Abstract
Målet med oppgaven har vært å undersøke hvordan personfokuseringen har utviklet seg i norske medier fra begynnelsen av 1990-tallet frem til 2009. For å besvare oppgavens problemstilling har jeg foretatt en innholdsanalyse av Aftenposten, Verdens Gang, aftenposten.no og VGNett og deres dekning av stortingsvalgkampene i 1993, 2001 og 2009.
Analysens hovedfunn er at tendensen til personfokusering er nedadgående i den undersøkte perioden, og på den måten finner jeg ikke full støtte i forventningene om et stadig økt personfokus i pressens politiske stoff. Når det er sagt, er utviklingen forskjellig for de to ulike mediene; personfokuset er nedadgående for de to papiravisene, mens det øker for begge nettavisene.
Funnene drøftes i forhold til hvorvidt dette kan bety at nettavisene nærmer seg en tradisjonell tabloidavis’ verbalvisuelle uttrykk. Det krever mer inngående innholdsanalyser for å diskutere papiravisenes forhold mellom saks- og personfokus i dag. Empiriens størrelsesorden begrenser mulighetene for generalisering, men kan representere indikasjoner som forteller noe om «status quo» i den norske politiske nyhetsjournalistikken og valgstoffet generelt, og forhåpentligvis oppfordrer til videre forskning.
In recent years, there has been a perceived shift in news coverage focusing on persons rather than issues or events in the media. This thesis attempts to assess the degree to which the focus on individuals has changed in Norwegian media coverage from the early ‘90’s and up to 2009. The thesis presents the findings of a content analysis of the coverage of the Norwegian parliamentary elections in 1993, 2001 and 2009 in two Norwegian newspapers, Verdens Gang and Aftenposten, as well as their namesake online editions.
The analysis reveals that focus on individuals declines in the print editions in the period examined, while the opposite is true for the online editions. The hypothesis that coverage of political issues to a larger degree than before is centered on actors is not unequivocally confirmed, but opens the floor for a discussion of whether or not online newspapers are moving closer to the traditional tabloid format.
The findings of the content analysis suggests that press coverage of parliamentary elections is marked by two parallel, and quite media specific, developments, which again may imply that the public service function of the press has changed during the period in question. Due to the limited scope of the data in this thesis, grounds for generalization are somewhat limited. Still, it is reasonable enough to point to fluctuations in the status of Norwegian political news reporting and election coverage and it is my hope that the thesis might inspire further research on the subject.