Populism och journalister: hur påverkas den politiska debatten? : En studie om medialiseringens och populismens påverkan på slutdebatterna under valåren 2006 och 2022

Sammanfattning: The political discourse has undergone a change in the past decades, both in Sweden and in most of the Western world. This development has been described by several news agencies in Sweden as the political climate becoming "harder". Previous research shows that the power of journalists has increased with mediatization. During the 2000s, the right-wing populist party Sweden Democrats has also been invited to parliament, which may have contributed to this change. Populism is closely linked to polarization, and strong polarization is a threat to democracy. This study deals with the subjects of media convergence and populism by analyzing two political debates produced by SVT in 2006 and 2022. The purpose of the study is to contribute knowledge on how the political debates have changed during the 2000s, and in what way. This is done by analyzing the final debates on SVT from 2006 and 2022 and the actors participating, where the role of journalists is a central component.  The theoretical framework used in the study is those that deal with rhetoric, populism and media convergence. The method used is pragmadialectics, which is a newer form of rhetorical method combined with an analysis schema for televised debates. The results of the study suggest that the Sweden Democrats' entry into parliament has contributed to populist tendencies in Swedish politics and increased polarization. The study also indicates that another consequence of the Sweden Democrats' participation in the final debate is an intensification of media convergence. The results also show that journalists receive a stronger power position in the debate in 2022 than they did in the 2006 debate, partly through camera angles but also their authority in the debate itself.