Kjersti Thorbjørnsrud

• Figenschou, Tine Ustad; Thorbjørnsrud, Kjersti & Hallin, Daniel C. (2021). Whose stories are told and who is made responsible? Human-interest framing in health journalism in Norway, Spain, the U.K. and the U.S.. Journalism - Theory, Practice & Criticism. . doi: 10.1177/14648849211041516 Vis sammendrag

  Human-interest narratives are journalistic tools to captivate and engage the audience, influence public opinion and bring revenue to media organizations. This paper analyses how human-interest narratives are used in contemporary health journalism across media systems and health systems. Based on a comparative content analysis of Norwegian, Spanish, U.K. and U.S. newspapers (2016–2017), it studies how human-interest stories are contextualized, health problems explained and responsibility attributed. The article reveals a complex picture of the role of human-interest stories in health coverage. In line with expectations, the study finds that human-interest stories do tend to emphasize individual biomedical treatment of illness and to privilege idealized victims who fit the routines of dominant media dramaturgy. In contrast to theories that consider personalization of news as an individualization of responsibility and dumbing down of public debate, however, the study finds that human-interest narratives are also used to explain health as a structural phenomenon and a collective responsibility, appealing to political intervention and accountability of health authorities. Such claims are more prominent in European human-interest health stories and less frequent in the more strongly commercialized U.S. health and media system.

• Figenschou, Tine Ustad & Thorbjørnsrud, Kjersti (2020). “Hey there in the Night”: The Strategies, Dilemmas and Costs of a Personalized Digital Lobbying Campaign, In Harald Hornmoen; Birgitte Kjos Fonn; Nathalie Hyde-Clarke & Yngve Benestad Hågvar (ed.),  Media Health. The Personal in Public Stories.  Universitetsforlaget.  ISBN 9788215040844.  Kapittel 8.  s 165 - 185 Vis sammendrag

  This chapter analyzes the strategies and dilemmas of a digital storytelling campaign evolving around the plights and struggle of families with severely ill children in need of constant care. The campaign, organized by parents fighting to stop government cuts in health and welfare benefits, started on social media. Stories and pictures of the children soon went viral, caught the headlines of the national established news media, and impacted the political agenda. This parent initiative epitomizes newer trends in advocacy and lobbying in which citizens organize in ad-hoc campaigns and networks made possible by social media, and where compelling storytelling can outmanoeuvre established political actors. Social media and autobiographic stories provide effective tools for grass-root movements, but also pose a range of dilemmas and ethical concerns related to individual exposure, vulnerability and privacy rights. The focus here is how non-professional activists balance, negotiate or sacrifice privacy protection and control with their messages in the name of winning a larger battle where high personal stakes are involved.

• Hallin, Daniel C.; Figenschou, Tine Ustad & Thorbjørnsrud, Kjersti (2020). Biomedicalization and Media in Comparative Perspective: Audiences, Frames, and Actors in Norwegian, Spanish, U.K. and U.S. Health News. The International Journal of Press/Politics. . doi: 10.1177/1940161220960415 Vis sammendrag

  This study examines health news in Norwegian, Spanish, British, and U.S. newspapers. It seeks to fill a gap in journalism studies in the examination of health news as a genre, particularly in a comparative context, and with a focus on broader social and political roles and meanings of health news, rather than effects on individual behavior. It is rooted in literatures that seek to understand health journalism in sociological terms, considering the role of health journalism in relation to institutional relationships between biomedicine, the market, and the state. It departs, in particular, from the theory of biomedicalization, which holds that the field of biomedicine, increasingly transformed into a complex, commercialized “techno-service complex,” has deep cultural impact, including the spreading of a conception of an individualized patient-consumer who will actively seek information to control risk and pursue wellness. In this article, we ask whether research on health news centered around this model, mostly carried out in the United States, is generalizable to European countries where the health system is organized primarily according to a public service model. The study considers three aspects of health news content: the implied audience of news stories, distinguishing in particular between those that address readers as patient-consumers and those that address them as citizens; the distinction among biomedical, lifestyle, and social frames for understanding health issues; and the range of actors reflected in health news as sources and as story originators.

