[{"_id":"project:1683","_type":"project","abstract":{"en":"This research programme explores leader-media relations – mainly interactions between prime ministers (and their communication aides) and journalists – in Finland, Lithuania, Poland and Sweden. More specifically, the programme addresses three scholarly and related themes: (1) the ‘presidentialization’ of politics; (2) the ‘personalization’ of politics; and (3) the ‘mediatization’ of politics. The programme goes beyond existing research in two central respects. First, it integrates the themes of ‘presidentialization’, ‘personalization’ and ‘mediatization’ of politics. Second, the programme includes and assesses the full spectrum of leader-media relations – personal as well as impersonal relations. Our starting assumption is that these relations are mutually reinforcing and symbiotic rather than adversarial, but this is an open and empirical question to be explored in this programme. We will rely on complementary forms of primary material in our case studies. Interviews and content analysis will be our main research techniques. The programme adopts a comparative research design, with empirical research in a cross-national context. There is variation in our set of selected countries both regarding media system and political system. We propose a highly integrated programme, in which all researchers work with the same research problem in a comparative research design and in a concerted effort to exploit the synergies between the academic disciplines of political science and journalism/media studies. The programme is inter-disciplinary by linking these academic disciplines, on the basis of our shared concern with political communication. The programme includes researchers with strong publication records, and has close ties to internationally leading scholars."},"keywords":{"sv":"Östersjö- och Östeuropaforskning","en":"Baltic and East European studies"},"project_id":"19/2013_OSS","identifier_short":"19/2013","local_ids":{"sh":["1296/3.1.1/2013"]},"dates":{"start_date":"2014-01-01","end_date":"2016-12-31"},"organizations":[{"funding":[{"_id":7,"id":"802400-4155","sv":"Östersjöstiftelsen","en":"The Foundation for Baltic and East European Studies"}]},{"coordinating":[{"_id":481,"id":"202100-4896","sv":"Södertörns högskola","en":"Södertörn University"}]}],"people":[{"project_leaders":[{"_id":"authority-person:365","name":"Johansson, Karl Magnus","role":"principal_investigator","affiliation":[{"_id":11830,"sv":"Statsvetenskap","en":"Political Science","parent":[{"_id":11822,"sv":"Institutionen för samhällsvetenskaper","en":"School of Social Sciences","parent":[{"_id":481,"sv":"Södertörns högskola","en":"Södertörn University"}]}]}]}]},{"other_personnel":[{"orcid":"0000-0003-3358-7912","name":"Balčytienė, Auksė","role":"co_investigator","affiliation":[{"sv":"Vytautas Magnus University, Kaunas, Lithuania"}]},{"orcid":"0000-0001-6642-0583","name":"Dobek-Ostrowska, Bogusława","role":"co_investigator","affiliation":[{"sv":"University of Wrocław, Wrocław, Poland"}]},{"_id":"authority-person:566","name":"Johansson, Elena","role":"co_investigator","affiliation":[{"sv":"Örebro University"}]},{"_id":"authority-person:71160","name":"Malling, Milda","role":"co_investigator","affiliation":[{"_id":11825,"sv":"Journalistik","en":"Journalism","parent":[{"_id":11822,"sv":"Institutionen för samhällsvetenskaper","en":"School of Social Sciences","parent":[{"_id":481,"id":"202100-4896","sv":"Södertörns högskola","en":"Södertörn University"}]}]}]},{"name":"Moring, Tom","role":"co_investigator","affiliation":[{"sv":"University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland"}]},{"name":"Niemikari, Risto","role":"co_investigator","affiliation":[{"sv":"Tampere University, Tampere, Finland"}]},{"name":"Nożewski, Jacek","role":"co_investigator","affiliation":[{"sv":"University of Wrocław, Wrocław, Poland"}]},{"_id":"authority-person:565","name":"Nygren, Gunnar","role":"co_investigator","affiliation":[{"_id":11825,"sv":"Journalistik","en":"Journalism","parent":[{"_id":11822,"sv":"Institutionen för samhällsvetenskaper","en":"School of Social Sciences","parent":[{"_id":481,"sv":"Södertörns högskola","en":"Södertörn University"}]}]}]},{"name":"Raunio, Tapio","role":"co_investigator","affiliation":[{"sv":"Tampere University, Tampere, Finland"}]}]}],"tags":[{"_id":11756,"id":"50601","sv":"Statsvetenskap (exklusive studier av offentlig förvaltning och globaliseringsstudier)","en":"Political Science (excluding Public Administration Studies and Globalization Studies)"}],"titles":{"en":"Symbiotic leader-media relations? Exploring interaction between prime ministers and the media in Finland, Lithuania, Poland