Changes in media technology and markets create new demands and challenges for society. The relationship between sport and the media is an example. Sport as a form of entertainment provides pleasure and excitement for the audience and high ratings for networks and media companies. This study examines elite athletes’ views of media coverage and the extent to which such coverage affects their athletic performance. The method used combines semi-structures interviews with a hermeneutic approach. The theoretical framework encompasses both gender and media theories combined with concepts of medialization and commercialization. There are six resultant themes. They include discussions of current sport journalism, the pressures generated by media coverage, the importance of sponsors, trademarks, the advantages and disadvantages of social media, and gender in sport. The primary conclusion is that the media have great impact on athletes. The athletes particularly stress the numerous ways the behavior and the action patterns of the reporters and media affect them.

TikTok is a newly established social media platform with a lot of active and young users. On the app all kinds of political and controversial subjects get discussed, but how these are received, shared and interacted with are not something that we know a lot about today. The purpose of the study is to see how the news of the american presidential election and the abortion debate are being framed on the social media platform TikTok, as well as seeing what types of subjects within these debates are getting the most attention. This study did a quantitative content analysis, examining 600 analysis units. These have been divided into two TikToks hashtags, called #Abortionban and #Election2020. With 300 videos per hashtag, these have been further divided into popular videos versus unpopular videos – 150 per each. The videos are mostly framed as negative or neutral for the most part on both the hashtags, but the abortionban hashtag is more critical and also more emotional than the Election2020 hashtag. As the Election2020 hashtag leaned in almost all instances towards being more neutral and emotional but not at all critical. Barely one third of the 300 videos in the Election2020 hashtag was critical, while the majority of the abortionban hashtag, marking 80 percent, was critical. This was the biggest difference between the two hashtags, as well as the Abortionban hashtag being much more emotional, but the difference there was not as noticable. The most prominent subjects discussed within the hashtags were the same both within the popular and the impopular videos, and had a lot in common. For example on the Abortionban hashtag the subjects prochoice and prolife were both very prominent in the popular and unpopular videos, as well as voting and humour for the Election2020 hashtag. Which shows that some subjects get discussed no matter the interaction they get from their audiences, and are often subjects that the general public has a lot of thoughts on, as well as for being discussed in other media.

Studiens syfte är att undersöka internetanvändares medvetenhet och åsikter om filterbubblor på sökmotorn Google. Undersökningens frågeställning är: Vad har internetanvändare för tankar och förhållningssätt till filterbubblor som skapas på Google? Studien är avgränsad till studenter vid Uppsala Universitet. Det är en population som kan förmodas vara storkonsumenter av information via sökmotorer. En stor majoritet av respondenterna menade också att Google var ett viktigt hjälpmedel i studier och vardag. För genomförandet av undersökningen användes en kvalitativ metod med fokusgrupper. 17 respondenter i fyra grupper fick diskutera medvetenhet, åsikter och uppfattningar om filterbubblor och informationsinhämtning som sker via Google. Som teoretisk vägledning användes sex olika samhällsvetenskapliga teorier mot vilka det empiriska materialet prövades. Resultatet från undersökningen visar att en majoritet av respondenterna inte var medvetna om den filtrering av informationen som sker på Google och därmed skapar filterbubblor. När respondenterna vid intervjuerna blev informerade om filterbubblor och dess effekter framkom olika uppfattningar och åsikter. Många respondenter uttryckte oro för effekterna av avskärmningen från information och utbyte med andra användare som bubblorna medför. Andra respondenter ansåg att så länge det inte medförde några negativa effekter i användandet av söktjänsten var det inget problem. Avskärmningen som filterbubblor skapar kan begränsa internetanvändares exponering för ”ny” information. Detta kan innebära en risk att människors tillgång till fri och icke styrd information manipuleras av kommersiella intressen. Detta lyfts fram i studiens analys med en teoretisk anknytning till Habermas inflytelserika arbeten om den publika sfären. Ett problem i det sammanhanget, som lyfts fram i forskning, är att filterbubblor kan komma att motsäga fundamentala demokratiska informationsprinciper. Resultatet visar därmed att filterbubblor fungerar som en slags grindvakt för internetanvändarens tillgång till information på Google. Med andra ord har en förändring skett där de “nya” nätbaserade grindvakterna saknar den mänskliga faktor som traditionella mediers grindvakter hade och som styrdes av transparanta värderingar. Respondenterna menade slutligen att Google bör vara mer transparant om problematiken med filterbubblor för att stärka sitt förtroende bland användarna.

