Executive summary
We are constantly online in this new digital world, always reachable through numeral devises and plattforms. For older generations there has taken some time to adjust, but for one generation this constant connectivity is as normal as breathing. Generation Z – or Gen Z as they are also called – are the ones born between 1997 to 2012, which means they have grown up after the birth of internet not knowing life without it. Studies show that Swedish Gen Z uses social mediaplattforms everyday, and the new audiovisual plattform Tiktok are to prefer. Though research on Tiktok has been done for the last two years – especially uses and gratifications of Tiktok – none has been made with the Swedish perspective.

The purpose of this study is to get a better understanding of how and why generation Z in Sweden uses Tiktok. To fulfill the purpose the study will answer the two following research questions; how do generation Z in Sweden motivate their uses of Tiktok and why do Generation Z
in Sweden use Tiktok. The chosen method was a qualitative interview study, both a group interview and seven individual interviews were conducted on youths between the ages 15 to 19 years old in Stockholm and Gothenburg, Sweden. The result was then analyzed through the lens of uses and gratifications theory and the MAIN-model for newer media.

The result showed that a total of 18 gratification were identified to how and why generation Z in Sweden uses Tiktok. Uses and gratifications theory identified 8 of the gratifications on how generation Z in Sweden motivates their uses of Tiktok; entertainment, boredom, pass time,
information-seeking, being updated, belonging, social interaktion and archiving. All are in line with what previous uses and gratifications studies have found. To answer the second question – why do Generation Z in Sweden use Tiktok – the MAIN-model for new media were used. To see what technological affordances motivates the users to choose Tiktok out of all the existing social media platforms. MAIN identified 10 motivations connected to Tiktoks technological
affordances; realism, coolness, agency enhancement, community-building, bandwagon, filtering/ tailoring, activity dynamic control, variety-seeking and play/fun.  Out of all the gratifications six were more prominent and distinguished Tiktok from other social media-plattforms, according to the respondents; entertainment, boredom, pass time, realism, filtering/tailoring and play/fun.

The aim of the study was to identify generation Z gratifications for using Tiktok, by doing that we get a better understanding of the plattform and the generation who is the main target group for it and thereby fulfill the purpose of the study. Through the empirical data further questions
were raised concerning different cultures influence on uses of media and also cyberbullying, which seems to be a product of generation Z online world. Both themes were discussed and examples for further studies concerning Tiktoks affordances and content were lifted.

Executive summary
The advertising industry is growing more than ever and is thought to be one of the most influential institutions in society by some researchers. What’s even more interesting is the connection between advertising and its tremendous effects on individuals as well as society at whole. Among these effects there has been a liaison between media portraits and mostly young women’s well-being. Some suppose that the increasing level of eating disorders and inferior self-esteem is a result of a lacking width of representation, especially in advertising. One of the
things advertising practitioners have been most criticized for is reinforcing and maintaining impossible beauty standards, that is putting a lot of pressure on particularly women. Due to the increasing level of attention facing the advertising industry there has been a large body of
research facing the topic. What’s been frequently highlighted is the way societal norms take expression in advertising where advertising stereotypes have been examined. There’s a wide span of stereotypical descriptions in advertising where gender roles, body image and
occupational roles are salient for women. Research shows that women particularly are more negative to stereotypical portrayals in advertising and therefore are more prone to develop a negative attitude towards it.

As a result of the critique, the growing industry or the third wave of feminism, a new type of advertising is emerging in our society. Among the depictions there’s a new range of representation with the purpose to break free from obsolete presentations where femvertising is
a mentioned phenomenon. The new type of advertising is going under a norm critical concept that this study will refer to as femvertising. Femvertising is embossed with messages aiming to empower women and seeks to represent a greater width of womens body, while including
different ages and ethnicity. Due to the ongoing change in media and brand related messages the research field has started to investigate the effects of femvertising. Research shows that women who are exposed to norm-breaking portrayals are more positive to the advertisement
which also influences their attitudes. The area of research about advertising and its effects are focusing on younger women, this study will therefore aim to explore an identified gap in the field concerning middle aged women. Earlier research states that middle aged women don’t experience the same negative effects of stereotypical advertisement.

