A Hidden Theory in Financial Crisis Journalism?

Abstract

The present article analyses press coverage of the dramatic finance crisis and the ensuing European debt crisis in Europe, in three decisive periods. The authors conduct quantitative and qualitative content analyses of two major mainstream Norwegian newspapers, Aftenposten and Dagbladet, employing concepts and methods from framing theory, to analyse coverage in the framework of two contesting schools in economics.The study finds traces of discussions of finance brokers' ethics and some discussions of governmental regulations that made the 2008 crisis possible, but few indications of a basic discussion of the system as such. The authors conclude that the crisis was framed more as a superficial, short-term problem (as per a mainstream, neoliberal theory of economics) than as a deeper and long-term system problem (as a more critical 'political economics' theory would have held).

Marginalising co-operation? A discursive analysis of media reporting on the Co-operative Bank

“…For example, the literature review demonstrated how similar neoliberal values were used to report on the financial crisis across Europe (Bjerke and Fonn, 2015;Doudaki et al, 2016;Preston and Silke, 2011) and as such, our study contributes to this wider project of investigating media reporting of the financial crisis using situated case studies. Taken together, these studies suggest that neoliberalism has become the underlying value of media reporting, informing the construction of public discussion.…”

“…Studies point to the predominantly neoliberal analysis of the financial crisis both in the UK and across Europe (Berry, 2016a;Bjerke and Fonn, 2015). This paper extends this analysis by exploring the difficulties of presenting alternative models to capitalism in the media, illustrating the point by a discursive frames analysis of reporting on the Cooperative Bank.…”

“…For example, Bjerke and Fonn (2015) used framing theory to analyse two Norwegian newspapers' reports on the European debt crisis of 2008. They argue that the crisis was framed as a short-term problem caused by rogue individuals rather than a longerterm problem caused by capitalist structures.…”

“…According to Bjerke and Fonn (2015), 'political drama and horse-race journalism' make it easier to frame a complex crisis for readers but reduce the potential for sustained critiques of established ideological and economic methods and structures (p. 125). Similarly, Kleinnijenhuis et al (2015: 2) assert that in times of crisis, the complexity of conceptual frames is reduced as clearer explanations or causes are sought.…”

Neoliberalismo e reconfiguração das condições estruturais de mediatização política

“…Essa tendência pode ser observada, por exemplo, em vários estudos realizados sobre o colapso do sistema financeiro americano e a cobertura dos media europeus sobre a crise económica da Zona Euro. As dificuldades em empreender um jornalismo investigativo quando as redações cortam funcionários e o poder manipulador das relações públicas financeiras estão entre os principais fatores identificados pelas pesquisas para explicar porque é que o jornalismo económico falhou em reconhecer as evidências que davam conta da crescente possibilidade de colapso do sistema financeiro ocidental e porque é que a agenda dos media na crise da Zona Euro foi orientada para as elites políticas e económicas e para o consenso (Lloyd & Marconi, 2014;Bjerke & Fonn, 2015;Picard, 2015).…”