Goda journalister, eviga hjältar : En diskursanalys om nyhetsjournalistikens gestaltning av Kim Wall och Nils Horners eftermäle

Sammanfattning: The aim of this bachelor thesis was to examine how news journalism represented the two swedish journalists Kim Wall and Nils Horner, when describing their posthumous reputation after they were murdered during assignments. The research questions examined were: How does the journalism, in describing their posthumous reputations, portray the story of Kim Wall, and Nils Horner? What differences and similarities can be found in how they are portrayed as journalists, and as victims? We used Faircloughs critical discourse analysis (CDA) to find reoccurring discourses in the description of Horner and Wall. By examining the characteristics they were assigned and what conclusions the audience were offered to draw about their journalistic competence and about them as victims of murder, we found many similarities between Horner and Wall. They are both described as exceptionally competent. They are also portrayed as born with a “calling” towards the journalistic profession, and in both cases, they are ascribed with next to supernatural characteristics. As victims of murder we found them to be portrayed as idealistic, with some variations in relation to the description of the content of their character, and where the murder took place. Our study shows that the discourses we found contribute to the creation of heroic myths in the news journalisms description of them. They are elevated, and our conclusion is that by elevating their murdered colleagues as heroes, the news journalists are also elevating themselves and, in turn, the journalistic profession.