Eine umfangreiche Literatur zu Framing-Effekten legt nahe, dass Bürger nur über begrenzte politische Präferenzen verfügen. Wenn die öffentliche Meinung so offen für Einflussnahme ist, stellt sie ein wackliges Fundament für den demokratischen Prozess dar. Diese Dissertation stellt daher die Frage, wie sich vorherige experimentelle Erkenntnisse auf komplexe, reale Situationen übertragen lassen und ob Framing auch Wahlabsichten beeinflussen kann. Sie entwickelt eine Methode zur automatischen Identifizierung von Nachrichtenframes. Die Dissertation präsentiert Original- und Sekundärdaten und untersucht den Zusammenhang zwischen Nachrichten-Framing, Migrationseinstellungen und Wahlabsichten. Sie bietet einen Überblick über die Darstellung der Einwanderung in den deutschen Nachrichtenmedien und zeigt, dass weder die Aufmerksamkeit noch das Framing von Migration den Aufstieg der rechtsradikalen AfD erklären können. Anschließend nutzt sie eine Änderung in der Migrationsberichterstattung Deutschlands größter Boulevardzeitung, Bild, und zeigt begrenzte Auswirkungen auf politische Einstellungen und Wahlabsichten ihrer Leser auf. Das letzte empirische Kapitel präsentiert experimentelle Daten, die aufzeigen, dass Framing lediglich die Wahlabsichten eher uninformierter Bürger beeinflusst. Die Ergebnisse tragen zum besseren Verständnis von Framing-Effekten bei und legen nahe, dass Einstellungen von Bürgern nicht so leicht manipuliert werden können und die Macht der Nachrichtenmedien begrenzter ist als oft angenommen. Stattdessen finden Framing-Effekte unter sehr spezifischen Bedingungen statt, die häufig nicht erfüllt sind. Das sich abzeichnende Bild der öffentlichen Meinung zeichnet sich durch kristallisierte Einstellungen aus, die ausschliesslich auf neuartige Ereignisse reagieren. Aus dieser Sicht ist Politik ein Muster aufeinander folgender kritischer Ereignisse, von denen jedes eine einzigartige Gelegenheit bietet, das vorherrschende Verständnis eines Themas zu ändern. / A large experimental literature on framing effects suggests that citizens form rather limited political preferences, open to severe manipulation. If citizens’ attitudes were always so easily malleable for media outlets and political actors, it would not constitute a very meaningful input for the democratic process. This dissertation asks how these experimental findings translate into complex, realworld news environments and whether news frames structure citizens’ voting intentions. It provides a clear conceptualization of frames, on which it builds a method to identify news frames automatically, and theorises a link between news frames and voting intentions. The dissertation presents original and secondary data, exploring the relationship of news framing, immigration attitudes, and voting intentions. Providing a broad overview of immigration framing in the German news media, it shows that neither immigration attention nor framing can explain the rise of the radical-right AfD. It then exploits a change in the immigration framing of Germany’s largest tabloid, Bild, showing that this shift had no effects on immigration attitudes or voting intentions among its readers. The final empirical chapter presents experimental evidence revealing that framing only affects voting intentions among rather uninformed citizens. The findings contribute to the study of framing and public opinion, suggesting that citizens’ attitudes are not as easily manipulated and the power of the news media more limited than often thought. Instead, framing effects take place under highly specific conditions, which are often not fulfilled. The emerging picture of public opinion is one of crystallized and resistant attitudes, which only respond to novel events. In other words: whoever gets to the voter first, wins. Politics, in this view, is a pattern of critical events following upon each other, each presenting a unique opportunity to change the dominant understanding of an issue.

The aim of our study was to examine which news images the media industry choose to reward. The World Press Photo Awards is an anual competition in which a jury of professional photo journalists appoints a winner among over 90 000 contributions. We have studied twelve pictures that have won World Press Photo of the Year over the time span of six decades to explore the characteristics of the winning pictures, but also to give a perspective over time. For the purpose of our study, we took a closer look at the roles of the people in the pictures, as well as the attributes and contexts related to them.   Our findings indicate that myths seem to play a central part in the telling and retelling of stories. The tradgedy of human lives is a reoccurring element, and the people are in most cases depicted in a negative context. The story of the victim, for example, was common in the winning pictures.   We could see that civilians frequently appears in photographs, especially suffering children who often stands as a symbol of weakness. As connected to the mishap of people, our research found similarities to other studies focusing on how news stories speak to our compassion and emotions.

