Porträttering av Amber Heard och Johnny Depp i brittisk tabloidpress : En tematisk analys av journalistisk gestaltning i tidningen The Sun

Sammanfattning: This study covers how Amber Heard and Johnny Depp were portrayed during their defamation trial in Virginia 2022 by the British newspaper The Sun. The research questions include both how Amber Heard and Johnny Depp were portrayed during the timeframe as well as how they were perceived as a couple. The research questions also cover if there were any differences in how The Sun were framing them during the time period. The method that was used was a thematic analysis of all the articles that The Sun published in the time period that the trial took place, the 11th of April 2022 to the 1st of June 2022. To better help our understanding of the subject we used framing theory and celebrity studies as the theoretical framework. The framing theory also includes a subcategory which is the theory about the ideal victim. Since both Johnny Depp and Amber Heard accused each other of abuse, it was relevant to include if one of them were portrayed as a victim. In the thematic analysis we created three categories based on the research questions. Different themes were found in the articles and were placed as subcategories to the three main categories. The first category was about how the relationship between Johnny Depp and Amber Heard was portrayed. Three themes were found: The relationship as a circus, Difference in fame and The trial. The second category was about how Johnny Depp was portrayed. Three themes were identified: Depp as the perpetrator, Superstar Johnny Depp and Innocent or a bully? The third category depicts how Amber Heard was portrayed. Four themes were identified: Heard accused of lying, Heard as the perpetrator, Heard ridiculed by the public and Heard innocent? The results of the study conclude that both Depp and Heard have been portrayed as perpetrators and victims all though Depp was given more attention in the articles than Heard. Another conclusion is that some of the articles describe the case as Depp suing Heard for lying, in contrast to the articles where the case is described as Depp suing Heard for libel.