Mediebevakningen av en politisk vändning och opinionsförändring : en diskursanalytisk studie och kvantitativ innehållsanalys av den svenska nyhetsrapporteringen om Nato

Sammanfattning: In the context of the Swedish Nato entrance process this study aims to research how the reporting about Nato has changed over time. The Swedish Nato application can be seen in the light of an increased Russian threat since the invasion of Ukraine. There has been previous research on how Nato has been portrayed during earlier international conflicts and security threats, mainly in the combined field of media studies and political science. In order to answer our research question we compare two time periods which have a big media focus on Nato, namely spring 2023, in which the Swedish parliament voted in favor of applying to Nato, and spring 1999, in which Nato took part in its first armed conflict during the war of Yugoslavia. Since this study aims to research the Swedish media reporting, articles from the two biggest daily newspapers in Sweden, Dagens Nyheter and Svenska Dagbladet, are studied. The study supports the thesis that there are differences to be seen in the way Nato was reported about between the two time periods. Namely, that the articles from 2023 direct less criticism towards the organization than the articles from 1999.