The purpose of this research paper is to examine how Syrian refugees are visually represented in two of the largest newspapers in Sweden: Dagens Nyheter (Today’s news) and Svenska Dagbladet (The Swedish daily paper). Their choice of images on the Syrian refugee crisis will be analysed, to see what sort of message they send by using those specific images. The reason for this study is because previous studies have implied that the media has an important role in crafting national perceptions of refugees. Therefore, it is intriguing to analyse the images the newspapers published during the fall of 2015 to see how Syrian refugees were represented during that most active and chaotic period in Sweden and if the visual representation of Syrian refugees can influence cultures of hostility in Sweden. The study has been linked with previous studies research of visual representations of refugees (us and them, identifiable victim effect) and the severe consequences it can lead to (dehumanization, moral panic) if used improperly, and three main theories that will be the foundation to custom and analyse the images (agenda setting, framing and representation theory). These were all applied and used when operating the method (quantitative content analysis) to collect information and data and also later when analysing and discussing the results. The result of the study showed that the newspapers images did not only focus on negative aspects of events and stories surrounding Syrian refugees. Dagens Nyheter and Svenska Dagbladet did not publish many negative images, but after the results, it is discovered that they are following that specific path on some aspects and that can be the start of a pattern that will be used more often in the future. While it is established that hostile and unwelcoming attitudes in the West have risen, the question remains how far its been developed in Sweden and how long it will be until the Swedish media promotes it as well. Key words: Syrian Refugee Crisis, Visual representation, Framing, Agenda setting and Stereotypes

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This study aims to increase awareness of the portrayal of refugees in Swedish media. In order to achieve this we performed a content analysis of the articles found in the newspaper Dagens Nyheter. Through a strategic selection we chose six news articles published during the fall of 2015 that depicted various refugees’ destinies. We studied the articles in several steps and identified the frames used in the presentation and portayal of the refugees. These frames consisted of roles, characteristics and selected quotations in which the persons were assigned. In the analyzed articles we found that Dagens Nyheter tends to portray refugees in a relatively generalized way, where different categories of refugees are similarly portayed and no refugee gets the role of a hero. They are portrayed in a way that makes them look like they are subordinate to aid organisations and authorities and as if they are in need of help. However, children and elderly tend to be discriminated since they in many cases are being excluded or assigned a subordinate role compared to other categories of refugees.

While past research has revealed diverse forms of relationships between consumers and brands similar to those of interpersonal relationships, this research focuses on the perspective of the brand role in its relationship with consumer in an advertising context. Therefore, the present research examines the interactive effect of brand role (partner vs. servant) and regulatory focus message (promotion vs. prevention) on advertising effectiveness. The results show that interaction between brand role and regulatory focus message significantly influences advertising persuasiveness and consumers' attitudes toward the advertisement, but not consumer's advertising believability, attitudes toward the brand and purchase intention. To be specific, individuals are more persuaded and show more positive attitudes toward advertising when a partner brand is advertised with a promotion-focused message. In contrast, when a servant brand is advertised with a prevention-focused message, individuals are more persuaded and show more positive attitudes toward advertising. / text

This paper provides insights on how five different frames of the Edward Snowden issue (Hero, Patriot, Traitor, Whistleblower, Dissident) have been diffused on the Twitter platform. This study uses NodeXL to collect, analyze and visualize all the tweets including the keyword “Edward Snowden” from February 17 to April 10, 2014 to examine the flow of information and the interaction between opinion leaders along with the characteristics of opinion leaders in this specific issue. Findings provide insight about future strategic communication for general branding and public image maintenance. / text

This study investigated the participant structure and content of discourse in five high-school science classrooms and their connection to scientifically literate practices for talking, reasoning, and evaluating claims. Through a detailed exploration of the way teachers introduced classes to the topic of evolution, I was able to examine how teachers used language to build a social framework for participation, examined the opportunities and challenges stemming from their various approaches, and explored how the structure and content of classroom talk contributed to framing science. This study used techniques from interactional sociolinguistics and conversational analysis to examine videos of interaction in five secondary biology classrooms on the day teachers introduced their students to lessons focused on the topic of evolution. Implications of this study focus on how teacher's discourse moves could open or close a discussion to student knowledge contributions, and emphasize how open discussions offer both challenges and opportunities to teachers wishing to facilitate scientifically literate discourse practices in their classroom. / text

