Mark Ørsten

Danish media at war: The Danish media coverage of the invasion of Iraq in 2003

This article focuses on the relationship between the media and the state in Denmark before and during the invasion of Iraq in the spring of 2003. The media–state relationship in time of crisis and war is central to the discussion of the media’s watchdog role in a democratic society. So far, studies of the war in Iraq have focused primarily on the media–state relationship in an American or British context; fewer have focused on the smaller countries that were also part of the coalition. This article explores an often neglected aspect of the media–state relationship: what are the different historical contexts for the media–state relationship in countries such as Denmark, the USA and Great Britain, and do historical differences in this relationship reflect the Danish media’s coverage of the war in Iraq when viewed through the lens of Robinson’s (2001) policy–media interaction model. A content analysis of 2045 news items produced by the Danish news media before and during the first weeks of the Iraq war in 2003 shows that there are clear differences, but also clear similarities, between Danish, British and American news coverage of the invasion. Like most of the international media, the Danish media took as their clear thematic focus the reporting of military strategy and battles, and were too reliant on sources within the national government (politicians as well as civil servants), the coalition and the military. Nevertheless, they were critical of the invasion in two ways: 1) there was a supplementary strong thematic focus on the many negative social and psychological consequences of the war, and 2) significant use was made of sources that possibly represented alternative angles on the war, including Iraqi civilians and the media’s own representatives. This analysis points to a paradox in the Danish coverage of the war: on the one hand, there appears to have been an intention to report on the war independently of official (political and military) versions of events; but on the other, the opportunity, willingness and ability to actually do this appear to have been lacking. Journalism

News Media and the Öresund Region: A Case of Horizontal Europeanisation?

Abstract This article presents a first attempt to investigate the news content and news routines of Danish and Swedish news media covering the Öresund region. From a theoretical perspective, the Öresund region can be considered a possible best-case example of what is categorised as horizontal Europeanisation, in other words, of the potential for increased communication linkages in news media content among European Union (EU) member states. We investigate this topic by analysing news content published by selected media outlets from 2002 to 2012 and by interviewing Danish and Swedish journalists who cover the region. We find that most news content does not mention the Öresund region, and that one reason for this lack might be that neither Danish nor Swedish reporters consider the region to be newsworthy.