Shaping the national narrative in the international press - Comparing how Denmark and Norway have attempted to shape their image and what image they are left with in the international press

Abstract

For smaller nations without hard power resources, nation branding and public diplomacy present opportunities to gain influence in international politics. The coverage of countries in international media can influence how we perceive certain countries, their population, and their governments. This thesis aims to determine how Denmark and Norway perceive themselves and measure this perception up against the image in the international press. To examine this, a document analysis of annual reports and budget proposals from the past decade by the Danish and Norwegian Ministries of Foreign Affairs has been carried out, investigating how the two countries have attempted to shape their national narratives through nation branding and public diplomacy efforts. The findings showed that both countries want to influence international politics, have increased focus on the implementation of economic diplomacy in their work, and consider themselves as doing important work fighting climate change. A quantitative content analysis of 1,514 articles in The Guardian and The New York Times was carried out to investigate what image the two countries were left with in the international press. The analysis showed that Denmark and Norway are portrayed as culture rich countries and playing a part in international politics, albeit mostly due to the countering parts being more prominent countries. The analysis also showed that there is limited coverage of business and climate for both countries and portrays Denmark and Norway differently: Denmark being a country of green solutions, and Norway being associated with fossil fuels. The results suggest that not all nation branding efforts of countries are covered by international media. Deviant news stories frequently dominate the coverage such as shocking crime events, and the total coverage is overshadowed by culture stories, reducing the countries to being rather insignificant in other areas.