The establishing of subject positions in Swedish news media discourses during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic

• Published in: Media, culture & society Vol. 45; no. 5; pp. 932 - 948
• Main Authors: Lövenmark, Annica, Stier, Jonas, Blomberg, Helena
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: London, England SAGE Publications 01.07.2023; Sage Publications Ltd
• Subjects: Accountability; Citizens; COVID-19; discourse analysis; Discourses; First year; folkhälsovetenskap; ideological dilemma; Main; Mass media images; News media; pandemic; Pandemics; Public Health Sciences; Self regulation; subject position; Sweden; subject position; Sweden; pandemic; discourse analysis; news media; ideological dilemma
• ISSN: 0163-4437; 1460-3675; 1460-3675
• DOI: 10.1177/01634437221147636

The COVID-19 pandemic has dominated the global media since 2020. To a large extent, it is via the news media that the public has learned about the risks, levels of danger, governmental regulations and mandatory actions. This article highlights the subject positions constructed by the Swedish news media from January 2020 to February 2021 in reports about the pandemic. The result shows that citizens can be active-passive or solitary solidarity, these positions appeal to individual accountability, thus potentially shaping and fostering citizens in line with the Swedish government’s wider response to the pandemic. The news media’s images are of self-regulated citizens who govern and discipline themselves and others according to the current discourses, all of which simultaneously evoke fear, togetherness and hope. The ideological dilemmas for citizens are whether to be active-passive or, if necessary, switch to the solitary solidarity subject position.