and Sweden"},"total_funding":"8036340","type_of_awards":{"sv":"Projektbidrag","en":"Project grant"},"publications":[{"id":"diva2:1999173","type":"article-journal","status":"Published","issued":{"date-parts":[[2025]]},"title":"Normalizing Government Social Media Communication : A Swedish Case Analysis","language":"eng","author":[{"family":"Johansson","given":"Elena","ORCID":"0000-0002-5786-1106","affiliation":[{"name":"University of Gothenburg, Sweden"}]},{"family":"Johansson","given":"Karl Magnus","ORCID":"0000-0003-3804-5020","localId":"SHKSJN","affiliation":[{"id":"11830","name":"Södertörns högskola, Statsvetenskap"}]}],"abstract":"Social media is transforming how political power is exercised through communication, functioning both as a critical resource and as a catalyst for institutional adaptation in executive government. This article examines how social media is integrated into government communication, distinguishing between two dimensions: structure and process. Drawing on a literature review and a case study of Sweden—based on interviews with government press secretaries/media advisers and analysis of official documents—we develop a theoretical logic in which resources act as a causal mechanism driving the normalization of social media. We conceptualize this process as operating through two pathways: adaptation to new communicative requirements and the combination of different media, here termed strategic complementarity. The findings show that social media has become an embedded element of government communication, steadily reshaping routines, professional roles, and the balance between traditional and digital channels. This study contributes to understanding how governments manage hybrid media environments and highlights the underexplored role of social media as a potential driver of power redistribution.","DOI":"10.17645/mac.10457","ScopusId":"2-s2.0-105024888587","NBN":"urn:nbn:se:sh:diva-58149","volume":"13","number":"10457","container-title":"Media and Communication","ISSN":"2183-2439","keyword":"digitalization; government communication; hybrid media; institutional adaptation; national governance; normalization of social media; power resource; press secretaries; strategic complementarity; Sweden","publisher":"Cogitatio Press","published":[{"raw":"2025-09-18T20:47:00.000+02:00"}],"created":[{"raw":"2025-09-18T20:47:51.537+02:00"}],"updated":[{"raw":"2026-01-27T09:08:22.845+01:00"}],"URL":"https://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:sh:diva-58149"},{"id":"diva2:1808624","type":"article-journal","status":"Published","issued":{"date-parts":[[2023]]},"title":"Government Communication in Finland and Sweden","language":"eng","author":[{"family":"Johansson","given":"Karl Magnus","ORCID":"0000-0003-3804-5020","localId":"SHKSJN","affiliation":[{"id":"11830","name":"Södertörns högskola, Statsvetenskap"}]},{"family":"Raunio","given":"Tapio","affiliation":[{"name":"Tampere University, Finland"}]}],"abstract":"Communications is one of the most pressing challenges facing government day by day. Government communication – defined broadly as the structures, practices and processes of the executive in its communication aspects – is required to handle those challenges. In this article, we outline the main elements of government communication in Finland and Sweden and then contrast the two countries. Our analysis covers both broader, over time developments as well as communication during the crises of the early 2020s.  ","NBN":"urn:nbn:se:sh:diva-52591","issue":"3","page":"7-7","container-title":"Baltic Rim Economies","ISSN":"1459-9759","publisher-place":"Turku","publisher":"Centrum Balticum","published":[{"raw":"2023-10-31T15:59:39.007+01:00"}],"created":[{"raw":"2023-10-31T15:59:39.077+01:00"}],"updated":[{"raw":"2025-10-07T17:04:11.868+02:00"}],"URL":"https://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:sh:diva-52591"},{"id":"diva2:1558486","type":"article-journal","status":"Published","issued":{"date-parts":[[2023]]},"title":"Reconstructing the Informal and Invisible : Interactions Between Journalists and Political Sources in Two Countries","language":"eng","author":[{"family":"Malling","given":"Milda","ORCID":"0000-0002-5439-0839","localId":"shmace14","affiliation":[{"id":"11825","name":"Södertörns högskola, Journalistik"}]}],"abstract":"A significant part of the interaction between journalists and their sources in political journalism is informal or not mentioned in the media content. Visibility/invisibility and formality/informality are tactical choices applied by journalists and sources. They influence agenda building in the short term and shared interpretations that dominate the public