This thesis deals with the medialization of public health-threatening events associated with the methanol affair, which appeared in Czech republic in September 2012. The thesis examines the ways in which selected four national newspapers informed the public about that case. The theoretical part presents concepts through which it is possible to look at the functioning of the media - their role in society, patterns and routine ways of media production, their role in case of emergencies and crises. Analytical part first outlines the methodological basis and consequently represents the outputs of quantitative and qualitative research. The quantitative part mainly describes how much space was in the examined newspapers provided with the affair, what kind of sub-themes were most accented, how much importance was over time attributed to the affair, what the motives were displayed in the published photographs, to what extent was preserved news neutrality of published headlines. The qualitative part of the research focuses on the linguistic tools used in articles in term of neutrality, on non-verbal expression tools and in detail illustrates how the examined newspapers reported about specific events associated with the methanol affair.

On March 25th 2020 George Floyd, a black man, was killed on the streets of Minneapolis,Minnesota by Derek Chauvin, a white police officer. This sparked new life into the BlackLives Matter movement (BLM), which had been around since 2013. This new found interestin the movement had a remarkable spread on social media, permeating the discoursethroughout most parts of society. The purpose of the essay is to study how the use ofInstagram has contributed to the spread of the BLM movement as well as the socialconsequences the movement had on society. To study this the essay uses Faircloughsperspective on critical discourse analysis to analyze three dimensions of the empiricalmaterial, these being: text, discursive practice and social practice. Interaction, intertextuality,interdiscourse and themes are going to be used as tools to provide the necessary frameworkfor analysis. This in combination with postcolonialism, structural racism and mediatizationfor the theoretical framework. The analysis proved that educational and informative textswere important in conveying messages linked to racism, antiblackness, racial profiling andstructural racism. Aswell as reoccuring themes, such as police violence, antiblackness,slavery, racism, demonstrations. The platform was used to highlight social injustices andsocietal problems. Instagram proved an important medium for spreading the movement'smessage, having voices that are typically repressed in society forming and controlling thediscourse. Due to an increasingly mediated society, the use of Instagram made it possible foreveryone to take part of the discourse.

