This study’s aim is to make visible journalistic power to form, strengthen and effect readers’ opinions. Within a Swedish journalistic discourse, this study examines how opinions take form in the news report, with what methods journalists legitimises or questions opinions and how social issues are being defined and portrayed as means to target the self-image of journalists as impartial and independent.

This study applies theories of mediatisation, the mediated construction of reality, agenda setting, perception of public opinions, influence and the sources and media portrayal. I focus on the case of the refugee migration to Europe in the fall of 2015. The study analyzes daily, local and evening press such as Svenska Dagbladet, Dagens Nyheter, Sydsvenskan, Göteborgs-posten, Expressen and Aftonbladet, during the period of january 1^st 2015 to december 31^st 2016.

The results show the power of journalists to affect the audience’s view on refugees as well as migration and their stand towards it. Further, the study presents journalistic methods to legitimise or question opinions in the news report, as well as the importence of sources when defining and portraying social issues. Furthermore, the study shows the level of the news as well as policial residence of the media to be of greater importance for this than the media form itself.