sphere in the long term.However, the extent to which informal and/or invisible sources participate, what their role is, and why have not been consistently measured. This paper offers a matrix model to map and compare the usage of formal/informal and visible/invisible interactions between journalists and their sources. The data consists of 475 journalist-source interactions in Lithuania and Sweden reconstructed by 33 political journalists.The results demonstrate how different interactions presuppose different source roles in the news process. Formal invisible sources act as gatekeepers, and informal invisible sources act as agenda setters.","DOI":"10.1080/17512786.2021.1930571","ScopusId":"2-s2.0-85106470056","NBN":"urn:nbn:se:sh:diva-45475","issue":"4","volume":"17","page":"683-703","container-title":"Journalism Practice","ISSN":"1751-2794","keyword":"Agenda building; informal interaction; journalist-source relationships; news sources; political journalism; reconstruction interviews; unattributed sources","publisher":"Taylor & Francis","published":[{"raw":"2021-05-31T09:43:00.000+02:00"}],"created":[{"raw":"2021-05-31T09:43:38.062+02:00"}],"updated":[{"raw":"2025-10-07T19:05:21.709+02:00"}],"URL":"https://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:sh:diva-45475"},{"id":"diva2:1593809","type":"article-journal","status":"Published","issued":{"date-parts":[[2022]]},"title":"Along the government–media frontier : Press secretaries offline/online","language":"eng","author":[{"family":"Johansson","given":"Elena","affiliation":[{"name":"University of Gothenburg, Sweden"}]},{"family":"Johansson","given":"Karl Magnus","ORCID":"0000-0003-3804-5020","localId":"SHKSJN","affiliation":[{"id":"11830","name":"Södertörns högskola, Statsvetenskap"}]}],"abstract":"While the position of press secretaries to ministers has become routinized, we still know little about their everyday life in the political executive. This article, based on in-depth interviews with press secretaries and an inventory of social media use conducted among ministers and press secretaries in Sweden, explores what press secretaries do and the roles and functions they fill. It addresses the overarching question of what it is really like to be government press secretary. It engages with this question through a combination of methods, mapping, and explaining patterns of behavior across related fields and strategic spaces. We argue that existing research and role typologies, while still useful, must be developed by accounting more for how press secretary work changes through new techniques and digitalization. We conclude that press secretaries fill a mix of roles and these are quite stable, but social media impacts on the daily routine of the press secretary and are a part of the work that is difficult or impossible to control. In addition, this study of Swedish press secretaries helps to redress a geographical imbalance in political communication (system) research where the focus usually is on Anglo-American-based scholarship and systems.","DOI":"10.1002/pa.2759","ScopusId":"2-s2.0-85114740612","NBN":"urn:nbn:se:sh:diva-46393","issue":"S1","volume":"22","number":"e2759","container-title":"Journal of Public Affairs","ISSN":"1479-1854","keyword":"digital; executive; function; press secretary; role; social media; spin; Sweden","publisher":"John Wiley & Sons","published":[{"raw":"2021-09-14T10:22:00.000+02:00"}],"created":[{"raw":"2021-09-14T10:22:40.259+02:00"}],"updated":[{"raw":"2025-10-07T18:46:42.083+02:00"}],"URL":"https://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:sh:diva-46393"},{"id":"diva2:1704149","type":"book","issued":{"date-parts":[[2022]]},"title":"The Prime Minister–Media Nexus : Centralization Logic and Application","language":"eng","author":[{"family":"Johansson","given":"Karl Magnus","ORCID":"0000-0003-3804-5020","localId":"SHKSJN","affiliation":[{"id":"11830","name":"Södertörns högskola, Statsvetenskap"}]}],"abstract":"This book offers a systematic inquiry into how, why, and with what consequences media affects governments and the standing of prime ministers. It aims at an understanding of how media has caused institutional effects in government, as well as at advancing a unified theory of government communication. The author develops a logic of centralization and applies it to one case, Sweden. Government communication has been institutionalized, tightened and centralized with the prime minister and has changed irreversibly. Analysis of how the government communication system has evolved, mainly in its institutional structures, suggests that the shift to centralization arose more out of necessity than choice. For prime ministers most of