På mindre än en generations livstid har Sverige gått från ett samhälle där få hade telefon i sitt hem till en totalt uppkopplad tillvaro. I det digitaliserade Sverige är tillgången till och användarkompetensen av den digitala teknologin en förutsättning för samhällsdeltagandet, vilket ofta ses som problematiskt för den äldre generationen som är den grupp som har haft svårast att anpassa sig enligt den digitala utvecklingen. Syftet med studien är att studera hur åldersdiskrimineringen i det digitaliserade samhället upplevs för den äldre generationen. Målet är att bidra med kunskap och förståelse för den sociala och kulturella tillhörigheten för äldre i det digitaliserade samhället. Det här kommer att göras utifrån frågeställningarna: (1) Hur upplevs den sociala och kulturella tillhörigheten i ett digitaliserat samhälle som äldre? (2) Hur upplever äldre att digitala ersättningar påverkar deras samhällsdeltagande och vilken betydelse har det för deras välbefinnande? (3) Vilken roll spelar varma experter för social och kulturell inkludering hos äldre?  Studiens teoretiska ramverk består av två infallsvinklar. Age Studies, som belyser åldrande som en social och kulturell process med ett personligt perspektiv. Den andra infallsvinkeln är medialiseringsteorin som förklarar hur media i ett digitaliserat samhälle formar den mänskliga relationen till verkligheten, och används främst utifrån ett ersättningsperspektiv. Undersökningen genomfördes genom en semistrukturerad kvalitativ intervjustudie på fyra kvinnor och fyra män över 75 år för att skapa en djupare förståelse av deras upplevelser. Intervjumaterialet har kodats enligt in vivo kodning som har fokuserat på att framhäva intervjupersonens egna resonemang och har sedan analyserats och framställts i en tematisk analys. Resultatet visar att äldres upplevelse av den sociala och kulturella tillhörigheten i ett digitaliserat samhälle har en stor variation. För den uppkopplade äldre upplevs tillhörigheten som inkluderande och digitala ersättningar som något som oftast förenklar vardagen. Däremot skildrar många äldre en snabb utveckling som ständigt ställer krav på anpassning gentemot samhällets nya förutsättningar och en risk eller rädsla för att falla undan och förlora sin tillgång till väsentliga tjänster och sin tillhörighet. Flera äldre upplever att den yngre generationen använder teknologi på ett annat sätt och befinner sig i en annan kulturell sfär som är svår att relatera till. De äldre som är frånkopplade från det digitala skildrar en tillhörighet som präglas av ett utanförskap, där de digitala ersättningarna har skapat ett hinder för samhällsdeltagandet och man har blivit utelåst från stora delar av samhället. Varma experter spelar en stor roll för äldres sociala och kulturella inkludering genom att agera som stöd, hjälp vid problem och introducera nya typer av produkter och tjänster. Även de som hanterar EICT bäst har ett behov av varma experter vilket innebär att de som står utan får en mer utmanande tillvaro. / In less than a generation's lifetime Sweden has gone from a society where few had phones in their homes to a totally connected presence. In the digitalised Sweden the access to and the literacy of digital technology is a prerequisite to participate in society, which is often seen as problematic for elderly adults as they are the group who has had the most difficult time adjusting to the digital development. The purpose of this study is to see how ageism in the digitalised society is perceived by elderly adults. The aim is to contribute with knowledge and understanding of the social and cultural belonging of elderly in the digitalised society. This will be done through the research questions of:  (1) How do elderly adults perceive their social and cultural belonging in the digitalised society? (2) How do elderly adults perceive that digital substitutions affect their ability to participate in society and what meaning does this have for their wellbeing? (3) What role does warm experts play for the social and cultural inclusion of elderly adults? The study's theoretical framework consists of two angles. The first, Age Studies highlights ageing as a social and cultural process and allows a personal perspective of the matter. The second theoretical approach is the theory of mediatisation which defines the view of the media as a logic that forms the humans relation to reality, which will primarily be applied from the function of substitution. The study was conducted through a semi structured qualitative interview study on four females and four males over the age of 75 to create a deeper understanding of their experiences. The material has been coded according to in vivo coding with an intention of capturing the interviewees own words and has then been analysed and presented through an thematic analysis. The result has shown that elderly's perception of their social and cultural belonging has large variations. For the digital elderly the belonging is depicted as inclusive and the digital substitutions often simplify the everyday life. On the other hand, many elderly describe a fast development that constantly creates demands for adjustment according to society's new prerequisites as well as risk or fear of losing their abilities and therefore losing their access to essential services and their societal belonging. Many elderly perceive that younger people use technology in a different way and therefore exist in a different cultural sphere that is difficult to relate to. The disconnected elderly depicts a belonging defined by exclusion, where the digital substitutions act as an obstacle and hinder societal participation. Warm experts play a pivotal role for elderly's cultural and social inclusion by offering support and help with difficulties as well as introducing new products and services. Even those who are the most comfortable with EICT describe a need for warm experts which indicates that those who have no one to support them are faced with a more difficult life.

This diploma thesis called "Medialization of problematic periods in the life of well-known athletes and their reflection on these periods" examines media coverage of selected athletes in the Czech environment with the method of qualitative analysis used on stories from two printed nationwide newspapers and their online versions. The research is supported by e-interviews with the athletes that provide their view on their portrayal. The aim of this thesis is to provide a deeper insight into the issue and to find out how problematic periods of athletes' careers are presented and how these athletes reflect on it. Research showed that throughout their problematic times, the media had been portraying selected athletes in both positive and negative ways, although their image was constantly filled with superlatives reflecting their achievements. Portrayals of problematic periods were congruent across selected media, which athletes themselves confirmed. At the end of the defined periods, or in later time, all selected athletes regained their media status of a hero or even a national hero. Interestingly, athletes did not care much about their public image, moreover, they often tried to completely free themselves from any influence of the media avoiding any possible negative repercussions. In addition, the...

