Det nya Afrika? : Bilden av Afrika i Sveriges Television

Sammanfattning: Today, the mass media is playing a key role in reinforcing globalisation, providing people with information that can make them more enlightened about the world. But apart from being an efficient tool for spreading information and a possible ”window on the world” the media can also produce preconceptions and create distance between people and places. This is a study on how African countries are portrayed in the Swedish Television news. The aim of the study is to describe, analyse and compare how Africa was described in 2003 and how it is described ten years later, in 2013. The analysis is based on foreign news reports in one of the main Swedish public service broadcasters, Sveriges Television (SVT). The theoretical framework primarily consists of theories on media logic and news values, representation, identification, globalisation and cosmopolitanism. One of the main conclusions is that although the amount of news on Africa has increased, the character of the news reports is still dominated by negative events such as wars, conflicts and suffering. Alongside this stereotypical and highly negative portrayal of Africa exists another story that focuses on economic development and success – An image that both brings new insights and creates new stereotypes.