Kungsmarken, svart på vitt

Sammanfattning: Kungsmarken, a apartment area in Karlskrona has suffered the medias prying eye for decades. Today the area only maintains a very low position of status in the livinghierarchy in the community. The area in question was a part of the "Miljonprogrammet" and apperantly has suffered the same consequenses as similar areas since it was built. The onesided negative discourse that has persecuded areas of Miljonprogrammet, such as Kungsmarken, has put social problems as criminality, drugaddiction, dependancy on the social welfare system or cultural incompetence in the focus. The author´s previous understanding of the phenomena lies in private experience from living in Hjällbo, a similar area in Gothenburg also with the miljonprogram. The author also has an understanding of the situation of being an imigrant in another country. The objective of this study is to describe the discourse concerning the apartmentarea of Kungsmarken from two aspects. First by defining the role of the localpress in the discourse about Kungsmarken and it´s inhabitants and to analyze whether the writing of news from Kungsmarken is different to that of other areas in Karlskrona. Second, the discourse is portraeted from within the area in the shape of a narrated everydaydescription of a person living in the area. The chosen method is qualitative and is formed as a triangulation of the methods;discoursanalysis, interview and observation. Two months issues of the two localpapers Sydöstran and BLekinge Läns Tidning was looked at and made complete with interviews with the editors of the papers. To give the reader of this essay an insiderperspective of how it can be to live in Kungsmarken, an etnological, participating observation was made, in narrative form, based on the author´s personal experience from living in the area since September 2002. Previous research in this area concerns the medias description of miljonprogram areas in Gothenburg, Malmö and Stockholm. The books used are Miljonprogram och media, Rosengård och den svarta poesin and Till förortens försvar. The researchrapport of Eva Norström, Finns vardagsrasism?, is also added to the chapter of previous research. Her study deals partially with the ethnical segregation in Karlskrona Kommun. The theory used is Elias & Scotsons Established and outsiders that refers to the division of power between different groups in a sociaty. They explain how an area and its habitants are stigmatized from given flaws of caracter through the concept of moral differentiation. From the gathered information the conclusion was made that the reports from Kungsmarken, during October to December 2003 was somewhat crooked and showed a lack of positive activities for both youngsters and adults in the area. In many cases articles contained descriptions or testimonies from victims to local crimes in the area. These articles contribute to creating a negative image of a threat within and outside of the area. Exaggerated headlines were more common than normal ones, this considering that both of the editors expressed a concern for transmitting a negative image of the area. All articles from the area are thoroughly examinated and considdered before publication. In some cases this doesn´t show in the end result of the articles though and it´s hard to see that there has been any kind of consideration. In some of the cases a positive discourse could be observed, but often it wasn´t about the area itself, but of the people living there, focusing on diversity. Religious and cultural traditions during Ramadan, the islamic month of fast, and about the planning of a permanent mosque in the area. While a negative discourse has been observed a positive counterimage has been transmitted from within the area. Swveral of the habitants have expressed that thy considder the image transmitted by the media is unfair and untrue. They feel that the rapports from the area are only published if they are negative. In the analysis it is concluded that the negative rapportation from Kungsmarken by the newspapers gives support for a negative discourse in the surrounding sociaty and in private homes. The mental segregation of Kungsmarken and it´s habitants, that can be seen as a private negative discourse when people speak of the unknown, is facilitated by a public negative discourse. The image of Kungsmarken, transmitted by the localpapers becomes the leading image of what the habitants of Karlskrona think Kungsmarken and it´s habitants are like.