Previous research has concluded that the working-class is largely invisible on television. When the working-class is displayed; however, common frames highlight moral shortcomings and lack of responsibility. This study asks what difference such representations make. The study relies on cultivation analysis and a survey of the adult Swedish population to understand the extent to which heavy television viewers provide “television answers” in their descriptions of and attitudes toward the working-class. While some results are inconsistent, heavy television viewers seem more prone to view social inequalities as the result of working-class people's failure to take responsibility for their own well-being. 

Building on an interview study from Sweden (n = 80), this article develops the concept of media resentment as a tool for understanding contemporary developments such as the diminished trust in news media and journalism. We view media resentment as a complex of feelings and ideas that are both individual and social, embodied, and ideal. Media resentment is defined as the feeling that the media – intentionally or unintentionally – are denying you or endangering what you have rightfully earned, whether by not giving it to you, by directly telling you to abstain from it or by intervening in social processes so that your enjoyment of what you have earned becomes impossible.

Previous research has neglected media audiences' and citizens' opinions on how the media should be organized, how they should function in society and what individual, corporate and state responsibilities should be in regard to these questions. In an attempt to understand the relationship between citizens' broader political attitudes and their attitudes on media-related politics and responsibilities, this study uses a survey (n = 2003) of the adult Swedish population to investigate the distribution of a range of media political attitudes in the contemporary space of political positions. The results reveal overlaps between the space of media political attitudes and the broader political space, where support for a Nordic 'media welfare state' corresponds to leftist and GAL-oriented values, while TAN-oriented and right-wing attitudes link to scepticism towards state interventionism in the media landscape. A small but highly opinionated right-wing and TAN-oriented segment displays laissez-faire views on media policy that are reflected in current policy propositions from right-wing political parties in parliament.

What does media welfare mean from a normative perspective? The notion of media welfare and "the media welfare state" has mainly been used descriptively, to depict the particular way in which the media are organized in the Nordic welfare states. In this article, we explore media welfare from a normative perspective. Our intention is to open up a discussion about the normative and political implications of the notion of media welfare and to bring the concept into the contemporary discussion on normative perspectives regarding the media.

Samhälleliga kriser som Corona-pandemin är, i det det moderna mediesamhället, också medie- ochinformationskriser. En central fråga är medborgarnas tillit och förtroende till medierna. Globalt sett har tilliten till medierna minskat under senare år. Sverige sticker ut med en högre grad av tillit (även på detta område) men vi ser också en ökad polarisering där utbildningsnivå och politisk åskådning samt medievanor tycks bidra till en sjunkande grad av tillit i vissa delar av befolkningen. Vid samhälleliga kriser finns ett omfattande behov av korrekt och fungerande informationsspridning, samtidigt som förekomsten av desinformation, “fake news” och ryktesspridning ökar kraftigt. Detta projekt syftar till att studera tilliten till medierna under Corona-krisen. Projektet erbjuder en unik forskningsdesign (med dagböcker och djupintervjuer) som möjliggör rikhaltig och nyanserad förståelse för hur tilliten till medier och samhällsinformation ser ut, hur den formas, vilka faktorer som påverkar den och hur den utvecklas under ett längre krisförlopp. Projektet bidrar till en teoretisk och metodologisk nyorientering inom tillitsforskningen samtidigt som vi genom projektet skapar kunskap som är direkt användbar för myndigheter och andra samhällsaktörer som vill stärka förtroendet för medierna och nå ut med relevant information till medborgarna under en samhällskris.

The proposed urgent project has the purpose to collect thick, qualitative material on how citizens’ media trust evolves during the Corona pandemic. During the last two decades discussions of a crisis of trust have been emerging in democratic societies. Contemporary debates about fake news and disinformation have contributed further to the challenges of shrinking trust in especially the media. The Corona pandemic has made research into media trust even more important. In turbulent times, the amount and speed of misinformation, i.e. false information that is spread unknowingly, and disinformation, i.e. false information that is spread deliberately, accelerates. The proposed project will document the development of media trust in Sweden with the help of diaries and in-depth interviews. It is a unique opportunity to see media trust rapidly changing that will allow us to learn for future crises, but also help to re-conceptualize media trust more generally. The collected material will be made accessible for other research projects.

During the last decades the Nordic media model has been challenged by neoliberal policy and welfare retrenchment. This study asks about the extent to which the values, functions and institutions of the "media welfare state" are supported by the adult Swedish citizenry, despite political mobilization against it. Drawing on a national survey (n = 2003) this study shows that the media welfare state is generally well-supported by the population. Using exploratory statistical analysis, we identify a media welfare state of mind. While widespread in the population, this attitudinal constellation is more common in older segments of the population, in the working-class, and by those who frequently use and trust public service media. The main conclusion is that support for the media welfare state primarily can be explained by political attitudes, where left-leaning and GAL-oriented individuals are more positive than people holding right-wing and TAN-attitudes.

The concept of the Media Welfare State describes Nordic specificity in how media are organised and how they serve a lively and inclusive democracy. This article engages in a dialogue in regards to the contention that this media system has persisted in the midst of rapid social change. We synthesise previous research and documented changes in media policy in Sweden, covering the last three decades, to show the ways in which the Swedish media system has undergone significant transformations. Media use is becoming more polarised and connected to social class. The state is retreating from its involvement in media policy; consequently, the press and public service media are facing unprecedented challenges. Finally, the "consensual" relation between media companies and the state, which is said to be typical for the media welfare state, no longer characterises the media market. While some of the features of the media welfare state system remain in Sweden, the current media system is best characterised as a neoliberal media welfare state. The article discusses tensions and conflicts in the existing model and possible future developments.