This paper examines the mechanisms of “successful” communication in matters of political leaders’ability to gain public trust and credibility during large scale crises. Even though political actors andother stakeholders tend to be very proactive to promote their views, news media also play an activeand important role in framing public policy issues and crises.1 Thus, this thesis involves both politicalactors and media in the context of framing and crisis communication. Their interrelation and itsimportance for explaining successful crisis communication is demonstrated by producing a case studyof the Norwegian government’s communication efforts during and after the terrorist attack in Osloand the island of Utöya 22/7 2011. This paper argues and demonstrates that the active use ofpositive frames, that are cultural congruent and resonate with the media shaping, is a necessity tocreate a favorable context for winning praise and support in times of crisis. In line with previousresearch, framing strategies in crisis communication is demonstrated to be central to the crisisresponse and determines whether a responsible stakeholder is able to create momentum, maintainand even gain increased public support or not.

The United States has maintained a heavy military presence in Afghanistan for a little more than a decade however; the US has been involved in Afghanistan on and off for over three decades. The 2001 ‘war on terror’ in Afghanistan became framed around the goal of saving Afghan women. In order to understand how this framing came about and what the impact of this framing was I study US congressional documents, speeches and other public rhetoric by government officials in the 1980s and early 2000s. Analyzing rhetorical language and reoccurring themes helps us understand what major framing devices and narrative techniques were in play during these time periods. Ultimately I conclude that women’s safety was a post-facto justification for intervention; the framing techniques used during the 2001 were utilized in order to create a clear, coherent narrative that selectively ignores the impact of US involvement in Afghanistan during the Cold War.

A constructivist understanding of policy production as a struggle of meaning in which ideas and actors interact is the point of departure of this thesis. Prostitution policy is a salient example of such a struggle and is thus a suitable case for exploring the role of ideas in politics. The purpose of the thesis is threefold: to explain the process preceding the Swedish ban on the purchase of sexual services in 1998, to understand the dynamics in gendered policy and to develop a framework for policy analysis. In the first part of the thesis a dynamic model of frame analysis is developed consisting of three dimensions to analyze: the politically relevant ideas in terms of policy frames (in this case related to gender and power); ideas as restricting and facilitating for actors; actors’ framing strategies and the consequences of strategic framing in terms of risks and limitations. This comprehensive and dynamic model of frame analysis fills a gap in previous policy research. In the second part of the thesis the dynamic frame analysis is applied to explain Swedish prostitution policy. The empirical analysis contains a study of the policy process preceding the ban of 1998, a micro study of the actors’ involvement at a critical juncture and an analysis of the actors’ strategic framing. The thesis concludes that the process was path dependent in the sense that the institutionalization of different ideas, at different points of time, was important for the final outcome. However, the thesis also concludes that the involvement of the actors’, mostly women, was a decisive factor. In relation to previous research the analysis provides a more comprehensive and nuanced understanding of the policy process both with regard to the ideas from which the client criminalization claim emanated and also with regard to the actors’ role.

The study looks into the 2008 American Presidential Election from two sides; the way the news channels frame the event and the way a sample of the audiences interpret it. Drawing on literature concerning framing theory which describes the practices employed by mass media to present world events in familiar and understandable formats to audiences, the study examines the coverage of the 2008 American Presidential Election on three trans-border news channels broadcasting in Arabic. A number of stories covering the American election campaign broadcasted on Alarabiya, Alhurra and Aljazeera, are included. The study assesses general frames used to describe the event by each channel. The analysis reports the frames generally employed by the three channels are relatively similar, suggesting a global effect on the media in following the Anglo-American model of journalism when reporting international events. The differences appear when reporting regional issues between the two Arabic trans-border channels Alarabiya and Aljazeera on one side and Alhurra on the other suggesting a link between journalistic ideology and framing. The second part of this thesis is the exploratory audience study which attempts to provide insights into perception of Arab news coverage - particularly in Saudi Arabia. The audience study uses a questionnaire and focus group methodologies on a sample of participants with high television news consumption levels, measuring the perception of news channels credibility in specific and credibility of media in general, and exploring the possible presence of a link between consumption level of news and perceived news credibility. Moreover, examining how audience analyse news and how their opinions about the event have been shaped by media framing.