Master of Arts / Department of Communication Studies / William Schenck-Hamlin / Many critics and scholars (e.g. Lippman, 1927, Putnam, 2000, Entman, 1989, McChesney, 2004, Funigiello, 2005), have argued that news media coverage of major political affairs and policy often fails to provided citizens with the information they need to engage in these issues in a thoughtful manner. The style of news utilized by networks as well as choices in framing have been found to have a significant impact on what is covered and how audiences perceive coverage (Bennett, 2005, Patterson, 2000, Prior, 2003, Zaller, 2003, Cappella & Jamieson, 1997, Ibrahim, 2010, ‘T Riet et al., 2009, Bizer & Petty, 2005, Ben-Porath & Shaker, 2010, Domke & Shah, 1995, and Esposito, 1996). According to the PEW Foundation (2010) a large portion of the 2009-2010 healthcare coverage focused on politics and not how the healthcare system functions (policy). This paper explores the coverage of the 2009-2010 heath care issue by the Network Nightly News through the use of a content analysis. For the purpose of this study, the proposed method of Budge et al. (2001) political party platform categories were used to code the content of the broadcast. These 46 codes contained issues that dealt with the policy of health care and the politics surrounding healthcare, as well as positive vs. negative framing. 30 broadcasts were randomly chosen, one day for each month, from the three nightly news networks during the ten months of highest coverage. Each broadcast was divided into “quasi-sentences”, where each sentence was broken down into individual actions. Results illustrate the frequency between policy and political content, and positive and negative content surrounding the 2009-2010 health care issue. KEYWORDS: Framing, Policy, Politics, Health Care Reform, Network Nightly News, Content Analysis, Quasi-Sentence

Evaluation is an institutionalized practice in the western public sector with several applications and uses. At the same time, the effectiveness and use of evaluation is seldom demonstrated. This evaluation paradox is due to the fact that evaluation is constrained and shaped in relation to, among others, a political context.  In this dissertation, the political context is examined from the assumption that governance shapes evaluation. The aim is to analyze the relationship between governance and evaluation, by studying the translation (i.e. inter­pretation) of the European Union evaluation approach ongoing evaluation in Sweden, in the context of Cohesion policy 2007-2013, which in Sweden aims at reinforcing competitiveness and employment. The relation­ship is examined through documents and interviews on a European union and a Swedish level, and in the translation process in between. With key concepts such as steering logics, participatory evaluation and translation through framing, the formation of evaluation in relation to governance has been mapped. This is particularly interesting in Sweden where the approach puts forth ideals of learning and interaction that seem to depart from ongoing evaluation.    Results show that governance cannot fully explain the shape of evaluation. Instead, Swedish agencies and other implementing actors have promoted their evaluation norms while at the same time fulfilling the Swedish ministries’ learning frame. It is an actor perspective comple­menting the relation­­ship between gover­nance and evaluation previously presented. The evaluation approach in Sweden has been translated to a practical participatory evaluation approach within a larger group of collabora­tive inquiry. In conclusion, evaluation on both levels has functioned as a relatively un­critical supportive resource for decision making within predetermined boundaries, more connected to the object of evaluation than to a larger gover­nance context. Evaluation in Sweden is being separated from questions of accounta­bility, and participation in evaluation is for goal fulfillment rather than for critical examination of basic assumptions underpinning projects and programs. Results made possible through the lens of trans­lation show that the Swedish approach was made possible by the vague borders of the field of evaluation, the rhetorical use of evaluation terminology in translation, skilled institutional entrepreneurs using legitimizing strategies, and the framing by the Commission and state ministries that opens up for national variation.

Master of Science / Department of Journalism and Mass Communications / Todd F. Simon / The debate over human origins was a prominent fixture of U.S. news coverage during the first decade of the 21st century. During this period, U.S. news media featured regular portrayals of an all-out culture war between supporters of biological evolution and advocates of so-called “rival theories” of human origins. In the end, this war would cost American taxpayers millions of dollars in legal fees, confuse science students, divide communities with unparalleled animosities, and alter public policy at the city, county and state level. While there have been previous content analyses performed on U.S. newspaper coverage of evolution and its primary challenger, an idea called "intelligent design," these analyses have tended to be somewhat informal (Mooney & Nisbet, 2005) or lacking (Martin, et al., 2006). The following study addresses these gaps in the literature. Using content analysis, the following study examines hard news coverage of intelligent design presented in 12 U.S. newspapers of varying circulation size and storytelling influence. A final sample of 421 newspaper articles originally published between the years 2000 and the end of the year 2009 is analyzed herein. Results demonstrate that U.S. newspapers initially framed intelligent design as primarily a religious / unscientific concept, but that intelligent design was increasingly framed as a scientific / unreligious concept leading up to, during and after the landmark 2005 Kitzmiller v. Dover trial. Additionally, this study finds no significant differences in framing intelligent design as a religious / unscientific or scientific / unreligious concept by dedicated science reporters and non-science reporters.

