HUDCANCER PÅ FRAMFART

The following thesis aims to descriptively study how articles about skincancer are depicted in four major Swedish newspapers. The study involves the ten year period between 2005 and 2014. The four newspapers that have been studied are called Dagens Nyheter, Svenska Dagbladet, Aftonbladet and Expressen and consist of both daily, and evening newspapers. To answer the main thesis question of how skincancer is depicted, four underlying questions are posed. The first focuses on which skincancer types the media depict. The second question concerns itself with the risks and reasons for skincancer whilst the third question focuses on the different kinds of solutions that the newspapers present. The fourth and final question aims to clarify eventual differences in skincancer reporting between newspapers as well as over time.
Framing and Agenda setting theory are used as a theoretical basis for operationalizing the thesis questions. The theory of framing is especially central and important to the study. The thesis employs a quantitative text analysis approach to gather and interpret data. Data collection was made possible by the internet based platform Retreiver and consists of 180 articles.
The study shows that with exception for a slight increase in skincancer articles between 2011- and 2014, the amount of attention given to the problem has mainly stayed the same during the studied time period.
Most articles were found to discuss skincancer on a general basis, rather than specifying skincancer type. The study also found that the main reason for people falling ill was often framed as being grounded in people’s lifestyles and attitudes rather than environmental or genetic factors. Both absolute and relative risks were infrequently reported in the articles. The most common solution methods prompted were oriented around such things as sun avoidance and burn prevention. Less attention was attributed to cancer detection and treatment methods, which was surprising. The different newspapers were found to differ in how they reported on skincancer in varying ways. Whilst the daily newspapers Dagens Nyheter and Svenska Dagbladet often adhere to a wider perspective, the evening newspapers Aftonbladet and Expressen tended to report concerning specific occurrences and celebrity experience.