On the eighth of July 2023, the Swedish tabloid newspaper Aftonbladet published the identities of the anonymous music group Hooja. The publication provoked strong reactions from the fans of Hooja. Only a few of the Swedish newspapers chose to publish the disclosure or to make a remark on it. In this study the publishers and editors-in-chief who were essential to the debate have been interviewed. The journalist who wrote the revealing article of the music group Hooja, has also been interviewed for the essay. The study and the interviews have been done based on the disclosure of Hooja's identities and have discussed the topics about ethical considerations and journalistic decisions associated with the emergence of social media and its impact on the industry. The essay has been done with a qualitative method, more precisely, with research interviews and a thematic analysis. The theory of media ethics is used in the study. News selection and news valuation are also theories that have been used in the essay. With the emergence of social media, a new form of authorities has also emerged. It has affected the Swedish news industry in different ways. During the research interviews the pros and cons of the definition of what an authority is, were discussed. Furthermore it is discussed how a publisher and editor-in-chief may think about investigative journalism in a changed media landscape with a new form of authorities. What emerges is that it is no longer clear to determine who has authority and therefore determine who should be investigated. It must be an individual assessment on a case-by-case basis. The revealing of Hooja's identities are an example of when different news media are not in agreement. What is set against each other in the news evaluation is the public interest and relevance versus the possible publicity damage.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:UPSALLA1/oai:DiVA.org:lnu-126840 |
| Date | January 2024 |
| Creators | Gustafsson, Ellen, Nilsson, Cornelia |
| Publisher | Linnéuniversitetet, Institutionen för medier och journalistik (MJ) |
| Source Sets | DiVA Archive at Upsalla University |
| Language | Swedish |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Student thesis, info:eu-repo/semantics/bachelorThesis, text |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Rights | info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess |
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