this is about finding ways to ensure that the entire government respond to media uniformly. As governments face a set of functional demands from media, different kinds of media, uniformity has been a paramount objective. Nevertheless, this development involves shifting dynamics of intra-executive relations and a shift of power away from ministries to the prime minister’s office; the apex of political power. The prime minister has been empowered at the expense of ministers through the concentration of power and resources to the executive centre. That is partly because of media, which reinforces political hierarchies. That and the centralized control of government news in turn raises further questions about democratic governance and the nature of modern-day governing. ","ISBN":"978-3-031-12151-7","DOI":"10.1007/978-3-031-12152-4","NBN":"urn:nbn:se:sh:diva-50081","edition":"1","number-of-pages":"103","keyword":"political communication; presidentialization of politics; prime minister; communication; politics and the media; personalization of prime ministers; prime minister; function; empowerment; institutional change; logic of centralization; media; presidentialization; adaptation; centralization; communication","publisher-place":"Cham","publisher":"Palgrave Macmillan","published":[{"raw":"2022-10-17T13:03:00.000+02:00"}],"created":[{"raw":"2022-10-17T13:03:25.190+02:00"}],"updated":[{"raw":"2025-10-07T17:45:01.613+02:00"}],"URL":"https://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:sh:diva-50081"},{"id":"diva2:1585769","type":"article-journal","status":"Published","issued":{"date-parts":[[2021]]},"title":"Sources that Trigger the News : Multiplexity of Social Ties in News Discovery","language":"eng","author":[{"family":"Malling","given":"Milda","ORCID":"0000-0002-5439-0839","localId":"shmace14","affiliation":[{"name":"Mid Sweden University, Sweden"},{"id":"11825","name":"Södertörns högskola, Journalistik"}]}],"abstract":"The study explores how the content of the social ties between journalists and their sources, and the multiplexity of the ties in particular, is reflected in the news discovery practices in the political beat. Some of the news ideas come from publicly available channels while others derive from journalists' unique networks of social contacts (often to some degree informal). The sources connected to journalists via single vs. multiplex social ties achieve a discursive power (Jungerr et al. 2019) in different ways. The study is based on reconstructed news discovery situations (n = 162) from two different political journalism environments: Lithuania and Sweden, and combines quantitative and qualitative questions. First, it measures the prevalence of the multiplex social ties between journalists and the sources. Second, it analyzes how the multiplexity of these ties is reflected in the process of the news discovery and, third, the outcome-the news content. The results show that the prevalence of multiplex social ties, and the social network behind them, is reflected in what news journalists can access and select as newsworthy. Process-wise, multiplex social ties work as a shortcut but require a balance between maintaining the access to the network and distance to the source.","DOI":"10.1080/1461670X.2021.1951331","ScopusId":"2-s2.0-85110905985","NBN":"urn:nbn:se:sh:diva-46216","issue":"10","volume":"22","page":"1298-1316","container-title":"Journalism Studies","ISSN":"1469-9699","publisher":"Taylor & Francis","published":[{"raw":"2021-08-18T09:19:00.000+02:00"}],"created":[{"raw":"2021-08-18T09:19:38.246+02:00"}],"updated":[{"raw":"2025-10-07T18:50:59.258+02:00"}],"URL":"https://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:sh:diva-46216"},{"id":"diva2:1538424","type":"article-journal","status":"Published","issued":{"date-parts":[[2021]]},"title":"Stärker mediemakten regeringsmakten?","language":"swe","author":[{"family":"Johansson","given":"Karl Magnus","ORCID":"0000-0003-3804-5020","localId":"SHKSJN","affiliation":[{"id":"11830","name":"Södertörns högskola, Statsvetenskap"}]}],"abstract":"This article explores the question if media power strengthens governmental power. It engages with this question through a study of the Swedish case. The case study summarizes secondary evidence and presents new primary evidence drawn from interviews and documents. It builds on presidentialization theory to develop an argument about why prime ministers, in particular, should be expected to be empowered by media, among other factors. The article advances the argument that the drive for government-wide coherent communication perpetuates trends of centralization. This follows a functionalist logic and changes the