Executive summary
As interactive media have grown, citizen journalism has gained greater importance. Almost half of Sweden’s population takes part in news delivery on social media, where the discussion forum Flashback is one of the platforms. This opens up for greater dissemination and
discussion of news between non-professionals which is classified as citizen journalism. With the importance of free speech and being exposed to unbiased and diverse news coverage to be an informed citizen, it is important to understand what one is consuming while taking part of news online that is not always provided by professional journalists.

User-generated content has been researched since web 2.0 technology emerged. A large part of the research focuses on social media, while citizen journalism on Swedish discussion forums is not as common.

This study aims to examine the quality of citizen journalism and its news reporting on Flashback through Urban and Schweiger’s (2014) quality dimensions of professional journalism. These quality criteria include, among others, the presence of rumors, speculation, and diversity of viewpoints. With a quantitative content analysis, we map the frequency of these criteria in three Flashback threads (n = 542 posts) with different topics, where they all start from a news story. The essay is based on two questions; What is the quality of flashback threads based on the approach to news quality? Does the quality differ depending on the
subject? To succeed in answering these questions, we carry out a frequency analyses and a Chi-square tests.

Furthermore, the selection of the threads has been done strategically to meet the demands of citizen journalism as well as the scope of posts that need to be adapted to the time frame we have. Following this, we used a codebook that was tested with K-alpha to determine as safely
as possible that the result would have been the same regardless of who carried out the analysis.

In conclusion, the result shows that the quality of Flashback is poor in terms of criteria used to measure professional journalism. We also see that the quality differs between the threads where some threads are good in one dimension while another is problematic and vice versa.
The thread about politics turns out to be of the best quality by a small margin.

Executive summary
It was in the fall of 2017 in October that the #metoo storm began to spread around the world.It only took a few days before the two words “Me too” had become both global and viral as women, non-binaries and transgender people came together around the world to share their
experiences of sexual harassment and sexual violence by men. Since then, researchers have begun to ask themselves the question of whether and how masculinity is constructed both socially and culturally. This study aims to examine how Swedish news media reflect over
how men and masculinities are constructed and represented along with the #metoo movement. The study is furthermore going to critically examine how the male role, men and masculinity are described in ten selected Swedish articles published between October 17, 2017 and
December 31, 2017. The articles are written by both men and women. Norman Fairclough’s critical discourse analysis was chosen as the method and theoretical framework for this study. The purpose of this study is to evaluate if the articles articulate multiple masculinities and if
they challenge the current social practice in relation to gendered structure of power. The critical discourse analysis had in view to illustrate if the discourses in the text either reproduce
or restructure the current discourse order. The current social practice is explained in this study based on gender theory and masculinity theory. The results identified three different kinds of masculinities. The reproduced masculinity was associated with stereotypical behavior, for
instance violence, aggression, and sexuality. The reduced masculinity portrayed a hushed down man who got reduced by women in both the articles and the movement itself. The reformed masculinity described a new and improved kind of man who takes responsibility for his and other men’s actions. The results also discussed the three represented masculinities in relation to the #metoo movement’s ambition to reconstruct the current power structure between men and women.

Executive summary
Normative bodies in the last century have been characterized by a very slim ideal. Lately women, especially on social media, have started to question what is considered beautiful and healthy and fat bodies do not seem to fit those categories. This was the starting point for this paper where we wanted to examine if this change of mindset is measurable in today’s fashion magazines.

ELLE Sweden is a magazine focused on fashion and beauty with women as their main target group. It’s also the fashion magazine with the greatest reach in Sweden. The editorial staff describes ELLE as a magazine that inspires and encourages women to stand out and find new ways to express themselves. But is that really the case for all women?

The purpose of this paper was to examine the representation of overweight and obese bodies in the Swedish fashion magazine ELLE. We wanted to have a closer look at how common it is for fat bodies to appear in the magazine today and in what context they appear. We also
wanted to examine if and to what extent there has been any change over time.

