The thesis focuses on the analysis of representations of Russia in relation to the Nation Branding theory of Simon Anholt (Anholt, 2007, 2010). The empirical study examines the representation of the country in the output of Russian English-speaking media and transnational media. The aim of the research is to compare them in the end. The bidding process for the right to host World Football Cup 2018 is chosen as a case study.Previous research has shown that during similar events in other countries, even when there were attempts to manage the branding process and change the image of the country, transnational media have usually a critical approach to the coverage, while domestic outlets are more loyal and create more positive image to their country of origin. (Barr, 2011; Berger, 2010; Ding, 2011; Han, 2011; Latham, 2009; Manzenreiter, 2010; Hoppe, 2011)The theoretical framework of the study is based on the representation theory and the construction of meaning in media texts. The theoretical part uses works by Fairclough (1995), van Dijk (1991) and Hall (1997). It talks about the most important notions of the theory, discusses the ways meaning is constructed in articles and outlines linguistic and narrative tools that are the most important for the empirical study. Among them are metaphors, hyperboles, topics, actors and the usage of sources.The research has a mixed-methods approach and combines content-analysis and discourse analysis.The findings demonstrate that there is indeed a difference in the coverage by Russian English-speaking media and transnational media. They have different approaches to the tone and angle of the articles, as well as the representation of sources. Moreover, it is confirmed that transnational media have critical approaches to portraying Russia. They discuss problems of Russia in relation to hosting Football Championship and sometimes there are more negative propositions in global media’s texts. At the same time Russian media seem to be biased and willing to present Russia in a more optimistic way. They focus more on positive developments that Russian is going to go through and present it as a country that is ready for change.

The focus of the study is an analysis, to what extend nationalist positionings are used in the online mediation of sports. The empirical study focuses on how nationality is represented and constructed in textual output. In addition, the study compares the findings of a content analysis conducted in Germany and the UK. As critical case the coverage of the 2012 UEFA EURO Championship qualification in 2011 has been selected.Previous research shows that nationalism in mediated sports within the traditional media is represented through various approaches. The usage of national identities and the construction of difference have been observed by researchers, such as Dixon (2000), Bruce (2004), Malcom (2009), Stocker (2009), Chesterton (2011) and others as mechanisms of nationalism. Furthermore, the developments and trends in the genre of sports journalism have been studied by researchers, such as Schlegel (2007) and Schmalenbach (2009), in regards to the journalistic profession, economical interests and tendencies in writing.The most important theory for this research has been the construction of difference in media output as well as how national identities or nationalism is represented in textual output. Most influential for this study are the theories by Stuart Hall (1997) and Teun van Dijk (1991). A definition regarding nationality and nationalism is based on the Danish researcher Jorgensen as presented by Östman (2009).The empirical study collects articles published on the two most visited websites / portals from Germany and the UK. 81 articles have been studied through a quantitative content analysis.From the empirical study it has been concluded that in both countries nationalist positionings are represented through constructions of difference. However, it needs to be noted that journalists in Germany and the UK are using different approaches. In Germany, country names and variations are used to create distance between the home and the other teams. In the UK they are used to strengthen their own national identity. Sources and quotations of the home teams are overrepresented to underline the connection between them and the audience. Pronouns and comparatives / superlatives are used to construct an “us-versus-them” relationship. Pronouns are more important in the UK for this approach, while in Germany it is mostly comparatives / superlatives. The frequencies of the different constructions vary, but all of them are used regularly in online sports reporting and confirm that there are nationalist tendencies in sports journalism.

The objective of this research project is to investigate the beliefs of eight Swedish journalists with reference to the controversial phenomenon of tabloidization and to unravel the impulses and the factors that are leading more and more publications to sensationalize their news content. Since this topic has been touched upon by previous research, the present thesis actions are directed towards a more particular research angle which has the intention to fill a less explored gap of the research area. Accordingly the aim of this thesis is to investigate and explore the very core of any newsroom which is the journalists themselves. This study deeply examines the journalists's opinions and views on the chosen topic.   The skeletal frame of this research is grounded on eight semi-structured face to face interviews with Swedish based journalists working for three different newspapers: Nerikes Allehanda, Aftonbladet and Expressen. The interviews were conducted between 1 ih of February and 6th of March 2012 both in 6rebro and Stockholm in different public locations chosen by the interviewees. The sampling technique chosen for this research study is the snowball sampling method in which every interviewed journalist recommended and helped the researcher to identify the next responded willing to take part in the study until the desired sample size was fulfilled. AH the interviews were recorded using a digital recording device. The gathered data which resulted from the transcription of the interviews was analyzed by using the grounded theory method with both induct.ive and deductive argumentation.  The findings of the study are pointing out the massive commercialization of the media sector anc;l the financial crisis as principal reasons in directing the journalists to present news in a more shocking and graphic manner. The interviewed Swedish journalists perceive tabloidization as a natural phenomenon while they are "u_sing" it as marketing tool in order to sell the newspaper. An interesting and unique finding is the "camouflage technique" used by the Swedish journalists to hide quality reportages and serious news under gossipy topics and hyperbolized headlines. The research concludes that even though Swedish journalists do not regard tabloidization as being a phenomenon characterized by dishonor, the future of the printed media stays into quality journalism and credible newspapers while tabloidization will become more and more a significant part of the online media.