balance between premiers and other cabinet ministers in favour of the former. Moreover, prime ministers are the natural foci of media attention. The article concludes that premiers are empowered by the media, but the scope for executive empowerment more broadly is conditional on the domestic political context. These findings have important implications for research on political communication and executives.","NBN":"urn:nbn:se:sh:diva-44587","issue":"1","volume":"123","page":"5-25","container-title":"Statsvetenskaplig Tidskrift","ISSN":"0039-0747","publisher-place":"Lund","publisher":"Fahlbeckska Stiftelsen","published":[{"raw":"2021-03-19T10:26:00.000+01:00"}],"created":[{"raw":"2021-03-19T10:26:26.481+01:00"}],"updated":[{"raw":"2025-10-07T19:15:58.531+02:00"}],"URL":"https://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:sh:diva-44587"},{"id":"diva2:1458522","type":"article-journal","status":"Published","issued":{"date-parts":[[2020]]},"title":"Centralizing Government Communication? Evidence from Finland and Sweden","language":"eng","author":[{"family":"Johansson","given":"Karl Magnus","ORCID":"0000-0003-3804-5020","localId":"SHKSJN","affiliation":[{"id":"11830","name":"Södertörns högskola, Statsvetenskap"}]},{"family":"Raunio","given":"Tapio","ORCID":"0000-0003-0736-7182","affiliation":[{"name":"Tampere University, Tampere, Finland"}]}],"abstract":"How governments manage their communication is one crucial indicator of the balance of power within the cabinet and inside the executive branch as a whole. Existing research offers few insights into the process by which governments come to choose one form of communication over another and about the factors driving centralization. This article addresses this gap through a comparison of two countries, Finland and Sweden, examining not only the organizational forms of government communication but also the causal mechanisms at work. Combining theoretical lessons from studies in political communication, political science, and public administration, it develops a centralization argument, focusing on the centripetal factors facilitating coordination and control. Drawing on over 40 interviews with journalists and political or media advisors in the two countries and on government documents, the article offers clear evidence of a trend toward centralization, particularly in Sweden. This trend should be understood as part of a broader process whereby prime ministers and their offices establish stronger control of the entire executive branch.","DOI":"10.1111/polp.12370","ScopusId":"2-s2.0-85089391819","NBN":"urn:nbn:se:sh:diva-41687","localId":"1296/3.1.1/2013","issue":"6","volume":"48","page":"1138-1160","container-title":"Politics and Policy","ISSN":"1747-1346","keyword":"Centralization; Government Communication; Media Advisors; Political Advisors; Press Secretaries; Prime Ministers; Finland; Sweden","publisher":"Wiley-Blackwell","published":[{"raw":"2020-08-17T12:08:00.000+02:00"}],"created":[{"raw":"2020-08-17T12:08:41.157+02:00"}],"updated":[{"raw":"2025-10-07T19:50:09.684+02:00"}],"URL":"https://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:sh:diva-41687"},{"id":"diva2:1283131","type":"book","issued":{"date-parts":[[2019]]},"title":"Close and Distant : Political Executive-Media Relations in Four Countries","language":"eng","editor":[{"family":"Johansson","given":"Karl Magnus","ORCID":"0000-0003-3804-5020","localId":"SHKSJN","affiliation":[{"id":"11830","name":"Södertörns högskola, Statsvetenskap"}]},{"family":"Nygren","given":"Gunnar","localId":"shgrnn07","affiliation":[{"id":"11825","name":"Södertörns högskola, Journalistik"}]}],"abstract":"This book explores the interplay between government and media drawing on unique evidence from, and in-depth analysis of, four national cases: Finland, Lithuania, Poland and Sweden. Based on the chapters dedicated to each country, five additional chapters address the following cross-national themes: government communication, social media, formality/informality in journalist-source relations, mediatisation of politics, and political communication culture.The book reveals what really goes on between the political executive and the media in everyday practices within these countries. First, it uncovers a process of mediated political-cultural change within media-political systems. Second, it illustrates the work- ings of prime ministerial power and communication aides at this apex of political power and the media and those who work there. Third, it examines both the struggle within governing institutions to control the flow of information and the tensions between civil servants and political aides, and takes the reader through the four