IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/socmed/v294y2022ics0277953622000211.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Heroes, victims, and villains in news media narratives about COVID-19. Analysing moralising discourse in Swedish newspaper reporting during the spring of 2020

Author

Listed:
  • Skog, Frida
  • Lundström, Ragnar

Abstract

This paper explores news media discourse about COVID-19 during the spring of 2020 in Sweden, aiming to provide an understanding of how moralising discourse is employed in narratives about public health risks and responses. We investigate print news media content about the corona virus and COVID-19 during the early stages of the outbreak, guided analytically by framework focusing on the relationship between moral panics and moral regulation. We direct attention, first, to how both moral majorities and villains, i.e., ‘folk devils’, and heroes are constructed in the news. Secondly, we look at how visions for interventions are produced discursively in relation to such constructions. Our findings suggest that moralising discourse largely target risk behaviours and health care claims of middle-class groups. We also find that news media discourse about the pandemic in Sweden is marked by attacks on government interventions that are distinctly different from observations in other contexts. In conclusion, we discuss these observations in relation the political and discursive context, and the potential impact of moralising discourse on the legitimacy of public health interventions and the welfare state. Finally, we also discuss how our findings can inform theoretical discussions about political populism, moralising discourse and public health.

Suggested Citation

  • Skog, Frida & Lundström, Ragnar, 2022. "Heroes, victims, and villains in news media narratives about COVID-19. Analysing moralising discourse in Swedish newspaper reporting during the spring of 2020," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 294(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:socmed:v:294:y:2022:i:c:s0277953622000211
    DOI: 10.1016/j.socscimed.2022.114718
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0277953622000211
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.socscimed.2022.114718?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Isabelle Joumard & Christophe André & Chantal Nicq, 2010. "Health Care Systems: Efficiency and Institutions," OECD Economics Department Working Papers 769, OECD Publishing.
    2. Baldwin,Peter, 2021. "Fighting the First Wave," Cambridge Books, Cambridge University Press, number 9781316518335, September.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Vezyridis, Paraskevas, 2024. "‘Kindling the fire’ of NHS patient data exploitations: The care.data controversy in news media discourses," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 348(C).
    2. Yoo, Nari & Jang, Sou Hyun, 2024. "Does social empathy moderate fear-induced minority blaming during the COVID-19 pandemic?," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 346(C).

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Ewelina Nojszewska, 2011. "Economic effectiveness as an analytical tool for health care (Efektywnosc ekonomiczna jako narzedzie analityczne dla ochrony zdrowia)," Problemy Zarzadzania, University of Warsaw, Faculty of Management, vol. 9(33), pages 11-26.
    2. Braendle, Thomas & Colombier, Carsten, 2020. "Budgetary targets as cost-containment measure in the Swiss healthcare system? Lessons from abroad," Health Policy, Elsevier, vol. 124(6), pages 605-614.
    3. Åsa Johansson, 2016. "Public Finance, Economic Growth and Inequality: A Survey of the Evidence," OECD Economics Department Working Papers 1346, OECD Publishing.
    4. Böhm, Katharina & Schmid, Achim & Götze, Ralf & Landwehr, Claudia & Rothgang, Heinz, 2013. "Five types of OECD healthcare systems: Empirical results of a deductive classification," Health Policy, Elsevier, vol. 113(3), pages 258-269.
    5. Balázs Égert, 2011. "Bringing French Public Debt Down: The Options for Fiscal Consolidation," OECD Economics Department Working Papers 858, OECD Publishing.
    6. Titeca, Hannes, 2016. "Healthcare Spending: The Role of Healthcare Institutions from an International Perspective," MPRA Paper 73678, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    7. Christine André & Philippe Batifoulier & Mariana Jansen-Ferreira, 2016. "Privatisation de la santé en Europe. Un outil de classification des réformes," Working Papers hal-01256505, HAL.
    8. Bonasia, Mariangela & Kounetas, Konstantinos & Oreste, Napolitano, 2020. "Assessment of regional productive performance of European health systems under a metatechnology framework," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 84(C), pages 234-248.
    9. Eduardo A. Cavallo & Tomás Serebrisky & Verónica Frisancho & Jonathan Karver & Andrew Powell & Diego Margot & Ancor Suárez-Alemán & Eduardo Fernández-Arias & Matías Marzani & Solange Berstein & Marian, 2016. "Saving for Development: How Latin America and the Caribbean Can Save More and Better," IDB Publications (Books), Inter-American Development Bank, number 94597 edited by Eduardo A. Cavallo & Tomás Serebrisky, February.
    10. Galina Besstremyannaya, 2014. "Urban inequity in the performance of social health insurance system: evidence from Russian regions," Working Papers w0204, Center for Economic and Financial Research (CEFIR).
    11. Mr. Francesco Grigoli, 2012. "Public Expenditure in the Slovak Republic: Composition and Technical Efficiency," IMF Working Papers 2012/173, International Monetary Fund.
    12. Edson Serván‐Mori & Miguel Ángel Mendoza & Carlos Chivardi & Carlos Pineda‐Antúnez & Roxana Rodríguez‐Franco & Gustavo Nigenda, 2019. "A spatio‐temporal cluster analysis of technical efficiency in the production of outpatient maternal health services and its structural correlates in México," International Journal of Health Planning and Management, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 34(4), pages 1417-1436, October.
    13. Adham Jaber, 2022. "Improving the estimates of fiscal space," French Stata Users' Group Meetings 2022 16, Stata Users Group.
    14. Sutherland, Douglas, 2012. "Fiscal Consolidation Needs and Implications for Growth," MPRA Paper 38745, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    15. Kwadwo Arhin & Eric Fosu Oteng-Abayie & Jacob Novignon, 2023. "Assessing the efficiency of health systems in achieving the universal health coverage goal: evidence from Sub-Saharan Africa," Health Economics Review, Springer, vol. 13(1), pages 1-16, December.
    16. Liang, Li-Lin & Mirelman, Andrew J., 2014. "Why do some countries spend more for health? An assessment of sociopolitical determinants and international aid for government health expenditures," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 114(C), pages 161-168.
    17. Nicaise, Pablo & Giacco, Domenico & Soltmann, Bettina & Pfennig, Andrea & Miglietta, Elisabetta & Lasalvia, Antonio & Welbel, Marta & Wciórka, Jacek & Bird, Victoria Jane & Priebe, Stefan & Lorant, Vi, 2020. "Healthcare system performance in continuity of care for patients with severe mental illness: A comparison of five European countries," Health Policy, Elsevier, vol. 124(1), pages 25-36.
    18. Juliane Sormain & Michael Ryan, 2023. "Regional healthcare infrastructure disparities and foreign direct investment into Europe," Economics and Business Letters, Oviedo University Press, vol. 12(1), pages 49-61.
    19. Thomas, Tobias & Berger, Johannes & Graf, Nikolaus & Strohner, Ludwig, 2017. "Staatsausgaben in Österreich: Effizienzpotenziale nutzen, Leistungsniveau erhalten," Policy Notes 20, EcoAustria – Institute for Economic Research.
    20. Ferrario, Caterina & Zanardi, Alberto, 2011. "Fiscal decentralization in the Italian NHS: What happens to interregional redistribution?," Health Policy, Elsevier, vol. 100(1), pages 71-80, April.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:socmed:v:294:y:2022:i:c:s0277953622000211. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/wps/find/journaldescription.cws_home/315/description#description .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.