“Det här programmet kommer att handla om en hemsk och ovanlig händelse”

The aim of this thesis is to exam crisis journalism for children in Sweden. It focuses on the
Swedish public service television news program Lilla Aktuellt, which is an established news
medium aimed towards children. With the perspective that children have the same right to
information as adults, this thesis examines how Lilla Aktuellt creates access to the news
children are expected to have in a democratic society. Furthermore the aim is to study if Lilla
Aktuellt makes understandable and democratic crisis news and if Lilla Aktuellt’s crisis news has any common characteristics.

The method used is qualitative content analysis and the material is four crises with three
different broadcasts from each one. The theoretical framework is based on framing, crisis
communication and the social responsibility theory of the press.

The results were that Lilla Aktuellt has a well adapted language and is in general
understandable for children. However, it does not fulfil the democratic expectations applied
by this thesis. The causes behind the crises are not explained in depth and no exhaustive
picture is given. Lilla Aktuellt avoids using negative news angles and violent/gory images.
There is still, however, some usage of emotionally upsetting language and images. Lilla
Aktuellt addresses their target audience in a way that does not respect their right to complete
and accurate information. The broadcasts from the 00s talks about children, instead of
addressing the audience directly. This gets better with time, but instead Lilla Aktuellt starts
wrapping the serious information in cautionary words.