media-political con- texts rooted in a deep knowledge of these relationships.The result is an illuminating and original analysis of politics, political communication, media and journalism, and offers greater understanding of the realities of government – and democracy – and media in practice as well as the role of media within contemporary politics.","ISBN":"978-91-88855-06-0","NBN":"urn:nbn:se:sh:diva-37447","localId":"1296/3.1.1/2013","edition":"1","number-of-pages":"264","publisher-place":"Gothenburg","publisher":"Nordicom","note":"","published":[{"raw":"2019-01-28T12:00:00.000+01:00"}],"created":[{"raw":"2019-01-28T12:00:42.999+01:00"}],"updated":[{"raw":"2025-10-07T20:54:35.906+02:00"}],"URL":"https://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:sh:diva-37447"},{"id":"diva2:1283149","type":"chapter","issued":{"date-parts":[[2019]]},"title":"Government communication in a comparative perspective","language":"eng","author":[{"family":"Johansson","given":"Karl Magnus","ORCID":"0000-0003-3804-5020","localId":"SHKSJN","affiliation":[{"id":"11830","name":"Södertörns högskola, Statsvetenskap"}]},{"family":"Raunio","given":"Tapio","affiliation":[{"name":"Tampere University, Finland"}]}],"abstract":"This chapter hypothesises that there is a trend of centralisation in government communication – a move upwards in the political executive towards central coordination and control. We test this argument empirically through an inventory of elite interview evidence and a four-country comparison including two case studies – Finland and Sweden – as well as two case illustrations – Lithuania and Poland. Based on, altogether, over 80 interviews with political journalists and political/media advisors or press secretaries in the four countries, the chapter analyses how government communication is structured. The cases of Finland and Sweden offer support for the centralisation hypothesis while those of Lithuania and Poland point out its limitations. We thus conclude that the extent to which government communication is centralised varies across contexts and that the variation is patterned.","ISBN":"978-91-88855-06-0","NBN":"urn:nbn:se:sh:diva-37452","localId":"1296/3.1.1/2013","page":"127-148","container-title":"Close and Distant : Political Executive-Media Relations in Four Countries","keyword":"centralisation; coordination; executive; government communication; professionalisation","publisher-place":"Gothenburg","publisher":"Nordicom","note":"[ed] Karl Magnus Johansson & Gunnar Nygren","published":[{"raw":"2019-01-28T12:35:00.000+01:00"}],"created":[{"raw":"2019-01-28T12:35:11.751+01:00"}],"updated":[{"raw":"2025-10-07T20:54:30.099+02:00"}],"URL":"https://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:sh:diva-37452"},{"id":"diva2:1329916","type":"chapter","issued":{"date-parts":[[2019]]},"title":"Lithuania : Media-politics interaction shaped by benefits-oriented reasoning","language":"eng","author":[{"family":"Balčytienė","given":"Auksė","affiliation":[{"name":"Vytautas Magnus University, Kaunas, Lithuania"}]},{"family":"Malling","given":"Milda","ORCID":"0000-0002-5439-0839","localId":"shmace14","affiliation":[{"id":"11825","name":"Södertörns högskola, Journalistik"}]}],"abstract":"This chapter discusses how media and political information sources navigate change and adjust their needs-oriented behaviour to changing conditions. The results presented are based on 20 qualitative interviews with leading political journalists as well as government advisors and spokespersons in Lithuania. Although media and political sources gain power in different situations, both sides function in reciprocal interconnectedness. Formal contacts are quite consistent and professionalised, but they continue to work in the shadow of informal social networks, which create their own power relationships, dynamics and hierarchical structures. Though the findings are contextually fashioned, the views regarding the interaction indicate broader trends of communication professionalisation identified also in other cultures and political conditions.","ISBN":"978-91-88855-06-0","NBN":"urn:nbn:se:sh:diva-38477","page":"5-74","container-title":"Close and Distant : Political Executive-Media Relations in Four Countries","keyword":"political journalism; government relations; political culture; democratisation; professionalisation; Lithuania","publisher-place":"Gothenburg","publisher":"Nordicom","note":"[ed] Karl Magnus Johansson & Gunnar Nygren","published":[{"raw":"2019-06-25T08:40:00.000+02:00"}],"created":[{"raw":"2019-06-25T08:40:32.788+02:00"}],"updated":[{"raw":"2025-10-07T20:39:31.571+02:00"}],"URL":"https://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:sh:diva-38477"},{"id":"diva2:1283153","type":"chapter","issued":{"date-parts":[[2019]]},"title":"Locked