The aim of this thesis is to contribute to the field ofinformation politics, in the areas of the future regulationof The Fundamental Law on Freedom of Expression andThe Freedom of the Press Act. The focus of the study is todiscursively examine how ideas and perspectives ontechnological developments are expressed in a pendingSwedish legislative proposal. The empirical data consistsof an interim government report, SOU 2010:68, writtenby Yttrandefrihetskommittén (Committee on Freedom ofExpression) and analysed using Norman Fairclough'sCritical Discourse Analysis. The analysis is conducted onthree levels: a textual level, a discursive practice level anda social practice level.On the textual level we found that the committeecontinously uses significantly charged expressions todescribe technological development. On the discursivepractice level two discourses were identified.

Abstract:The old established description gunboat diplomacy has in modern time changed to a broader and more nuanced definition called maritime diplomacy. But what is maritime diplomacy and how is it described? This essay analyses the theories from the Englishman James Cable and the American Edward Luttwak. Both Cable and Luttwak represent nations which have a global security interests and deploy their maritime forces worldwide. The foundation for their theories is power politics.

The purpose of this study is to map out and to analyze the spatial variation of female representation at the national level in established democracies. The aim is also to explain the variation in the female representation. The main questions that the paper tries to answer are:1.How does women representation in established democratic parliaments vary?2.Why does women representation in established democratic parliaments vary?This study is a comparative and statistic study, i.e. a study that includes a bigger number of countries and where quantitative analysis methods are used in order to achieve comparative analyses.

Local participation in nature conservation has gained more attention over the last decades due to international conventions as well as local and national initiatives. This development can be seen as a reaction to a more expert oriented nature conservation characterized by centralized control and strict preservation of so called "original" nature. The overall objective of this thesis is to contribute to research on new forms of conservation where democracy and local participation is included. The case study focuses on the process of producing a pre-study for a suggested national park in southern Jämtland in the Swedish mountain region, and aims to investigate to what extent local participation was included. The pre-study was led by the Swedish Environmental Protection Agency (SEPA) and the County Administrative Board (CAB) in Jämtland.

The way in which media discusses religion has changed over time. Due to the separation of state and church in 2000, the Swedish state to a lesser extent legitimizes its political ruling with references to religious concepts. As a result, a higher tolerance towards religious minorities can be said to have taken place. This is an ambiguous change however, where critique raised towards religious practices and expressions of minorities also occurs to a higher extent. The public debate is in large part conducted through the media, but is also seen to be produced and reproduced through the media?s discourse.

Due to the developments in today's gender discussions, this essay aimed at investigating the gendered constructions and encouragements to consumption. As a former fashion student I have a special interest in the commercial constructions featured in fashion magazines, especially since advertising, fashion and perceptions of gender have long walked hand in hand. Just as feminism studies have shown femininity being a fluid identity, recent studies of masculinities, media and culture are also showing changes in the depictions of men.The aim was to clarify how fashion magazines encourage men and women to consume products and ideals, and also discuss the gender constructions occurring in the junction of editorial and commercial text (articles and advertisements). The analysis was thereof based on three main questions:-       How is consumption encouraged in male and female fashion magazines?-       What kind of gendered pattern appears in the junction of advertisement and editorial text?-       With regard to the gender constructions, what is the reader encouraged to consume?The theoretical framework of the analysis was based on gender studies and political economy, mostly describing a commercial perception of feminine journalism and a new metrosexual expression in men?s fashion and lifestyle magazines.By using a combination of quantitative (content analysis) and qualitative (semiotics) approach two fashion magazines, Elle and King Magazine (published in May 2013) were used as representatives of fashion magazines in general.The results showed clear differences between the sexes.

Det övergripande syftet var att ta reda på genren genus demonstrativums betydelse i politisk kriskommunikation och frågeställningarna var:  ? Hur använder Göran Persson genren genus demonstrativum för att bearbeta den politiska kris som ett ministermord innebär? ? Vad vill Göran Persson uppnå med sina tal och med vilka retoriska medel försöker han skapa mening kring mordet? ? Vilka attityder försöker Göran Persson få åhörarna att inta och hur gör han det?  Materialet bestod av fyra tal och den övergripande metoden var strukturell och stödmetoderna stil-, ideologkritisk-, och retorisk analys. Jag lutade mig bland annat mot teorier av Elmelund Kjeldsen och Johannesson. Studien visar att genren genus demonstrativum stärkte och enade medborgarna i ett krisdrabbat samhälle. Istället för att fokusera på dådet hyllade Göran Persson Anna Lindh och använde henne som symbol för det demokratiska samhället.

Title: Images of Sweden in ItalyNumber of pages: 5252 (589 including enclosures)Author: Oskar GustafssonTutor: Martin NilssonCourse: Political Science C level ? Bachelor?s ThesisPeriod: Spring term 2010University: School of Social SciencesLinnaeus UniversityPurpose/Aim: The purpose of my research study is to, through the use of political science theories on soft power and marketing theories about nation branding and in comparison to previous studies on the image of Sweden in Italy, gains a better understanding of the image of Sweden in Italy, with special focus on national political institutions and young Italians.Method: The method of analysis is a combination of qualitative methods: interviews where information about the image of Sweden amongst national political institutions were gathered and a survey where information was gathered about the image of Sweden amongst young Italians.Main results: On the basis of the results I have gained it can be concluded that a positive and well informed image of Sweden emerges when it comes to cultural and social factors but a more restricted and somewhat negative image come to light when asking national political institutions and young citizens in Italy about their views and knowledge on Swedish domestic and international politics and economics.Keywords: Soft power, Public Diplomacy, Nation Branding, Images of Sweden, Italy..