• Karlsen, Rune; Kolltveit, Kristoffer; Schillemans, Thomas & Thorbjørnsrud, Kjersti (2020). Media and Bureaucracy: Investigating Media Awareness Amongst Civil Servants. Scandinavian Journal of Public Administration. Fulltekst i vitenarkiv. Vis sammendrag

  Scholars claim that civil servants are increasingly having to engage in media management and be aware of how events are presented in the press, with this media awareness being said to threaten civil servants’ traditional bureaucratic values. In this article, we argue that media awareness is unevenly spread in public bureaucracies, and rather is contingent on individual and organizational characteristics. More specifically, we present the hypotheses that media awareness depends on the amount of media related work, the amount of media attention on the organization in which they work, as well as the civil servants’ fundamental views on the role of the media in society. To test the hypotheses, the article utilizes a large-N survey of civil servants in Norwegian ministries and agencies. The results show that the vast majority of civil servants care about how issues appear in the press. Further on, we find that civil servants’ media awareness coexists with traditional bureaucratic values, offering some relief to scholars who fear the disruptive effects of the media in public administration. As the hypotheses suggest, we find that this media awareness is linked to civil servants’ actual media-related work. However, the analysis shows that civil servants working in organizations with a lot of media attention are, in fact, are less aware of the media.

• Thorbjørnsrud, Kjersti & Figenschou, Tine Ustad (2020). The Alarmed Citizen: Fear, Mistrust, and Alternative Media. Journalism Practice. . doi: 10.1080/17512786.2020.1825113 Vis sammendrag

  The democratic role and authority of the news media rest on a basic premise of trust delegation, whereby citizens confide in the news media to provide sufficiently relevant and accurate information. In a time of dwindling trust levels, increasing polarization, and an abundance of new media, this article asks what characterizes citizens’ relations with the media when the relation of trust breaks down. To illuminate broader tendencies of mistrust and disengagement, the article analyzes how citizens who see current immigration patterns as a major threat evaluate established and alternative news media, navigate the news landscape, and create personal and selective news repertoires. From an abductive methodological approach, 24 in-depth qualitative interviews were analyzed in continuous dialogue with theories on trust, public connection, and the democratic role of citizens to conceptualize the alarmed citizen, who’s public connection is characterized by alertness, fear, and low institutional trust; the active shifting between alternative media and established news media, and the construction of personal news repertoires and supportive networks.

• Thorbjørnsrud, Kjersti & Ytreberg, Espen (2020). A Human Interest Economy: The Strategic Value of Turning Ordinary People into Exemplars in the News Media. Journalism Studies.  21(8), s 1093- 1108 . doi: 10.1080/1461670X.2020.1720520 Fulltekst i vitenarkiv. Vis sammendrag

  This article explores how personal experience in the form of human interest stories has become a road to visibility, legitimacy, and impact for organizational actors and interest groups. Focusing on news media representations of health, where patients and their experiences with disease play an increasingly central role across media platforms, the article theorizes the hierarchies and dilemmas of a “human interest economy” in which ordinary people become exemplars, based on the authenticity of their experience, and their ability to attract attention and support. Departing from 38 interviews with management and communications professionals in Norwegian health interest groups, the article analyzes how organizations that provide exemplars to the news media adapt to and negotiate generic human interest formats that favor certain diseases, victims, and storylines over others. By discussing how the normative claims of immediate and authentic bottom-up voices in the news media tie in with less visible and more implicit strategic interests, the article adds to the theorizing about the role and power of ordinary people in the news, and how they serve the strategic interests of organizational actors that liaise between journalists and participants.

• Ytreberg, Espen & Thorbjørnsrud, Kjersti (2020). Agencies and Experiences of the “Good Participant” : The Long-Term Trajectories of Patients Turned Media Participants. International Journal of Communication.  14, s 6182- 6198 Vis sammendrag

  As a prominent case of media participants with a high moral status, medical patients have become central across media and platforms, particularly because journalists need them as exemplars. On the basis of in-depth interviews with 18 Norwegian patient-participants, this article investigates the agencies and experiences involved in longer spans of participation across mass and social media. The article shows that although communicating illness enables affirmative and meaningful forms of openness and sharing for patient-participants, over time stresses and conflicts also appear as participants negotiate the terms and limits of their self-disclosure in an effort to exercise agency over their illness stories. In general terms, the article argues for an approach to media participation that takes into account high-status forms of participation, multiple media, and participation trajectories over longer spans of time.