Denna uppsats undersöker hur den materiella spelvärlden i The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt konstrueras och presenteras, med fokus på medialiserade figurationer, rumslighet och transmediala berättelseelement. Med utgångspunkt i posthumanistisk teori och materiell semiotik kartlägger studien hur den virtuella miljön i spelet också fungerar som en aktiv deltagare i spelupplevelsen, snarare än en passiv bakgrund till huvudberättelsen. Genom att tillämpa Espen Aarseths variabla modell analyserar studien hur spelets design och interaktiva objekt fungerar som semiotiska agenter. Resultaten visar att spelvärldens rumsliga element, såsom väder, topologi och arkitektur, spelar en avgörande roll i att forma spelvärldens rumsliga upplevelse och narrativ. Vidare visar analysen att interaktiva objekt och sidokaraktärer, trots olika begränsningar avinteraktionsmöjligheter, erbjuder visuella och audiella ledtrådar som bidrar till spelvärldens tillblivande. Studien visar att spelvärlden i The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt är ömsesidigt konstituerad med spelarens handlingar, där varje interaktion formar och omformas av den dynamiska och performativa spelvärlden. / This thesis explores how the material game world in The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt is constructed and presented, focusing on mediatized figurations, spatiality, and transmedia narrative elements. Grounded in posthumanist theory and material semiotics, the study maps how the virtual environment also functions as an active participant in the gameplay experience, rather than just a passive backdrop to the game story. Utilizing Espen Aarseth’s variable model the analysis investigates how the game’s design and interactive objects act as semiotic agents. The findings reveal that the spatial elements of the game world, such as weather, topology, and architecture, play a crucial role in shaping the spatial experience and narrative of the game world. Furthermore, the analysis shows that interactive objects and side characters, despite varying levels of interaction possibilities, provide visual and auditory cues that contribute to the coming into being of the game world. The study demonstrates that the game world in The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt is mutually constituted with the player’s actions, where each interaction shapes and is shaped by the dynamic and performative game environment.

This diploma thesis describes an unexplored field of study - the medialization of the monetary separation and Czech koruna formation in February 1993. The thesis maps Czech media discourse devoted to this theme and answers the question whether the media, through its contents, could contribute to a positive perception and acceptance of this fundamental economic reform that actually completed the dissolution of Czechoslovakia process on January 1, 1993. For this purpose the thesis uses the qualitative research methods, the semiotic analysis and the discourse analysis. The introduction briefly outlines the sociopolitical situation in the country. The theoretical part describes the role of money and monetary policy, the technical preparation of the currency separation, including a new series of banknotes, and outlines Czech media trends after the 1989. The methodological part contains specific objectives, research questions and widely presents the selected research methods. The practical part analyzes media contents devoted to the currency separation in Czech newspapers Blesk (Flash), Hospodářské noviny (Economic Newspaper), MF Dnes (Today), Rudé právo (Red Law) and selected program of Česká televize (Czech Television) in the first quarter of the year 1993. The main outcome of the analysis is a...

Modernitet och intermedialitet is the first major study of the Swedish modernist writer Erik Asklund (1908-1980) and his works. The thesis consists of an introductory chapter and three close readings of Asklund’s early novels Kvinnan är stor (The Woman is Great, 1931), Lilla land (A Small Country, 1933), and Fanfar med fem trumpeter (A Fanfare with Five Trumpets, 1934). In these novels, Asklund depicts modernity in Sweden in the 1930’s. Exploring the modernity of the 1930’s in Asklund’s novels, especially the contemporary media situation turns out to be one of the most important aspects. Asklund wrote stories about film, music and various forms of visual culture, (photography, for instance). These different forms of art and media play an important role for Asklund’s writings, not only thematically, but also narationally. In my analyses, I put forward different theoretical aspects of intermediality. In this context, the ideas of Werner Wolf have been especially useful to my examinations of the intermedial aspects in Asklund’s works. In the novel Kvinnan är stor, Asklund tells the story about the young woman Lydia, who moves from the countryside to the big city of Stockholm. She then learns to decode the modern urban society, and becomes a modern woman. In Kvinnan är stor, intermediality is expressed mainly through various connections to film and photography. The modernization of Sweden in the early 20th century was much a question of the countryside becoming modern. In Lilla land, Asklund depicts this process. The novel is one of the first works ever focusing the forming of the Swedish welfare state project. The story is told in a cinematic or filmical way. The third novel to be analysed in the thesis is Fanfar med fem trumpeter. This is one of the first Swedish jazz novels. Asklund tells the story about five young unemployed men in Stockholm who form a jazz orchestra, and make a career. The novels characters experience everyday life as “medialized”; they compare reality with music, film, and photography. These novels, as well as all Asklund’s writings from the 1930’s, are important contributions to the “story about Sweden becoming a modern country”. This “story” consists of the novels, short stories and poems written in the early decades of the 20th century in Sweden.