Corporate governance models segregate the role of risk manager and risk taker to allow for independent challenge of risk-related decisions. Numerous studies have demonstrated that broad personality traits predict risk-related behaviour. While prospect theory revealed a natural preference towards risk-taking in a negative risk frame, studies have also shown the influence of personality traits on risk preference. We investigated the less reported subject of the potential influence of risk stakeholder personality on risk decision making in the corporate environment. We expected to observe that the personality traits of risk takers and risk managers will differ as a consequence of occupational self-selection. Further, we expected that such personality differences will produce disparate risk preferences between risk takers and risk managers, supporting the governance expectation of independent challenge of risk-related decisions. A sample of investment banking risk stakeholders (n = 100) completed the HEXACO–PI–R as well as a vignette-based risky choice questionnaire involving positively and negatively framed financial risk scenarios. We found homogeneity in personality traits between risk takers and risk managers but observed a noticeable bias toward risk-taking in the negative frame by risk managers. High Honesty–Humility and Conscientiousness scores in both groups may negate the risk of irresponsible risk-taking or undesirable risk behaviour. The results of this study confirm the importance of personality screening for job applicants and should also alert risk practitioners to potential weaknesses in the independent challenge of risk-related decisions as a result of personality homogeneity among risk stakeholders.

Corporate governance models segregate the role of risk manager and risk taker to allow for independent challenge of risk-related decisions. Numerous studies have demonstrated that broad personality traits predict risk-related behaviour. While prospect theory revealed a natural preference towards risk-taking in a negative risk frame, studies have also shown the influence of personality traits on risk preference. We investigated the less reported subject of the potential influence of risk stakeholder personality on risk decision making in the corporate environment. We expected to observe that the personality traits of risk takers and risk managers will differ as a consequence of occupational self-selection. Further, we expected that such personality differences will produce disparate risk preferences between risk takers and risk managers, supporting the governance expectation of independent challenge of risk-related decisions. A sample of investment banking risk stakeholders (n = 100) completed the HEXACO–PI–R as well as a vignette-based risky choice questionnaire involving positively and negatively framed financial risk scenarios. We found homogeneity in personality traits between risk takers and risk managers but observed a noticeable bias toward risk-taking in the negative frame by risk managers. High Honesty–Humility and Conscientiousness scores in both groups may negate the risk of irresponsible risk-taking or undesirable risk behaviour. The results of this study confirm the importance of personality screening for job applicants and should also alert risk practitioners to potential weaknesses in the independent challenge of risk-related decisions as a result of personality homogeneity among risk stakeholders.

