Democratic Erosion and the News Media - An Exploratory Case Study of Sweden and the Freedom of Religion

Abstract

This thesis explores the symptoms of early democratic erosion in the news media and the role the news media may play in the process. As of now, there has yet to be any contemporary research on that subject. The thesis focuses on the process of democratic erosion within the aspect of civil liberties and how symptoms of early democratic erosion can be visible in the media. Through deductive reading of literature on democratic erosion and the normative roles of the news media in a healthy democracy, the thesis identifies potential drivers of early democratic erosion as jeopardizing civil liberties, especially those of minorities or a particular group. More specifically, the symptoms of early democratic erosion in the news media are the normalization of hostile discourse, the provision of a platform for anti-democratic ideas, the normalization of political intolerance, the targeting of one group in the news media and the use of propaganda or misinformation to manipulate the public. While the news media are not solely responsible for democratic erosion, it is found that they can either counteract or contribute to it. The news media contribute to the phenomenon by failing their normative roles in a democracy and undermining democratic values. This can have different dimensions, such as publishing anti-democratic discourse without challenging it or polarized presentation of political issues or minorities without providing alternative perspectives. Complicity of the news media, characterized by the news media simply echoing statements from political actors, is part of this failure and subsequently contributes to democratic erosion. However, the news media can also counteract democratic erosion by resisting such polarization, publishing fact-checked information, and challenging anti-democratic statements made by political actors. When the news media fulfill their normative roles dutifully, they can create an environment in which healthy discussion flourishes and minority voices are included equally, without hate speech and intolerant discourse dominating the public sphere. These results are generalizable to liberal democracies and highlight the importance of the news media adhering to their normative roles to safeguard and protect democracy. To find out what these theorized symptoms and roles look like in reality, a case study of Sweden over the years 2016 to 2023 is conducted. Two major news outlets (Aftonbladet and Svenska Dagbladet) are analyzed regarding their presentation of Islam. The reason for this is the previously established jeopardizing of civil rights as a main driver for democratic erosion and the subsequent symptoms in the media. Islam’s exposure was chosen to represent how freedom of religion is treated in the Swedish news media as the ascertained symptoms often affect a particular group. In this case, Islam was selected because of recent Swedish history, which saw a rise in the popularity of right-wing parties that deliberately attack Muslims verbally. Additionally, crimes such as Quran burnings and Mosque attacks have increased in the past years. Yet, Sweden is considered a stable and liberal democracy with freedom of religion anchored in its constitution, making it an interesting case to analyze regarding early democratic erosion and the role of the news media. The reason for including a tabloid and a broadsheet is to compare the patterns over the selected time frame in the analysis. The empirical analysis uses a mixed-methods approach that examines Islam’s portrayal in the news media. First, a quantitative content analysis of 687 articles in total is conducted. While collecting that data, some articles that represent respective symptoms were chosen and presented qualitatively alongside the results of the quantitative analysis. The findings show that both news outlets display several symptoms of early democratic erosion and have contributed to democratic erosion by being a microphone for political actors in several instances over the past years. SvD is more committed to factful informing of the public than AB, highlighting that tabloids are more drawn to sensationalist reporting. Nonetheless, an increasing pattern of positive developments by SvD and AB can be observed, especially in the year 2023, where both news outlets fulfill their normative roles as watchdog more consistently and challenge the opinions of the elite more actively. This enables an optimistic prediction for the future in the Swedish case. The Swedish news media have the potential to play an essential role in safeguarding Swedish democracy by adhering to their normative roles.