• Figenschou, Tine Ustad & Thorbjørnsrud, Kjersti (2019). Disruptive Media Events: Balancing Editorial Control and Open Dissent in the Aftermath of Terror. Journalism Practice.  13(8), s 941- 945 . doi: 10.1080/17512786.2019.1647111 Fulltekst i vitenarkiv.
• Brekke, Jan-Paul & Thorbjørnsrud, Kjersti (2018). Communicating borders - Governments deterring asylum seekers through social media campaigns. Migration Studies. . doi: 10.1093/migration/mny027 Fulltekst i vitenarkiv. Vis sammendrag

  This article analyses a novel attempt by the Norwegian Government to use Facebook to influence migrants’ destination choices. With the refugee crisis in the fall of 2015 as a backdrop, the Norwegian case reveals the dilemmas that occur when governments use social media as instruments to control immigration. While social media provide governments with new tools, such as paid targeting and access to new groups of migrants, their use also raises ethical concerns. The distinct qualities of today’s social media, their affordances, do not fully square with established norms for government communication. Based on interviews, this article follows the development of the Norwegian Facebook campaign, labelled ‘Stricter Asylum Regulations in Norway’. Using a case-study methodology, the exploration of the campaign provides a behind-the-scenes analysis of an ongoing attempt at managing migration via social media. Among the dilemmas that are identified, we find the need to communicate effectively on social media platforms—that is, to change the behaviour of target groups—may collide with the ground rules of civil service information to the public. The Norwegian campaign, sharing key features with similar campaigns across Europe, shows both the potential and the challenges involved in communicating with migrants in a potentially vulnerable situation, on social media platforms. While social media have been described as a ‘backstage’ for migrants, this article reveals how governments enter this communicative space, thereby changing its semi-private nature.

• Figenschou, Tine Ustad & Thorbjørnsrud, Kjersti (2018). Mediated Agency, Blame Avoidance and Institutional Responsibility: Government Communication in a Personalised Media Landscape. Scandinavian Political Studies.  41(2), s 210- 232 . doi: 10.1111/1467-9477.12117
• Thorbjørnsrud, Kjersti & Figenschou, Tine Ustad (2018). Consensus and dissent after terror: Editorial policies in times of crisis. Journalism - Theory, Practice & Criticism.  19(3), s 333- 348 . doi: 10.1177/1464884916657519 Vis sammendrag

  This article analyses the role of central editors in constructing a national debate in the Norwegian media after the 2011 Oslo terror attacks. A broad literature has documented that after crisis, mainstream media move away from their everyday critical function to a ritual type of journalism that fosters adherence to shared values and support for national authorities. Based on in-depth interviews with debate editors, this article analyses how this type of national crisis discourse is substantiated and guarded through editorial decisions and policies. Second, it gives insights into how changes in the perceived climate of opinion and increasingly vocal critical voices gradually affect editorial practices and challenge consensus. Theoretically, the article combines perspectives from a critical approach (the media as channels for political authorities during crisis) and a cultural approach (the media as constitutive for resilience and recovery) to contribute to the understanding of crisis journalism in a multi-platform, multi-directional media landscape.

• Figenschou, Tine Ustad; Karlsen, Rune; Kolltveit, Kristoffer & Thorbjørnsrud, Kjersti (2017). Serving the Media Ministers: A Mixed Methods Study on the Personalization of Ministerial Communication. The International Journal of Press/Politics.  22(4), s 411- 430 . doi: 10.1177/1940161217720772 Fulltekst i vitenarkiv. Vis sammendrag

  The personalization of politics has received much attention in both the political science and political communication literature, but the focus has almost entirely been on party leaders and prime ministers. This study investigates the personalization of ministerial communication in Norway, a type of decentralized personalization. It combines a survey of communication workers; in-depth interviews with politicians, communication workers, political reporters, and top-level civil servants; and ethnographic observation inside a ministry. The article goes beyond media-centered perspectives and identifies several potential drivers and barriers to personalization processes. Based on our mixed methods approach, we find that ministerial communication in Norway is strongly centered on the minister in both reactive media management and the proactive promotion of the minister and new policies. This decentralized personalization is driven by both demands from the media and the strategic adaptation by political and administrative actors within ministries. Based on the rich empirically grounded insights, the article discusses how the interplay between the logic of the contemporary commercial news media, political ambitions, internal administrative ambitions, and changes in executive government shapes the personalization of ministerial communication, and illuminates how these multiple drivers of personalization are mutually reinforcing.