More than 35 years ago, calls were made for research on the constitutive role of accounting. Since then, many statements have been made to specify what accounting is or is not. This study describes what accounting does, in order to amalgamate a fragmented picture of accounting in practice, instead of seeking the answer to the existential question of what accounting really is. The purpose of this study was to investigate and describe what accounting does, and how this is done on the basis of business meetings in order to contribute to a better understanding of the role of accounting in practice.This study is based on the actor-network theory approach. Particular attention hasbeen paid to accounting as named numbers, when becoming a performative participantin framed situations. The framed situations of business meetings contained three elements; 1) pure calculation, 2) qualculation which include both calculation and judgments, and 3) calqulation as a collective social process. An ethnographically inspired field studywas carried out at Eton Fashion AB, a Swedish shirt making company. Data was collected by participant observations of business meetings supported by interviews. Photography, sound recording, and field notes were used as techniques for documentation.Diagnoses of five business meetings revealed that; 1) accounting restricted time,place and content, 2) accounting brought past and future into the present, 3) accounting summarized and obscured discontinuities, 4) accounting defined people and things, and 5) accounting called for the filling of content. Accounting became an actor in these five ways as they were allied with people and things that appeared in the meetings. Accounting was in a context where people made sense of situations by making both estimates and judgments. During the meetings, an ongoing reduction of complexity was taking place. Step by step, diversity and complexity were reduced until an order filled with numbers was the only thing remaining. At the same time, something was gained, as we step by step achieved greater legibility, transportability and universality. In this way the situation could subsist. It might move to new situations and it might allow for new summaries and new situations to take place. The situation of a meeting contained elements of pure calculation representing the cold, anonymous and empty part. Oftenthough, calculation, because of its emptiness, initiated for qualculation and calqulation to begin. Accounting as an idea is a taken for granted phenomenon, with influence, often far beyond what we can see when we find ourselves in a given situation. I conclude that it could have been some other way. It is not accounting in itself, its own excellence or ability to represent the truth, which makes it successful. The success story of accounting is simply about “the others” with whom accounting is an ally. / För avläggande av ekonomie doktorsexamen i företagsekonomi som med tillstånd av Handelshögskolans fakultetsnämnd vid Göteborgs universitet framlägges för offentlig granskning fredagen den 30 mars kl. 13.15 i CGsalen vid Företagsekonomiska institutionen, Vasagatan 1, Göteborg.

I tider av miljöproblem ställs begrepp om natur och vad det innebär på sin spets. Olika uppfattningar vad som är naturligt och vad som är ett miljöproblem har dominerat inte minst klimatdebatten. Utgångspunkten består i den socialkonstruktionistiska tanken om att skapandet av naturen sker i våra tolkningar av den, och inte minst i olika samhällsinstitutioners definierande av den efter egna intressen. Det noteras även att flera av de mest framgångsrika definitionerna av naturen har på senare utgjorts av berättelser i form av spelfilmer och dokumentärer. Mot bakgrund av detta undersöker uppsatsen hur även företag skapar konstruktioner av naturen, och mer specifikt i berättelser om sina produkter. Uppsatsens syfte är att undersöka hur naturen används av det svenska klädföretaget Houdini för att skapa en intressant berättelse om en produkt. Det empiriska materialet består också av just av två produktberättelser i formen av Youtubefilmer. Frågeställningar som behandlas är hur naturen konstrueras i filmerna, vilken relation dessa konstruktioner har till den marknadsförda produkten, samt hur naturkonstruktioner används som narrativ funktion. Med ett teoretiskt ramverk bestående av en rad tidigare identifierade naturkonstruktioner och begrepp som kritiskt undersöker relationen mellan natur och produkt genomförs en semiotisk och en narrativ analys av de två filmerna. Slutsatser inkluderar att naturen porträtteras som ömtålig och problematisk i filmernas anslagsscener, samt att miljöproblem utgör båda filmernas konflikter. Det hot som föreligger mot naturen bäddar också för ett intressant narrativt projekt som Houdini åtar sig i filmerna - att skapa nya kläder som på olika sätt, om än i olika grad, utges lösa problemen. Via kritiska begrepp som semiotisk flexibilitet, naming och re-framing noteras även att naturen används för att ge vissa Houdiniprodukter närmast naturgivna karaktärsdrag i vissa fall. Studien konstaterar slutligen att det tycks finnas relevans för de ställda frågorna i uppsatsens frågeställningar och denna undersökningsdesign skulle vara intressant att applicera på marknadsföring kring andra branscher med kopplingar till naturen, så som turism- och bilindustrin.

The current paper examines the dissimilarities that have occurred in news framing by state-sponsored news outlets in their different language versions. The comparative framing analysis is conducted on the news coverage of the Russian intervention in Syria (2016) in RT and Radio Liberty in Russian and English languages. The certain discrepancies in framing of this event are found in both news outlets. The strongest distinction between Russian and English versions occurred in framing of responsibility and humanitarian crisis in Syria. The study attempts to explain the identified differences in a framework of public diplomacy and propaganda studies. The existing theories explain that political ideology and foreign policy orientation influences principles of state propaganda and state-sponsored international broadcasting. However, the current findings suggest that other influence factors may exist in the field – such as the local news discourse and the journalistic principles. This conclusion is preliminary, as there are not many studies with the comparable research design, which could support the current discussion. The studies of localized strategies of the international media (whether private networks or state-funded channels) can refine the current conclusions and bring a new perspective to global media studies. / <p>This thesis was supported by the Swedish Institute (Svenska Institutet) </p>