Through a combination of content analysis and thematic analysis the following questions have been answered; (1) How often do fat bodies appear in the fashion magazine Elle today and has the representation changed over time? and (2) In what contexts do fat bodies appear and has that changed over time?

The results show that between the years 2001 and 2011 there hasn’t been any changes in how often fat bodies are represented in ELLE. Fat bodies do not exceed two percent of the content. In 2021 there’s a small change – seven percent of the visual content consists of fat bodies. The
results are still far from representative in proportion to the Swedish population where 45 percent of women are considered overweight or obese.

The results of the study show that fat bodies have historically been greatly underrepresented in ELLE, which they still are today. However, a small change has taken place as fat bodies are more common today than before, albeit still in an obvious minority. Three themes were
identified for the contexts in which fat bodies often appear when they are portrayed: the personal portrait, the fashion portrait and advertisement. Through these we see that the representation of the fat body is in some ways inclusive and progressive, and in other ways
not.

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Succeeding former prime minister Stefan Löfven, Magdalena Andersson became the first female to take on office by the end of 2021. The former and current prime minister both had widespread media coverage when assuming the position. The general understanding and views of politicians is formed by the picture painted by the media and its reporting. Traditional gender stereotypes have, through research, been shown to be present in media coverage. Men are associated with
concepts of power and leadership, women, to fondness and family. This leads to an outcome of male politicians more commonly being associated with political leadership than their female counterparts. Current studies show a shift to a more equal portrayal of female and male politicians, with gender stereotypical portrayal only accounting for a marginal part of the reporting. This could indicate Swedish news-reporting becoming more gender-neutral.

The purpose of this study is to compare the portrayal, within Swedish media, of a female versus male prime minister, from a perspective of gender. To succeed with this, the essay is based on three questions: To what extent, if any, does the visibility of Stefan Löfven and Magdalena
Andersson differ?; To what extent, if any, does the portrayal of Stefan Löfven and Magdalena Andersson differ in text?; and, To what extent, if any, does the portrayal of Stefan Löfven and Magdalena Andersson differ in pictures? A quantitative study of 412 published articles has been performed to answer these three questions. The articles have been gathered from leading Swedish newspapers; Aftonbladet, Expressen, Dagens Nyheter, and, Svenska Dagbladet.

This study will be applying theories from Gender science such as theories of gender, gender stereotypes, and role congruity.

In conclusion, the results indicate an occurrence of similarities and differences alike in the reporting of Löfven and Andersson. Löfven has generally received a larger coverage within news reporting and therefore increased visibility compared to Andersson, this is in line with
stereotypical portrayal of men and women. Portrayal within text shows tendencies of both confirming and opposing stereotypical portrayal. Andersson’s gender pronoun is mentioned more often than Löfven’s, whilst Löfven’s character is more widely critiqued than Andersson.
The portrayal within pictures shows a majority of portrayals opposing traditional genderstereotypical reporting, with Löfven more commonly having inactive photographs and was photographed within the private sphere more than Andersson. It is important to point out, however, that most of the news reporting is neutral and that gender-stereotypical reporting occurs in only a marginalized part of the articles

Executive Summary

Unlike the business industries, which thrive upon economic purposes, cultural arts industries are often described being artistic and complex. In Sweden, good communication between business and cultural arts has been recognized as necessary for both parties to succeed in society. However, the
relationship is often associated with conflicting interests, lack of knowledge, and difficulties linked to communication and language.

The aim of this thesis was twofold. First, the purpose was to investigate how the cultural- and business industries understand communication. Second, the objective was to analyze the possible consequences of this understanding. The main research question was: How do representatives from the cultural and business industries describe the concept of communication? Furthermore, how can the communicative difficulties between them be understood?

This thesis collaborates with the organization Kulturakademin, a regional resource for competence development in arts, crafts, performing arts, music, and audiovisual media in Västra Götaland, Sweden. The method used was qualitative interviews. Four actors represent the business area, and
five represent the cultural and creative area. Furthermore, the implementation of Pierre Bourdieu’s Social Fields Theory and a Scandinavian Neoinstitutional perspective has served as a framework applied to the empirical analysis.

