Opposition media space collapsed under the crown

Of: TT

Published: December 31, 2020 at 7:59 p.m.

The opposition had great difficulty finding a place in the Swedish media during the year of the pandemic. Ulf Kristersson (M), Jimmie Åkesson (SD) and Ebba Busch (KD) have seen the number of media mentions nearly halved, a Retriever poll shows.

– The opposition has been relatively invisible for most of 2020, says political scientist Marja Lemne.

Prime Minister Stefan Löfven (S) is top among Swedish politicians in Retriever’s poll of the most mentioned people in Swedish media in 2020, which is conducted annually in collaboration with TT.

With almost 62,000 mentions in articles or reports, it is a long way from Löfven to moderate leader Ulf Kristersson, who is the leader of the second-place party with almost 17,000 mentions.

In addition, three other ministers have received more mentions than Kristersson: the Minister of Social Affairs Lena Hallengren (S) (slightly more than 27,000), the Minister of Finance Magdalena Andersson (S) (about 22,000) and the Minister of the Interior Mikael Damberg (S) (almost 18,000).

SD and KD are losing a lot

The reduced space in the media for leader M is dramatic, who was mentioned in nearly 29,000 articles or reports last year.

However, the biggest drop in turnout is SD leader Jimmie Åkesson and KD’s Ebba Busch (excluding Annie Lööf, who has been on paternity leave for much of the year), both of whom pass around 20,000 mentions last year to around 10,000 this year.

Marja Lemne, Senior Lecturer in Political Science at the University of Södertörn, sees the opposition parties’ own actions as one explanation for the reduced media space.

– The opposition has been relatively invisible for most of 2020. It has not acted as an opposition, but has aligned itself with the government in policy, he says.

You can argue both that it’s good and bad, says Lemne.

– But as they often say when they teach about this: for us to have a functioning democracy, we also need a legal and functional opposition.

However, the tone of the opposition has changed during the fall, notes Marja Lemne.

– Kristersson has become very strong in the end. Åkesson has been less visible as opposition to this policy begins to appear again.

L and V keep level

The leaders of the Left Party and the Liberals manage to maintain an approximate level in the media space compared to 2019. For the Liberals, however, it does not have to be indivisibly positive, stresses Marja Lemne.

– For Sabuni, it is a lot about the crisis in that party. Not all publicity is favorable.

The Minister of Social Affairs, Lena Hallengren, and the Minister of Culture responsible for sports affairs, Amanda Lind (MP), are among the ministers who have received significantly more media attention this pandemic year. It’s not necessarily just positive, either, according to Lemne.

– There has still been a lot of criticism (against the government), he says.

– Then it can be an advantage for the future political career, provided that you are not declared a hero, to be a little free from what has been now. In a way, this also applies to the opposition parties, and to what extent they have been very quiet.

Published: December 31, 2020 at 7:59 p.m.