Gestaltningen av diabetes i svensk press : En kvantitativ innehållsanalys av svenska dags- och kvällstidningar.

Sammanfattning: Background: Diabetes is a global health issue on the rise. Besides genetics as a cause of diabetes, diet, weight and lifestyle are amongst the main factors. Due to the modernized society, new technology and risks, there has been a shift in responsibility of safety and health. As a part of a health promoting policy development during the last few decades there has also been a natural de-authorization of health knowledge and expertise. Governmental expertise has been decentralized to the society and so has the responsibilities. Traces of this new health paradigm can be seen in the media discourse. It has been seen in studies of the reporting of diabetes in North American press, that societal factors – such as labor market, health care and infrastructure – often get veiled by individuals’ responsibility and guilt due to lifestyle and life choices. This affects how individuals feel about their life situation and how the public perceive them.     Method and material: A quantitative content analysis was performed on 112 articles from six Swedish broadsheet and tabloid newspapers. The articles were coded with variables measuring article theme, dominant framing of diabetes´ causes and whose responsibility, what arguments are used and what agents with dignity can be seen. Excerpts from the articles were also analyzed with qualitative tools as modality and argumentation analysis. Results: Similarities between the Swedish and the North American newspapers were discovered. Societal factors and structures as causes and means of responsibilities were not as prominent as those aiming for the individual. The responsibility of the society was also reported to a much greater extent than society as a factor contributing to cause diabetes. This can be considered a sign of the health promoting strategy and the individualism that is rooted in modernization, industrialization and economic liberalization. Doctors and scientists were given dignity as often as celebrities and private citizens, which indicates the de-authorization of health knowledge and the further use of scientists and doctors as a truth repository in media. Several of the articles concern the critique of the diabetes unawareness and predominant individual responsibility that was the outset of this study. Celebrities and private citizens were frequently given dignity in these cases. In their criticizing, high modality contributed to a strong authority in their knowledge.