Through analysis of literature, application of theories, dialogue with the organization Kulturakademin and interviews with actors in large to medium-sized companies in business and cultural arts industries, the findings imply that both business and cultural arts understand communication in a relatively similar way. However, some aspects significantly distinguish them.
The business industry sees communication as transmission, while the cultural arts industry sees communication as a conversation. Communication seems to be an unreflected activity, influenced by organizational norms and perceptions. In addition, the results from both business and the cultural industry show that communication is inconstant and adaptable, which can be explained by both dependence on norms and perceptions and a kind of imbalance of power and dependency between them. The results also show that their respective social fields limit the business and cultural industries and that they have different views on how one should relate to the outside world.

This study also examined possibilities for mutual understanding and proposes actions for Kulturakademin in the future. The challenges lie in mutual understanding beyond values, cognitive perceptions, and prejudice. To overcome difficulties linked to communication, the two parties must
reach a shared understanding and respect for each other.

Executive summary
During the covid-19 pandemic, citizens faced many changes in their everyday lives and it was up to the authorities to communicate to the population how that adaptation would work and look like. This essay will examine Sweden and Denmark’s crisis communication strategies based on campaign films from each country’s responsible authorities. In the study, we will delve into the content of eight campaign films, four from each country and examine how narrative and rhetoric have been used.

The purpose of this thesis is to study how narrative and rhetoric are used in Danish and Swedish authorities’ campaign films during the covid-19 pandemic. The use of narrative and rhetoric will also be discussed based on the epidemiological and operational status during the pandemic. The status is defined by the basis of high or low spread of infection as well as stringent or eased restrictions. To achieve the purpose, we will study the use of ethos, pathos and logos, as well as the narrative structure of the campaign films based on a rhetorical and narrative analysis. The narrative structure will be studied according to theories of narrative, more specifically Robertson’s narrative model, which describes the anatomy of a story.

To achieve the purpose of this thesis, the following research questions form the basis and will guide us through our study.
• How did Denmark and Sweden’s authorities use narratives in their          campaign films during the covid-19 pandemic?
• How did Denmark and Sweden’s authorities use rhetoric in their campaign   films during the covid-19 pandemic?
• How did Denmark and Sweden’s authorities use rhetoric and narrative in different epidemiological and operational status during the covid-19 pandemic?

The main results of the study showed that the campaign films in both Sweden and Denmark are similar in terms of their use of narrative and rhetoric. All campaign films contained almost all of the narrative elements presented in Robertson’s model. As regards the rhetorical analysis, we can distinguish an imbalance between the three forms of appeal, ethos, pathos
and logos where pathos was the most common form of appeal. From the rhetorical analysis, the main result showed that positive emotions and eunoia could be found in all campaign films, regardless of the epidemiological and operational status during covid-19 in both Sweden and Denmark. When the countries had stringent restrictions we found that the feeling of hope, direct logos argument and depiction of private locations were used in the campaign films. Furthermore, the results showed that rhetoric was used in a humorous way in calmer periods during the pandemic.

Executive summary
The news media has a large hand in how we perceive the world around us, and one sensitive topic which is widely reported on is refugees and asylum seekers. Therefore, there is and has been a great deal of research made on the subject internationally. With the emergence of the Internet and the digitalisation of the world and thereby also the news sources, it is now easier than ever before to acquire and spread information. For that very reason it is incredibly important to make sure that the news sources are not intentionally or unintentionally sending messages to readers which can potentially be harmful to refugees and asylum seekers. Furthermore, research shows differences in how european and non-european refugees and asylum seekers are portrayed in the media. One way in which such
harmful messages might be sent, is through discrepancies in the messages sent through images and written text in articles. That is, if photographs used in news articles send a different message to the audience than that of the written article itself. The purpose of this study is to find out if such discrepancies in messages between images and written word occur in articles published in the tabloid newspaper Aftonbladet, on the topic of refugees and asylum seekers.

