Den här studien fokuserar på mediers bilder av alkohol och hur dessa framställs språkligt i svensk morgontv. Specifikt studeras dryckesinslagen i två avsnitt av SVT:s Gomorron Sverige respektive TV4:s Nyhetsmorgon. Studiens syfte är att undersöka hur alkohol som fenomen konstrueras i dessa program och därigenom öka förståelsen för det fenomenet samt bidra till teoretiseringen av mediers bilder av alkohol. För att komma åt dessa konstruktioner används multimodal kritisk diskursanalys (MCDA) både som teori och metod. Studiens teoretiska ramverk utgår även från morgontv-genrens programformat och dess journalistiska approach samt en teori om mediers legitimerande verkan. Studiens tillvägagångssätt grundar sig i analysbegrepp hämtade från MCDA vilka möjliggör en kvalitativ kritisk studie av programmens språkanvändning. Språk inom MCDA innefattar verbalt och skriftligt språk samt visuella tecken. Utifrån de språkliga resurser som framkommer i dekonstruktionen av avsnittens språkanvändning delas studiens material in i fyra diskursiva teman. Temana existerar i en vardaglig och familjär kontext utifrån tv-studiornas utformning och programledarnas journalistiska approach. Det första och mest grundläggande temat är att alkoholhaltiga drycker konstrueras som det normativa. Avsnittens tittare konstrueras som konsumenter, och då främst som alkoholkonsumenter. Vidare konstrueras dryckestipsen i programmen som folkbildning som tittarna måste ta del av. Det avslutande temat tar upp hur alkohol konstrueras som ett exklusivt fenomen. / The focus of this study is media’s images of alcohol and how language is used to portray them in Swedish breakfast television. Items on beverages are studied in two episodes of Gomorron Sverige and two episodes of Nyhetsmorgon. The purpose of the study is to investigate the constructions of alcohol as a phenomenon in these programs as well as to increase the understanding of the phenomenon and accumulate to the theorizing on the media’s images of alcohol. To be able to examine these constructions the study uses multimodal critical discourse analysis (MCDA) as a theory as well as a method. The theoretical framework of the study will also be based on the setting within, and the journalistic approach of, the genre of breakfast television as well as a theory on media as a legitimating actor. The procedure of the study is based on multiple concepts of analysis gathered from MCDA which enable a qualitative critical study of the language used within the programs. MCDA regards language as spoken and written language as well as visual signs. Through the linguistic resources, exposed by the deconstruction of the language used in the programs, it is possible to distinguish four thematic discourses within the material of the study. The thematic discourses exist within a familiar context based on the styling of the studios and the journalistic approach of the hosts. The first and most essential thematic discourse is the fact that alcohol is constructed as a norm. Secondly, the viewers are constructed as consumers of alcohol. Furthermore the beverage recommendations are constructed as mass education, mandatory for the viewers to take part of. The final thematic discourse regards alcohol as an exclusive phenomenon.

This thesis examines the changing relationships between television, politics, audiences and the public sphere. Premised on the notion that mediated politics is now understood “in new ways by new voices” (Jones, 2005: 4), and appropriating what McNair (2003) calls a “chaos theory” of journalism sociology, this thesis explores how two different contemporary Australian political television programs (Sunrise and The Chaser’s War on Everything) are viewed, understood, and used by audiences. In analysing these programs from textual, industry and audience perspectives, this thesis argues that journalism has been largely thought about in overly simplistic binary terms which have failed to reflect the reality of audiences’ news consumption patterns. The findings of this thesis suggest that both ‘soft’ infotainment (Sunrise) and ‘frivolous’ satire (The Chaser’s War on Everything) are used by audiences in intricate ways as sources of political information, and thus these TV programs (and those like them) should be seen as legitimate and valuable forms of public knowledge production. It therefore might be more worthwhile for scholars to think about, research and teach journalism in the plural: as a series of complementary or antagonistic journalisms, rather than as a single coherent entity.