Terrorist som terrorist? : medias framställning av två terrorister med olika grupptillhörighet

Sammanfattning: This qualitative text analysis has studied medias portrayal of Taimour Abdulwahab, Anders Behring Breivik and their respective terrorist attacks. The purpose of the essay was to study the newspapers portrayal of the terrorists, with one terrorist being part of an us group and the other one part of a them group. It also aspires to uncover whether the medias portrayal of the terrorists reproduce mechanisms which help sustain the gap between us and them. To answer the essays research questions we have used the media theory about agenda setting and the sociologists Norbert Elias’ and John L. Scotsons theory about established and outsiders. The analysis of news articles the first two days after the terrorist attacks in Swedish newspapers Expressen and Aftonbladet showed a difference in the portrayal of the established Breivik, whos persona and actions were explained on an individual level, whereas the outsider Abdulwahab was connected to groups and his acts explained on a more structural level. The results have also shown how deeply connected terrorism and Islam are, which especially came through in the articles about Breivik, a Christian ethnic Norwegian man.