in a mutual dependency : Media and the political executive in close interplay","language":"eng","author":[{"family":"Johansson","given":"Karl Magnus","ORCID":"0000-0003-3804-5020","localId":"SHKSJN","affiliation":[{"id":"11830","name":"Södertörns högskola, Statsvetenskap"}]},{"family":"Nygren","given":"Gunnar","localId":"shgrnn07","affiliation":[{"id":"11825","name":"Södertörns högskola, Journalistik"}]}],"ISBN":"978-91-88855-06-0","NBN":"urn:nbn:se:sh:diva-37453","page":"247-259","container-title":"Close and Distant : Political Executive-Media Relations in Four Countries","publisher-place":"Gothenburg","publisher":"Nordicom","note":"[ed] Karl Magnus Johansson & Gunnar Nygren","published":[{"raw":"2019-01-28T12:40:00.000+01:00"}],"created":[{"raw":"2019-01-28T12:40:25.297+01:00"}],"updated":[{"raw":"2025-10-07T20:54:28.503+02:00"}],"URL":"https://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:sh:diva-37453"},{"id":"diva2:1329926","type":"chapter","issued":{"date-parts":[[2019]]},"title":"Media logics as parts of the political toolkit : A critical discussion on theories of mediatisation of politics","language":"eng","author":[{"family":"Nygren","given":"Gunnar","localId":"shgrnn07","affiliation":[{"id":"11825","name":"Södertörns högskola, Journalistik"}]},{"family":"Niemikari","given":"Risto","affiliation":[{"name":"Tampere University, Finland"}]}],"abstract":"In research on mediatisation, the political system is often described as a victim of media logics. According to this theory, the logics of politics are overruled by media logics, and the political institutions become dependent on the media. This chapter questions this dichotomy between the two logics and asks to what extent media logics are used by political actors to achieve political goals. Based on the results from interviews in four countries, the relationship between politics and the media is discussed from both perspectives. The chapter also discusses different logics and functions of the media and describes a complex picture of interdependency and mutual interests. It concludes that new types of political instrumentalisation of the media are developed in the close relationship between the news media and their sources in government.","ISBN":"978-91-88855-06-0","NBN":"urn:nbn:se:sh:diva-38478","page":"197-220","container-title":"Close and Distant : Political Executive–Media Relations in Four Countries","keyword":"mediatisation; political journalism; media management; media logic; political logic","publisher-place":"Gothenburg","publisher":"Nordicom","note":"[ed] Karl Magnus Johansson & Gunnar Nygren","published":[{"raw":"2019-06-25T08:46:00.000+02:00"}],"created":[{"raw":"2019-06-25T08:46:02.413+02:00"}],"updated":[{"raw":"2025-10-07T20:39:30.448+02:00"}],"URL":"https://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:sh:diva-38478"},{"id":"diva2:1329903","type":"chapter","issued":{"date-parts":[[2019]]},"title":"Power and exchange in formal and informal interaction between journalists and their sources","language":"eng","author":[{"family":"Malling","given":"Milda","ORCID":"0000-0002-5439-0839","localId":"shmace14","affiliation":[{"id":"11825","name":"Södertörns högskola, Journalistik"}]}],"abstract":"This chapter sets out to answer a number of questions concerning the relationship between media and political executives in political communication, centring on how the exchange and power balance between journalists and their political sources differ depending on whether the interaction is formal or informal. The results are based on 43 qualitative interviews with journalists who cover national politics and governmental press advisors in Lithuania and Sweden. The findings indicate that formal interaction is advantageous for professional sources in agenda-based news. In non-agenda news and in times of political conflict, journalists as well as some political sources prefer informal interaction. While top political leaders and their press advisors are most often isolated from informal interactions, other political sources might gain from communicating informally. Finally, the results show that media–source exchange in informal relationships reaches beyond “information in exchange for publicity” and that informal relationships allow participants to step outside their traditional professional roles.","ISBN":"978-91-88855-06-0","NBN":"urn:nbn:se:sh:diva-38475","page":"175-195","container-title":"Close and Distant : Political Executive–Media Relations in Four Countries","keyword":"journalist-source relations; interaction; informality; professionalisation; political