• Midtbøen, Arnfinn Haagensen; Steen-Johnsen, Kari & Thorbjørnsrud, Kjersti (2017). Boundary-making in the public sphere: Contestations of free speech, In Arnfinn Haagensen Midtbøen; Kari Steen-Johnsen & Kjersti Thorbjørnsrud (ed.),  Boundary Struggles : Contestations of Free Speech in the Norwegian Public Sphere.  Cappelen Damm Akademisk.  ISBN 978-82-02-53503-2.  Ch. 1.  s 13 - 43 Fulltekst i vitenarkiv. Vis sammendrag

  Freedom of speech is a fundamental human right and considered a core value in liberal democracies. However, it is also one of our time’s most contested issues, constantly claimed either to be too wide-ranging, allowing continuous repression of minority groups, or too limited – restricting dissent and democratic deliberation. In this book we depart from conventional approaches of free speech, which tend to focus on whether specific types of public talk should be considered legally allowed or not. Instead, we study how boundaries of free speech are contested and negotiated through social processes which silence certain groups and opinions while amplifying others. Theoretically, we build on the concepts of boundaries and boundary-work. The study of symbolic and social boundaries has a long tradition in sociological and anthropological research, but is less used in current scholarship on free speech. We believe that this field of research can benefit from employing this perspective because it allows us to study the social processes through which boundaries of free speech are drawn, maintained and changed. How are boundaries of free speech defined – explicitly or implicitly – by institutional elites? And how are these boundaries perceived by the mainstream public and from the margins of the public sphere? These questions direct our attention to fundamental dynamics of the public sphere: Public debates are shaped by social mechanisms which silence certain groups and opinions, while amplifying the voice of others. These mechanisms create boundaries that are not (primarily) defined through judicial paragraphs, but rather barriers made of different types of perceived pressure, self-censorship, exclusion and stigma. Sometimes boundaries of free speech appear bright and clear-cut, based on a strong consensus regarding what opinions and groups are considered legitimate or illegitimate in the public sphere. However, they are more often blurred and ambiguous, leaving room both for explicit conflict over where the boundaries are or should be drawn, and for individual maneuvering in the public sphere based on assumptions about the subtle rules defining ‘the game’ of public participation. In a sociological perspective, we argue, the public sphere can be seen as a locus of ‘boundary struggles’: Constant debates over the boundaries of free speech shape the dynamics of public debates and gradually change what actors and opinions are granted a legitimate space in the public sphere.

• Moe, Hallvard; Thorbjørnsrud, Kjersti & Fladmoe, Audun (2017). Perceptions of journalistic bias: Party preferences, media trust and attitudes towards immigration, In Arnfinn Haagensen Midtbøen; Kari Steen-Johnsen & Kjersti Thorbjørnsrud (ed.),  Boundary Struggles : Contestations of Free Speech in the Norwegian Public Sphere.  Cappelen Damm Akademisk.  ISBN 978-82-02-53503-2.  Chapter 4.  s 109 - 137
• Figenschou, Tine Ustad & Thorbjørnsrud, Kjersti (2016). Disruptive Media Events : Managing mediated dissent in the aftermath of terror. Journalism Practice.  11(8), s 942- 959 . doi: 10.1080/17512786.2016.1220258 Vis sammendrag

  Terror attacks force democratic societies to mobilize, reinforce and rethink core values, including media freedom and freedom of speech. The present article analyzes how one traumatic event— the 2011 Oslo terror—challenged editorial practices related to editorial control and open debate in major Norwegian media organizations. Meeting the call for more research on disruptive media events in a hybrid media landscape, it illuminates how professional media balance critical debate with strategies for societal recovery in contemporary post-crisis contexts. Based on in- depth interviews with debate editors, the article documents how terror profoundly challenges edi- torial practices, routines and norms in media organizations with debates in multiple formats and platforms. In their online comment sections, the media organizations all moved towards a more interventionist policy introducing multiple new control measures. In the traditional op-ed formats, however, they selectively expanded the range of voices and included actors deemed too extreme prior to the attacks. Theoretically the article contributes to the literature on disruptive (key) events, editorial strategies during crisis, editorial control in contemporary media systems and editorial approaches to mediated deviance.

• Thorbjørnsrud, Kjersti & Figenschou, Tine Ustad (2016). Do marginalized sources matter?: A comparative analysis of irregular migrant voice in Western media. Journalism Studies.  17(3), s 337- 355 . doi: 10.1080/1461670X.2014.987549
• Figenschou, Tine Ustad; Beyer, Audun & Thorbjørnsrud, Kjersti (2015). The moral police : agenda-setting and framing effects of a new(s) concept of immigration. Nordicom Review.  36(1), s 65- 78 Vis sammendrag

  How does the general public understand media coverage of immigration issues? The present article analyses the media effects of an extensive news series focusing on the harassment of people believed to disrespect traditional Muslim norms. Through an explorative survey study, it traces how Norwegian media launched and covered what was labeled "the moral police" phenomenon, and to what extent the media framing of the issue had an agenda- setting and/or frame-setting effect on the public. It finds that, although most respondents had become aware of the issue through the media, they did not necessarily adopt the media’s framing of the phenomenon. The respondents did not primarily relate the "moral police" to immigration (the dominant media frame), they understood the new phenomenon through experiences from their own lives and framed it as a general social problem.