The anatomy of the human body is important in both the video game and the VFX industry. Whenever a limb is bending or moving, there are several different muscles working for this to happen. This work will look at the re-topology of the arm and the moving anatomy around the bending and twisting areas of the arm. A method will be done were three different re-topologies of a muscular arm will be created. These arms will be deformed with common arm movements/animations to find better or worse retopology methods. / Anatomin i den mänskliga kroppen är viktig i både tv spels och VFX branschen. När en lem böjer eller rör sig, arbetar flera olika muskler på sig samtidigt för att detta skall hända. Detta arbete kommer undersöka den rörande anatomin omkring dom större böjnings och vridnings områdena i armen. En metod kommer att genomföras där tre olika om-topologier av en muskulös arm kommer att skapas. Dessa armar kommer att deformeras med vanliga arm rörelser/animeringar för att hitta bättre eller sämre om-topologi metoder.

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Digital mobile media have a major influence on organizations today. The technology has enabled a flexible work environment where employees can get work done without the limits of time and space. The boundary-less working conditions have come with possibilities but also resulted in new expectations of extended work availability. Previous research has shown that a blurry line between work and time off can cause stress and make it difficult to recover from the job (Dettmers, Bamberg and Seffzek 2016, 291; Mellner 2016, 156).   The purpose of this study is to continue exploring the boundary-less working environment in relation to digital mobile media. This is an exploratory study aiming to understand how and why employees use work-related smartphones and emails after working hours. The aim is also to investigate employees’ reasons to be connected to the job during spare time.   This study is qualitative and based on interviews with Swedish employees working for a multinational company. As a theoretical framework, the study highlights boundary theory, social influence model, social learning theory, digital mobile media and globalization.   The findings showed that employees with international job contacts experienced that they should be occasionally available after working hours but not because of peer-pressure from co-workers. The participants had different reasons for being available during time off, such as wanting to help colleagues in another time zone, being curious about a project or planning for upcoming working days. None of the participants experienced negativity of sometimes being available to work during the spare time and they believed that it is important to disconnect after working hours, to have time to relax.

The Sino-Japanese relationship occupies the top diplomatic priority in modern history for the Chinese government. The bilateral communication, including the communication of political issues between China and Japan has always been the focus of the Chinese media. China Daily, the largest English language publication plays a particularly important role in establishing national identity as one of the most important websites which clearly expresses and propagates the national agenda. Since media representations and discourse can shape ideology, on the basis of reviewing the previous researches and theories of media representations and critical discourse analysis, this research examines how China Daily constructs discourse regarding Sino-Japanese communication issues on its website. The research methods of this study are quantitative method and critical discourse analysis (CDA). The linguistic study in media discourse is generally concerned with the reproduction of ideology in language use, which is also one of the goals of CDA. The starting point of this research is that the propaganda and dissemination for relevant Japanese news in China can be better understood in the context of Chinese foreign policy news. Studying propaganda as a narrative form and strategic research rather than prejudiced and distorted investigation allows us to delve further into the process of transforming incidents into politically powerful symbols.

Social movements and the drive for social justice have been on the rise for decades. Social movement studies are accustomed to separate rationality from emotion, and relegate feelings in a subordinate position. The frame alignment approach, theorised by Robert Benford, David Snow and associates, has gained a prominent place in the sociological study of social movements. However, a new approach to social movement studies wants to subvert this dichotomy, and use emotions as a proper analytical tool to better understand a social movement. An exponent of the emotional approach is James Jasper, who believes it is impossible to study social movement without considering the emotions, the collective identity and the culture that come with it. This study thus examines the social movement of Taranto, a town in South of Italy strongly affected by the environmental and health issues of a steel manufacturing plant, the Ilva factory. To illustrate how the movement is composed, takes collective action and engages the bystanders, I will combine frame alignment approach and emotional approach to analyse in-depth interviews conducted on the field, and media content such as slogans and billboards, used during the protest. The paper aims at investigating the collective identity of the Taranto social movement through emotions and to use feelings as an analytical tool to understand the framing process. / <p>The data collection undertaken for this thesis has benefited from financial support by the project titled "Environmental Governance in Context”. Coordinated by Romina Rodela at the School of Natural Sciences, Technology and Environmental Studies of Södertörn University, and funded by the Baltic Sea Foundation during the period from 2013 to 2018 under the call for "Sustainable Development Research in the Social Sciences and Humanities Areas”.</p> / Environmental Governance in Context

Social media have become a well known concept the last decade, and as a tool for politicians and opinions makers they have grown to be a natural part of political campaigning. The Swedish political parties, and the politicians, have become more aware that information written in social media is open to journalists. Therefore they have to be careful not to write anything that can be used against them. Instead they use social media as tools to gain voters. To some extent social media also influence the traditional media. They have become an easy and fast communication channel between journalists and politicians, and sometimes news have been created based on writings in social media. Blogs has also given non-journalists a good platform to communicate their opinions, so to some extent blogs compete with newspapers and other journalist-written media. Social media are still a small phenomenon and not even close to compete with traditional media such as newspapers and TV, but the arena has shown to be influent in raising issues to the public agenda. So even if a small group of people actually reads political blogs they are important in the agenda setting. Almost half of the Swedish population has an account on Facebook, and even more uses some other form of social media. Even thou gh it’s not about politics political views are spread and people express their opinions in different issues not knowing that they are talking politics and contribute to the political agenda. Traditional media still dominates in setting the agenda for politics, and social media has become more of an area for reflection on news that analyzes and comment on journalist-written newspapers, radio and TV. The recent revolutions in Northern Africa were not dependent of social media, and they probably should have happen anyway. But other countries could easy follow the events by reading blogs and looking at Youtube movies from the revolution. In the American presidential election in 2008 Barack Obama was successful using social media, but it was the combination of traditional footwork that made him president.