Hemma i Biskopsgården : en kvalitativ intervjustudie om mediebilder och självbilder i förorten

Sammanfattning: The purpose of this study is to get a deeper understanding of how representations of the Gothenburg suburb Biskopsgården in news media affect the people who live there. In an attempt to illustrate how these representations are received and interpreted by the people in Biskopsgården we have interviewed ten people, one on one, who currently live in the area. The conversations have revolved a lot around media consumption, personal experience of Biskopsgården as a home and also as a reason of conflict in relations with other people. With the help of theories surrounding the effects of agenda-setting, media shadow (medieskugga), stigma and alienation (främlingskap) relative to news coverage on Swedish suburbs in general, the results have shown that the representation of Biskopsgården as a ”danger zone” in news media affect how people in this area create their identity. We also found that the thematization of Biskopsgården as a dangerous zone in local news media affect how our respondents consume local news. With a lack of nuanced representation of the area comes the lack of interest in reading about it. Journalism is acknowledged to have an important role in a democratic society where governments and those in power can be questioned and criticized by the people. However, our interviewees suggest that the democratic purpose of journalistic practices surrounding Biskopsgården seem to be failing. In extension of this we hope that our study can be a part of raising awareness of how journalism affect people.