communication; exchange","publisher-place":"Gothenburg","publisher":"Nordicom","note":"[ed] Karl Magnus Johansson & Gunnar Nygren","published":[{"raw":"2019-06-25T08:32:00.000+02:00"}],"created":[{"raw":"2019-06-25T08:32:44.629+02:00"}],"updated":[{"raw":"2025-10-07T20:39:33.337+02:00"}],"URL":"https://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:sh:diva-38475"},{"id":"diva2:1283145","type":"chapter","issued":{"date-parts":[[2019]]},"title":"Sweden : A professionally symbiotic relationship","language":"eng","author":[{"family":"Johansson","given":"Karl Magnus","ORCID":"0000-0003-3804-5020","localId":"SHKSJN","affiliation":[{"id":"11830","name":"Södertörns högskola, Statsvetenskap"}]},{"family":"Malling","given":"Milda","ORCID":"0000-0002-5439-0839","localId":"shmace14","affiliation":[{"id":"11825","name":"Södertörns högskola, Journalistik"}]},{"family":"Nygren","given":"Gunnar","localId":"shgrnn07","affiliation":[{"id":"11825","name":"Södertörns högskola, Journalistik"}]}],"abstract":"This chapter explores political executive-media relations in Sweden, with a particular focus on professional day-to-day relationships and habits. The analysis is mainly based on extensive interviews with journalists and government press secretaries, and it establishes the routinisation at work, as well as the professionalisation. The exchanges between journalists and their sources appear to be close but with recognition of each other’s professional roles. Media developments influence the relationship, and the downsizing of newsrooms, multi-platform production 24/7 and increased competition for unique news have made journalists more dependent on available sources. At the same time, professionalisation of government communication makes news management more efficient and has centralising effects on executive systems. Together these trends shift the balance between journalists and their political sources in favour of the latter. The presented findings have important implications for research on journalism, media and political executives.","ISBN":"978-91-88855-06-0","NBN":"urn:nbn:se:sh:diva-37451","localId":"1296/3.1.1/2013","page":"97-123","container-title":"Close and Distant : Political Executive–Media Relations in Four Countries","keyword":"political communication; political journalism; professionalisation; mediatisation; Sweden","publisher-place":"Gothenburg","publisher":"Nordicom","note":"[ed] Karl Magnus Johansson & Gunnar Nygren","published":[{"raw":"2019-01-28T12:28:00.000+01:00"}],"created":[{"raw":"2019-01-28T12:28:03.344+01:00"}],"updated":[{"raw":"2025-10-07T20:54:31.619+02:00"}],"URL":"https://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:sh:diva-37451"},{"id":"diva2:1283142","type":"chapter","issued":{"date-parts":[[2019]]},"title":"The interplay of media and the political executive : Introduction and framework","language":"eng","author":[{"family":"Johansson","given":"Karl Magnus","ORCID":"0000-0003-3804-5020","localId":"SHKSJN","affiliation":[{"id":"11830","name":"Södertörns högskola, Statsvetenskap"}]},{"family":"Nygren","given":"Gunnar","localId":"shgrnn07","affiliation":[{"id":"11825","name":"Södertörns högskola, Journalistik"}]}],"ISBN":"978-91-88855-06-0","NBN":"urn:nbn:se:sh:diva-37450","localId":"1296/3.1.1/2013","page":"9-26","container-title":"Close and Distant : Political Executive-Media Relations in Four Countries","publisher-place":"Gothenburg","publisher":"Nordicom","note":"[ed] Karl Magnus Johansson & Gunnar Nygren","published":[{"raw":"2019-01-28T12:19:00.000+01:00"}],"created":[{"raw":"2019-01-28T12:19:10.003+01:00"}],"updated":[{"raw":"2025-10-07T20:54:33.898+02:00"}],"URL":"https://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:sh:diva-37450"},{"id":"diva2:1263240","type":"chapter","issued":{"date-parts":[[2018]]},"title":"Statsministern och medierna","language":"swe","author":[{"family":"Johansson","given":"Karl Magnus","ORCID":"0000-0003-3804-5020","localId":"SHKSJN","affiliation":[{"id":"11830","name":"Södertörns högskola, Statsvetenskap"}]}],"ISBN":"978-91-88025-99-9","NBN":"urn:nbn:se:sh:diva-36768","page":"101","container-title":"Snabbtänkt : Reflektioner från valet 2018 av ledande forskare","publisher-place":"Sundsvall","publisher":"Mittuniversitetet, Demicom.","note":"[ed] Lars Nord, Marie Grusell, Niklas Bolin & Kajsa Falasca","published":[{"raw":"2018-11-14T16:12:00.000+01:00"}],"created":[{"raw":"2018-11-14T16:12:05.254+01:00"}],"updated":[{"raw":"2025-10-07T21:05:22.750+02:00"}],"URL":"https://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:sh:diva-36768"}],"links":[{"type":"pid","link":"https://sh.diva-portal.org/smash/api/project/swecris/project:1683"}]}]