• Figenschou, Tine Ustad & Thorbjørnsrud, Kjersti (2015). Backstage media-government negotiations: The failures and success of a government pitch. International Journal of Communication.  9, s 1947- 1965
• Figenschou, Tine Ustad & Thorbjørnsrud, Kjersti (2015). Faces of an Invisible Population: Human Interest Framing of Irregular Immigration News in the United States, France, and Norway. American Behavioral Scientist.  59(7), s 783- 801 . doi: 10.1177/0002764215573256 Vis sammendrag

  Based on a quantitative, comparative analysis of U.S., French, and Norwegian news media, this article examines the use of human interest stories in the coverage of irregular immigration. In an innovative design, it systematically analyzes how human interest framing is related to the frequency and complexity of dominant arguments and perspectives (issue-specific frames). In contrast to the extant literature, arguing that news on immigration reduces immigrants to dangerous and anonymous threats, the article finds that about half the news stories studied have a human face or example. Moreover, these human interest articles tend to frame the issue from the immigrants’ perspective, describing their personal stories and struggle. This result nuances the commonly held assumption that human interest frames signal declining news quality, as the number and range of arguments presented are not significantly reduced when human narratives are employed. The prevalence of human interest frames is highest in Norway, where we also identify a reduction in frame complexity in human interest stories, indicating the need to rethink the democratic corporatist model in media system theory.

• Figenschou, Tine Ustad & Thorbjørnsrud, Kjersti (2015). Myndighetspropaganda eller demokratisk arena: Irregulær migrasjon i norske nyhetsmedier, I:  Eksepsjonell velferd? Irregulære migranter i det norske velferdssamfunnet.  Gyldendal Juridisk.  ISBN 978-82-05-48425-2.  Kapittel 5.  s 110 - 127
• Figenschou, Tine Ustad; Thorbjørnsrud, Kjersti & Larsen, Anna M. Grøndahl (2015). Mediatized Asylum Conflicts: Human-Interest Framing and Common-Sense Public Morality, In Mikkel Fugl Eskjær; Stig Hjarvard & Mette Mortensen (ed.),  The Dynamics of Mediatized Conflicts.  Peter Lang Publishing Group.  ISBN 978-1-4331-2808-0.  Chapter 6.  s 129 - 145
• Thorbjørnsrud, Kjersti (2015). Byråkrati, medier og kommunikasjon, I: Øyvind Ihlen; Eli Skogerbø & Sigurd Allern (red.),  Makt, medier og politikk: Norsk politisk kommunikasjon.  Universitetsforlaget.  ISBN 9788215024585.  kapittel 11.  s 147 - 158
• Thorbjørnsrud, Kjersti (2015). Mediatization of public bureaucracies: Administrative versus political loyalty. Scandinavian Political Studies.  38(2), s 179- 197 . doi: 10.1111/1467-9477.12041
• Ihlen, Øyvind; Figenschou, Tine Ustad & Thorbjørnsrud, Kjersti (2014). Mediatization in new areas: The changed role of public bureaucracies, In Josef Pallas; Stefan Jonsson & Lars Strannegård (ed.),  Organizations and the media: Organizing in a mediatized world.  Routledge.  ISBN 978-0-415-81365-5.  5.  s 162 - 175
• Ihlen, Øyvind & Thorbjørnsrud, Kjersti (2014). Making news and influencing decisions: Three threshold cases concerning forced return of immigrants. European Journal of Communication.  29(2), s 139- 152 . doi: 10.1177/0267323114523149
• Ihlen, Øyvind & Thorbjørnsrud, Kjersti (2014). Tears and Framing Contests: Public Organizations Countering Critical and Emotional Stories. International Journal of Strategic Communication.  8(1), s 45- 60 . doi: 10.1080/1553118X.2013.850695
• Thorbjørnsrud, Kjersti; Figenschou, Tine Ustad & Ihlen, Øyvind (2014). Mediatization in public bureaucracies: A typology. Communications.  39(1), s 3- 22 . doi: 10.1515/commun-2014-0002
• Thorbjørnsrud, Kjersti; Figenschou, Tine Ustad & Ihlen, Øyvind (2014). Mediatization of public bureaucracies, In Knut Lundby (ed.),  Mediatization of communication.  De Gruyter Mouton.  ISBN 978-3-11-027193-5.  12.  s 405 - 422
• Thorbjørnsrud, Kjersti (2013). The autonomy of Scandinavian public service broadcasters during election campaign periods :. Nordicom Review.  34(1), s 63- 76 . doi: 10.2478/nor-2013-0043
• Brekken, Tove; Thorbjørnsrud, Kjersti & Aalberg, Toril (2012). News Substance: The Relative Importance of Soft and De-Contextualized News, In Toril Aalberg & James Curran (ed.),  How media inform democracy. A comparative approach.  Routledge.  ISBN 978-0-415-88908-7.  s 64 - 78
• Lundby, Knut & Thorbjørnsrud, Kjersti (2012). Mediatization of Controversy. When the Security Police Went on Facebook, In Stig Hjarvard & Mia Lövheim (ed.),  Mediatization and Religion. Nordic Perspectives.  Nordicom.  ISBN 978-91-86523-44-2.  Kapittel.  s 95 - 108
• Strabac, Zan; Thorbjørnsrud, Kjersti & Jenssen, Anders Todal (2012). News consumption and public opposition to immigration across countries, In Toril Aalberg & James Curran (ed.),  How media inform democracy. A comparative approach.  Routledge.  ISBN 978-0-415-88908-7.  Chap.11.  s 176 - 188
• van Aelst, Peter; Thorbjørnsrud, Kjersti & Aalberg, Toril (2012). The Political Information Environment during Election Campaigns, In Toril Aalberg & James Curran (ed.),  How media inform democracy. A comparative approach.  Routledge.  ISBN 978-0-415-88908-7.  Chapter 4.  s 50 - 63
• Ihlen, Øyvind; Allern, Sigurd; Thorbjørnsrud, Kjersti & Waldahl, Ragnar (2010). The world on television: Market-driven, public service news. Nordicom Review.  31(2), s 31- 45 Vis sammendrag

