front page shows a Swedish man playing football in the age between 20-35. A less common page is woman, playing any sport. She is only found on nine of a hundred front pages. As in the case of men, football is the dominating sport in Swedish tabloid press. On second place we found ice hockey. What we also could find was the big part sponsors have in sports. We saw the logos of sponsors on every second front page.

The bachelor dissertation Thin at every cost? is a discourse analysis of how the human body is portrayed in the two Swedish evening tabloid newspapers Aftonbladet and Expressen. The study aims to investigate how the ideal body is portrayed, which qualities that we associate with the ideal body and also where the focal point is.   The investigation has been conducted by the implementation of Ernesto Laclau’s and Chantal Mouffe’s discourse analysis as both a theoretical framework and analysis tool, and uses agenda-setting theory, consumerist culture and weight, health and body ideal research to form a scientific base for the analysis.   The result of the study shows that the ideal body is thin. To achieve a thin body you must exercise and diet, because being in possession of an overweight body suggests that you are lazy and lack self-control. To promote a thin body most of the researched articles uses health as a concept. To achieve a thin body you must therefore “consume” health. Body image has become a marketing tool and something to buy and sell. If you consume body image and/or health, you will often find yourself being drawn back into the “void”, because the diets and exercises that the articles use to promote weight-loss are often short-term and therefore make you as a reader have to return for another diet, i.e. you have to consume more. The articles often use a big element of control to promote the thin body, but at the same time try to use a positive language to set the tone of the article. Body shaming also occurred, and articles that dealt with the negative aspects of weight loss were also researched and reinforced that the overweight body is often a subject of course language and judgement.

本研究之對象為立法院委員會的召集委員，利用文獻分析法、深入訪談法及內容分析法，深入探討召集委員設定委員會議程的過程及其挑戰與限制。同時分析影響召集委員議程設定之因素為何？ 研究結果發現制度因素、政黨因素、委員會因素、選區因素和個人因素皆會影響召集委員設定委員會議程的偏好，其中政黨因素更是最重要的影響因素。透過統計模型檢證後可知執政黨召集委員較傾向設定立法議程，反之在野黨召集委員則傾向設定監督議程。此外，不論任何政黨的召集委員都傾向設定本身政黨的立法議程。執政黨和在野黨召集委員設定監督議程的偏好也有所不同。同時召集委員的議程設定存在著政黨聯盟的可能性，以藍綠為分野的政黨聯盟較個別政黨更具解釋力。 而且召集委員也會因為所處的委員會性質不同而產生不同的議程設定偏好。如在法案供給量較高的委員會，召集委員會較傾向設定立法議程特別是的本黨立法議程和定期性業務報告此類的監督議程。 在選區因素上，相較於區域召集委員，不分區召集委員較傾向設定立法議程，同時也會因個人理念與其他同聯盟的召集委員進行合作，而非純粹從政黨標籤去考量。但是執政黨的不分區召集委員仍然較傾向設定所屬政黨或聯盟的立法議程。而在監督議程上則較偏好業務報告和專題報告。 在個人因素上，相對於女性，男性召集委員較傾向設定監督議程，對於本身政黨的立法議程較不忠誠。而新任召集委員為求提升知名度對於引起媒體注意的監督議程如業務報告和專題報告較為熱衷。最後相對於低教育程度召集委員，高教育程度召集委員不僅較傾向設定立法議程，還會與其他同聯盟的召集委員進行合作。