The Transnationalism of Cultural Journalism in Sweden: Outlooks and Introspection in the Global Era

Authors

  • Anna Roosvall Department of Media Studies, Stockholm University
  • Andreas Widholm Department of Media Studies, Stockholm University

Keywords:

cultural journalism, globalization, transnationalism, geography, press, public service radio

Abstract

Cultural journalism is a unique and underresearched subfield of journalism. This article presents the first systematic study of Swedish cultural journalism, quantitatively mapping content from four decades, zooming in on the years 1985, 1995, 2005, and 2015. We study conceptions of the world outside Sweden during times marked by geopolitical turning points, globalization, and rapid structural transformations in the journalistic market. Employing content analysis of a representative sample from the press and public service radio, we explore geographical and scalar aspects, with a focus on political and global dimensions. Although we found evidence for Eurocentrism and domestication—staples of Western journalism overall—results show that Swedish cultural journalism was a steady conveyor of transnational narratives during all studied periods, which together with a primarily nonconflictual approach, sets cultural journalism apart from foreign news and decreases the risk of misframing in a globalized world.

Author Biographies

Anna Roosvall, Department of Media Studies, Stockholm University

Anna Roosvall is Associate Professor in Media and Communication Studies at the Department of Media Studies at Stockholm University, Sweden.

Andreas Widholm, Department of Media Studies, Stockholm University

Andreas Widholm is Associate Professor in Journalism Studies at the Department of Media Studies at Stockholm University, Sweden.

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Published

2018-03-14

Issue

Vol. 12 (2018)

Section

Articles

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