  How does television cover foreign news? What is covered and how? The present article reports on a comparative study of a license-financed public broadcaster and an advertisingfinanced channel in Norway - the NRK and TV2, respectively. Both channels give priority to international news. While the NRK devotes more time to foreign news (both in absolute and relative numbers) than TV2 does, other aspects of the coverage are strikingly similar: The news is event oriented, there is heavy use of eyewitness footage, and certain regions are hardly visible. At least three explanations can be used to understand these findings: the technological platform (what footage is available, etc.) and the existence of a common news culture that is based on ratings and similar views on what is considered "good television". A third factor is that both channels still have public service obligations.

• Thorbjørnsrud, Kjersti (2008). ”Inne eller ute"? Casting av politikere til valgdebatt. Tidsskrift for samfunnsforskning.
• Thorbjørnsrud, Kjersti (2008). Organizing Audiovisual Election Campaign Coverage. Influence on power relations between Media and Politics in Norway, In Jesper Strömbäck; Jesper Ørsten & Toril Aalberg (ed.),  Communicating Politics- Political Communication in the Nordic Countries.  Nordicom.  ISBN 978-91-89471-63-4.  Chapter 7.
• Thorbjørnsrud, Kjersti (2007). Nærkamp i Redaksjon EN, I: Anders Todal Jenssen & Toril Aalberg (red.),  Den medialiserte politikken.  Universitetsforlaget.  ISBN 978-82-15-01063-2.  kapitel 7.
• Thorbjørnsrud, Kjersti (2003). Politiske nyhetsjournalister: Aktører uten intensjoner?. Norsk Medietidsskrift.

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• Moe, Hallvard; Hovden, Jan Fredrik; Ytre-Arne, Brita; Figenschou, Tine Ustad; Nærland, Torgeir Uberg; Sakariassen, Hilde & Thorbjørnsrud, Kjersti (2019). Informerte borgere? Offentlig tilknytning, mediebruk og demokrati. Universitetsforlaget.  ISBN 9788215036496.  236 s. Vis sammendrag

