The establishing of subject positions in Swedish news media discourses during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic.
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Lövenmark A, Stier J, Blomberg H
Media Cult Soc 45 (5) 932-948
[2023-07-00; online 2023-01-12]
The COVID-19 pandemic has dominated the global media since 2020. To a large extent, it is via the news media that the public has learned about the risks, levels of danger, governmental regulations and mandatory actions. This article highlights the subject positions constructed by the Swedish news media from January 2020 to February 2021 in reports about the pandemic. The result shows that citizens can be active-passive or solitary solidarity, these positions appeal to individual accountability, thus potentially shaping and fostering citizens in line with the Swedish government's wider response to the pandemic. The news media's images are of self-regulated citizens who govern and discipline themselves and others according to the current discourses, all of which simultaneously evoke fear, togetherness and hope. The ideological dilemmas for citizens are whether to be active-passive or, if necessary, switch to the solitary solidarity subject position.
Category: Social Science & Humanities
PubMed 38603433
DOI 10.1177/01634437221147636
Crossref 10.1177/01634437221147636
pmc: PMC9843149
pii: 10.1177_01634437221147636