The research questions asked in this study are:
1) Are there discrepancies in how Aftonbladet portrays refugees and asylum
seekers between photos and written text?
2) Are there differences in discrepancies between images and written text
regarding different groups of refugees and asylum seekers, for example
european and non-european refugees and asylum seekers?
3) Is it possible, through this study, to find other discrepancies in images and
written text in articles published in Aftonbladet on the topic of refugees and
asylum seekers?

The framing theory discusses how the angle in which something is presented
and reported upon affects the way in which people process the information, and how they feel about the subject. Studies in visual rhetorics and social semiotics among other fields have shown the great power of the image as a medium. It has the innate power to express emotions and complex situations in an instant, whereas a written text, important and powerful as it is, must be read in order for its message to be received. Research has shown that images of refugees and asylum seekers in newspapers often show them as groups of people, without distinguishing features which robs them of their individuality. Often the groups portrayed consist mainly of men and children. There is also often focus on modes of transportation, mainly boats in the photos. These portrayals of refugees and immigrants run the risk of showing
them as a threatening, unidentifiable mass of people, instead of humans in need of help.

Similar effects are also accomplished through the written word. Research has
shown that tabloid newspapers tend to use harsher language than broadsheet newspapers in the reporting on refugees and asylum seekers. A tendency to refer to them as “migrants” is common. This umbrella term risks taking away their need and right to help, and instead portrays them as a faceless mass of people with no claims on assistance. Terms such as “illegal refugee” and its counterpart “legal refugee” cause further harm to the image of refugees and asylum seekers. Research of Swedish newspapers have shown conflicting results on how they are portrayed in Swedish media.

In order to research this phenomenon, this study uses a qualitative method
though multimodal critical discourse analysis, a method which looks at visual and verbal choices made by the text producer. That is, not only is the written text analysed, but also the visual elements, in this case the published photos. In addition, some elements of traditional critical discourse analysis along with questions based on previous research were added to the list of questions asked while analysing the articles.

Aftonbladet was chosen because the wish was to study the articles of a tabloid newspaper, and Aftonbladet is the largest such paper in Sweden. The sample of articles analysed were found through using Retriever provided by the Gothenburg University Library. Articles published between 26 of October 2021 through 26 of April 2022 with the search terms refugee or refugees or asylum seeker or asylum seekers or migrant or migrants in Aftonbladets webb editorial on the subject, finally came to 198 articles. In the end, the final analysed sample came to nine articles. The number of articles analysed was kept undecided until the end, as the quality and depth of each article was seen as more important than the quantity.

The analysis of the photos were conducted before the lexical analysis of the
written text. This was done so that the message of the article would not influence the message interpreted in the image, in order for the analysis to be done from the perspective of the public. The analysis looked at actors and objects shown in the photo, how the actors were portrayed along with what connotations they arouse. Connotations are a semiotic term which refer to an implicit meaning implied by a symbol or a word. These connotations are socially and culturally dependent and the same symbol may carry different connotations in different parts of the world. The lexical analysis of the written texts looked at what themes were presented, which actors were described and how, what actions were being carried out and what words
were used and which could have been used in their place. Afterwards, the results of the analyses were compared. The process was transcribed in order to ensure that all analyses were performed in the same way.

The results of the analyses show that there are indeed discrepancies in
messages sent through images and written texts in articles published by Aftonbladet on the topic of refugees and asylum seekers. Furthermore, there are also differences in these discrepancies between different groups of refugees and asylum seekers, primarily between europeans and non-europeans. The two articles analysed that covered european, ukrainian refugees, showed no discrepancies. The article text presented the refugees as relatable and as people in need of help. They focused on families, women and children. The pictures were photos of the actual people and events presented in the article, and in accordance with the texts they showed the
people as relatable and awoke sympathy. However, the majority of the other articles used archival footage. That is, photos that did not portray the events or people presented in the text, but were rather generic photos loosely related to the subject. The discrepancies found in the five articles that used archival footage, came in the form of either the photo down-playing dramatic events described in the text, or through photos of groups of unidentifiable, faceless people.