  En informert borger er ikke nødvendigvis en god borger for demokratiet. Det viktigste er at alle har en «offentlig tilknytning», en orientering mot samfunnet som danner grunnlag for engasjement og handling når det trengs. Denne boka røsker opp i inngrodde forestillinger om hva en god borger er, og presenterer ny innsikt om situasjonen i Norge i dag. I et demokrati må borgerne orientere seg mot og engasjere seg i samfunnet. Dette grunnleggende kravet gjennomsyrer vår samfunnsform, det preger politiske diskusjoner og styrer innretningen av norsk mediepolitikk, og det er sentralt i grunnlovens paragraf om ytringsfrihet. Hva bør en slik samfunnsorientering innebære? Og hvordan arter den seg i forskjellige folks hverdagsliv? Hvor viktig er eksempelvis bruk av nyhetsmedier sammenlignet med andre veier til offentligheten. Forfatterne av denne boka argumenterer for at norske borgeres «offentlige tilknytning» handler om å orientere seg mot helt ulike området og ta i bruk mange ulike veier til offentligheten. De viser hvordan det norske folk på tvers av alder, interesser og sosiokulturell bakgrunn orienterer seg mot samfunnet de er en del av. Slik gir Informerte borgere? Offentlig tilknytning, mediebruk og demokrati et nyansert bilde av hva det vil si å ha en solid forbindelse til offentligheten og oppleve å være en del av samfunnet - og hva det vil si å ikke ha en sterk offentlig tilknytning.

• Midtbøen, Arnfinn Haagensen; Steen-Johnsen, Kari & Thorbjørnsrud, Kjersti (ed.) (2017). Boundary Struggles : Contestations of Free Speech in the Norwegian Public Sphere. Cappelen Damm Akademisk.  ISBN 978-82-02-53503-2.  323 s. Vis sammendrag

  Freedom of speech is a fundamental human right and a core value in liberal democracies. It is also, however, one of our time’s most contested issues, constantly claimed to be either too wide-ranging, at the peril of vulnerable minority groups, or too limited, restricting dissent and democratic deliberation. Employing a sociological lens on the dynamics of the public sphere, this book investigates how the boundaries of free speech are contested and negotiated through social processes which silence certain groups and opinions while amplifying others. The book focuses on key topics in current free speech debates – immigration, religion and culture. Drawing on population-representative survey data, media analysis and in-depth interviews, the authors paint a broad picture of how boundaries of free speech are defined and maintained, experienced and challenged, in the rapidly changing Norwegian public sphere. The analyses in this book build on four years of work on a large-scale project called The Status of Freedom of Speech in Norway, funded and initiated by the Fritt Ord foundation. The book presents the key findings of the second round of this project.

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• Fladmoe, Audun; Wollebæk, Dag; Steen-Johnsen, Kari & Thorbjørnsrud, Kjersti (2021). Hva mener befolkningen om ytringsfrihetens grenser?. Fulltekst i vitenarkiv. Vis sammendrag

  I denne publikasjonen tar vi for oss noen nøkkelspørsmål knyttet til vilkårene for ytringsfrihet i befolkningen. Vi undersøker hvor ulike grupper trekker grensene for hva slags ytringer som kan aksepteres, hvordan opinionsklimaet oppleves, samt folks erfaringer med ubehagelige kommentarer og trusler. Til sammen kan analysene gi en forståelse av hvilke grenser befolkningen setter for hva som er akseptable ytringer, hvordan de opplever sin egen ytringsfrihet, og hva omfanget av erfart netthets er i ulike grupper. Vi kan også se hvordan disse forholdene har endret seg over tid.

• Mangset, Marte; Midtbøen, Arnfinn Haagensen; Thorbjørnsrud, Kjersti; Wollebæk, Dag & Fladmoe, Audun (2021). Forskerne og offentligheten – om ytringsfrihet i akademia. Fulltekst i vitenarkiv. Vis sammendrag

  Den akademiske friheten gir vitenskapelig ansatte, formelt og via lov, en omfattende formell ytringsfrihet. Likevel kan det være trekk ved ulike forskningsområder, forskningsinstitusjoner, opinionsklima og informasjonslandsskap som kan begrense forskeres deling av kunnskap og forskningsresultater til en bredere offentlighet via mediene. I denne rapporten ser vi nærmere på hvordan forskere, sammenlignet med befolkningen, vurderer forskeres rett til å ytre seg offentlig: Hvilke tema forskere legitimt skal kunne uttale seg om er stadig gjenstand for debatt, og her undersøker vi om akademia og befolkning setter grensene på samme sted. Videre undersøker vi hvordan forskere oppfatter opinionsklimaet og ytringsrommet generelt, før fokuset rettes mot forskeres konkrete erfaring med offentlig deltagelse og formidling av forskningsresultater i mediene: Hvor ofte formidler de, hvilke erfaringer har de, og hva legger begrensninger på formidlingen? Til slutt undersøkes forskeres erfaring med ubehagelige kommentarer eller trusler i etterkant av mediedeltagelse. I tillegg til å undersøke forskernes erfaringer på tvers av fagområder, setter vi særlig fokus på erfaringer og formidlingslingspraksis blant forskere innen tre felt som ofte er omgitt av offentlig debatt: klimaforskning, kjønns- og likestillingsforskning og forskning knyttet til innvandring og integrering.