Within media and communications studies, questions of taste have often been associated with the dichotomy of high versus popular culture. The French sociologist Pierre Bourdieu has also used mass media products in his studies of class determined tastes and dispositions. In this paper the author uses the theoretical framwork of Bourdieu to examine aspects of social class and legitimate taste in the interior design magazine "Sköna Hem", a market leading magazine within it's genre of lifestyle magazines in Sweden. A specific type of feature article, where a real-life home is portrayed, is studied using the critical discourse analysis of Norman Fairclough. The homes portrayed are predominantly affluent and display elements of conspicuous consumtion as mediated through legitimate taste and cultural capital.

For the last ten years Internet has become more popular and is now used by most Swedes every day.  Internet has made it possible for many people to access a great deal of information about news all day long. Internet has also made it possible for people to create their own news and comment on happenings as they are taking place. One way to do this is to start your own blog, which is a kind of diary where you can publish your own thoughts about politics and news.In Sweden the media is often referred to as the third governmental power since the media is examining the government and people in power positions and bringing the people as consumers of news closer to the government. There is a theory called agenda setting that says that the media is an actor that shapes the political issues discussed by the people and politicians.In this essay I have used the agenda setting theory and linked it together with the Medias references to blogs in their news. This I have done to see if the media might be influenced by blogs.

Equality between the sexes has been discussed in Sweden for more than 50 years. In the 60´s and during the 70´s the discourse that dominated the debate was based on the assumption that both men and women needed to liberate themselves from their traditional gender roles. In this approach information and education was perceived as the key to equality. During the 80´s however, power and subordination became the main focal point of concern within this debate, and focus upon changing the patriarchal power structures dominating society were perceived as the principal key for establishing equality between the sexes. Today, the latter discourse still dominates both the scientific and the political perspective upon equality.

Sedan 1700-talet har läsarnas medverkan varit en väsentlig del i tidningarnas produktion. Utan deras deltagande har det inte heller blivit någon tidning. En förändring på området skedde när professionaliseringen av publicistrollen blev ett faktum och läsarnas medverkan ifrågasattes.Samhällsförändringar och tekniska utvecklingar har sedan lett fram till det vi har idag: ett samhälle där medieorganisationerna är i allt större behov av att läsarna återigen deltar i olika former. Syftet med studien är därför att undersöka hur journalister och ledning på tre olika lokaltidningar resonerar kring och förhåller sig till användargenererat material, samt vilka möjligheter användarna har att delta.Genom semistrukturerade intervjuer med lokaltidningarnas ansvariga utgivare och två journalister på respektive redaktion har vi fått fram att tidningarna generellt har ett positivt förhållningssätt till användargenererat material. De anser att teknikens utveckling både har hämmat och främjat relationen till läsarna i takt med att olika plattformer har utökat tidningarnas grundläggande publiceringskanal, det vill säga papperstidningen.

Holy war against the aberration and the newspaper terrorismHeligt krig mot förvillelsen och tidningsterrorismen This paper explores Bernhard von Beskow?s (1796-1868) conservative critique of the, for the early 19th century, new dominating voice in public matters namely the liberal press. There are competing narratives about the emerging liberal press and its critics. On the one hand the conservative critics were seen as hopeless reactionaries which acted against freedom of the press, themselves stripped of positive ideals and/or handled with little interest as footnotes in the great story of the liberal victory over its opponents. On the other hand this story has been questioned and an alternative has been presented of how to understand the conservatives and their critique of the press.

Situationen för torskbestånden i Östersjön är idag så pass allvarlig att ett flertal forskare, miljörörelser och även en del politiker kräver att ett fiskestopp för torsken genast måste införas. Kraven bygger på Internationella Havsforskningsrådets (ICES) rekommendationer, vilka kan sägas representera den rådande vetenskapliga uppfattningen, men trots en internationell vetenskaplig enighet i frågan har inte forskarnas rekommendationer lyckats få politiskt gehör. Torskens väg från hav till förhandlingsbord är med andra ord en komplicerad process där ett flertal aktörer är inblandade och relationerna inte alltid är helt tydliga. Denna studie söker kartlägga varför forskarnas rekommendationer om ett stopp för torskfisket inte omsatts i handling. Studien visar bland annat att ICES forskare genom sin rådgivande roll erhåller ett visst mått av politiskt inflytande, men att möjligheterna att påverka frågans utgång huvudsakligen avgörs av i vilken mån rekommendationerna kolliderar med andra intressen.

ABSTRACTTitle: Elle & Café ? a study of fashion magazines cover pages.Number of pages: 38Author: Greta SimonssonTutor: Amelie HössjerCourse: Media and Communication Studies DPeriod: Spring Semester 2008University: Division of Media and Communication, Department of Information Science, Uppsala UniversityAim: The purpose of this essay is to:? Analyze the cover images from the 2007 editions of the magazines Elles and Café, using semiotic analysis.? Analyzes eventual resemblances or differences between the two magazine's cover images based upon the result of the semiotic analysis.Material and methods: The study of Elles's and Café's cover pages has been done using a model built upon semiotic analysis, developed with the purpose of suiting observation and examination of cover pages of fashion magazines. The cover pages were analyzed from the categories character, context, and environment.Main results: The main results include the observation that both Elles and Café chooses well-known figures from women's fashion industry as prime characters on their covers. In Elles, all main characters are famous women emerging from the music, television and fashion industries. The women in Café are known for similar professions.