One of the articles, on sudanese refugees in Egypt, came with an archival
photo which made them look like criminals being arrested by police. In the article itself, they were presented as victims of racist abuse and wrongful arrest by Egyptian police. Furthermore, the archival photo presented was actually of sudanese refugees “rescued” from a capsized boat by “security personnel”. Another article, which did not use archival photos but pictures of the actual event, described how 600 people, referred to as migrants, had been found in two lorries in Mexico, headed for the US border. The text described them as desperate people; women, children, ill individuals, in need of help. The two photos published showed a large mass of crowded people, and in the other stood a heavily armed, masked police officer wearing a bulletproof vest. The images together give the impression of the people
shown to be a dangerous mass of people in need of surveillance from armed police.

The results thereby show not only that there are discrepancies present in
Aftonbladet’s articles, but that they differ between different groups of refugees. An unexpected finding was that all of the analysed articles, as well as the vast majority of the articles come across during the sample process, were not actually produced by journalists at Aftonbladet, but by Nyhetsbyrån TT. The same articles were found to have been published in several other Swedish newspapers, including Svenska Dagbladet and Göteborgs-Posten. This, along with other factors such as the general shortness of the articles on the topic, indicate that refugees and asylum seekers are not a subject which Aftonbladet prioritises.

The study has laid a foundation for further research, and several possible
research routes are possible. Looking at the possible dangers of people making conclusions from images along with short headlines being shared in social media is a possible future research topic. This alongside looking at discrepancies in messages sent by images together with headlines and article texts. Furthermore, it would be interesting and relevant to interview journalists in order to investigate how they perceive the usage of photos, if they realise the potential dangers of sending unintentional messages through said photos and their general attitudes and methods
when selecting photos.

Executive summary
Gender integration is the Swedish government’s main strategy for achieving gender equality, which means that a gender perspective must be considered in all political decisions that affect people’s conditions, so that all women and men, girls and boys can live equal lives. I believe that it should be profitable to apply this strategy also within an organization; that a gender equality perspective must be considered in all decisions that affect employees. For it to be feasible, communication and communicative leaders are needed. Gender equality is a contributing factor to all individuals being allowed to develop themselves and make the educational and professional choices they want based on their interests and abilities, rather than based on normative notions of what women and men should do and master based on their gender. Through gender equality, the range of talents and abilities increases, and everyone develop according to potential.

The status of communication within an organization is affected by the management’s and managers’ view of and understanding of communication issues. It needs to be clear from the top management and throughout the organization why inclusion is important and that it is a priority that benefits the entire organization. Gender equality should be integrated into
management at all levels, integrated into strategies and implemented through clear measures and through an inclusive culture to achieve impact.

The purpose of the study is to identify and create an understanding of the success factors and challenges managers experience in communicating gender equality internally. The empirical data is taken from four semi-structured interviews with managers within an organization with
approximately 3,000 employees. I have used a strategic selection where I have deliberately hand-picked individuals to get a variation in representation in terms of factors such as gender, experience of leadership and the teams orientation. The focus of the survey has been to seek answers to what conditions and support managers need to successfully integrate gender
equality in the business, how they communicate internal, the group’s importance for the process and in what way opposition is expressed.

There is a wide range regarding how often gender equality is communicated by each manager. In some teams it happens rarely and mainly in connection with clear organizational processes, in other teams it happens so often and is seamlessly integrated into the business, that it is difficult to track down in what format it takes place. The individuals in the team and the climate of conversation are of great importance for the process. Recurring conversations about gender equality are required to remove the anxiety surrounding the subject. The support and prerequisites that managers need to successfully communicate gender equality and succeed in integrating the gender equality perspective into the core business are knowledge, courage and a clear stance from the organization. How the manager interprets and implements the communication has a great impact on the scope and context in which employees receive information internally. I think it becomes even more vulnerable when it comes to value and cultural communication as it is filtered through the manager and becomes dependent on his or
her perception of the importance of this in relation to other issues. A relatively common opposition in the organization is that employees want to focus on concrete tasks related to work instead of talking about gender equality and other value-related issues. If the manager has insight into how opposition can manifest itself in various forms, it is easier to respond to
it. As a result of a successful gender integration and an ongoing dialogue, the organization can gain new perspectives, ideas and collaborations, which benefits the core business.