• Nadim, Marjan; Thorbjørnsrud, Kjersti & Fladmoe, Audun (2021). Gråsoner og grenseoverskridelser på nettet: En studie av deltagere i opphetede og aggressive nettdebatter. Rapport – Institutt for samfunnsforskning. 2021:1. Fulltekst i vitenarkiv. Vis sammendrag

  Formålet med denne rapporten er å få mer kunnskap om deltagere i opphetede og aggressive debatter på nettet, og om hva som bidrar til å skape slike debatter. Den tar for seg åpne debatter i gråsonen, hvor det er et spekter av ytringer, fra ytringer som de fleste vil være enige i at er grenseoverskridende og normbrytende, til ytringer som er mer tvetydige, og som er i grenseland til å være aggressive og fiendtlige i den grad at de er ødeleggende for debatten. Rapporten undersøker blant annet hvem som deltar i slike debatter, hvorfor de deltar, og hvordan de selv forstår og begrunner uttrykksformene sine. Rapporten er basert på en spørreundersøkelse rettet mot befolkningen og på kvalitative intervjuer med deltagere i opphetede debatter.

• Figenschou, Tine Ustad; Larsen, Anna M. Grøndahl & Thorbjørnsrud, Kjersti (2018). Lokal helse og omsorg i mediene: Mediepåvirkning på nært hold. Rapport – Institutt for samfunnsforskning. 2018:9. Fulltekst i vitenarkiv. Vis sammendrag

  Denne rapporten belyser hvordan medienes vinklinger og formater påvirker lokal helsedebatt og helsepolitikk. Den diskuterer særlig hvordan ulike kilder og strategiske aktører aktivt søker å prege mediedekningen for å endre beslutninger i enkeltsaker og overordnede prioriteringer i kommunale helse- og omsorgstjenester. Gjennom dybdeanalyser av tre caser som alle omhandler kommunale helse- og omsorgstilbud, viser vi hvordan medieoppslag med lokalt utgangspunkt setter dagsorden for lokale helsemyndigheter, men også løftes opp på den nasjonale politiske dagsorden.

• Beyer, Audun; Brekke, Jan-Paul & Thorbjørnsrud, Kjersti (2017). Communicating borders : informing migrants and potential asylum seekers through social media. Rapport – Institutt for samfunnsforskning. 2017:04. Fulltekst i vitenarkiv. Vis sammendrag

  Informing migrants and potential asylum seekers through social media Summary How do Norwegian immigration authorities use social media in their communication with migrants with Norway as destination? In this study, we analyze the Norwegian Facebook campaign titled “Stricter asylum regulations in Norway.” The campaign was launched by the Ministry of Justice and Public Security in a period when asylum arrivals to Norway peaked in the fall of 2015. In addition to the Norwegian campaign, we examine similar internet based information campaigns in a range of other European countries. The study demonstrates that the social media campaign allowed Norwegian authorities to reach migrants that they would not have reached through conventional means of information. This was accomplished through the use of paid content on Facebook, and the targeting of specific groups who received the information from the Norwegian Government in their personal Facebook feed. The study of similar European and international campaigns confirmed that strategic government communication with migrants through social media is still in an experimental phase. The analysis of the Norwegian campaign demonstrates the need for a set of general guidelines for government communication on social media. The report also notes that we have limited knowledge about the effects of these campaigns. Further research should study how migrants perceive this information and how it influences their decision to migrate. Government communication on social media raises questions related to transparency, communication format and rhetoric, norms of dialogue and target group identification. When communicating with migrants in potentially vulnerable situations, these are questions that clearly needs focus.

• Syse, Henrik; Ezzati, Rojan; Erdal, Marta Bivand; Thorbjørnsrud, Kjersti; Figenschou, Tine Ustad; Kaufmann, Mareile; Lysaker, Odin & Steen, Francis Frode Østberg (2017). Negotiating Values: Norway in the wake of July 22. PRIO Report. 2017.
• Halrynjo, Sigtona; STEEN, Arild Henrik & Thorbjørnsrud, Kjersti (2009). Norsk arbeidsliv - storm eller stille.
• Thorbjørnsrud, Kjersti (2009). Journalistenes valg. - Produksjon - interaksjon – iscenesettelse. Møtet mellom journalistikk og politikk i en valgkamp med fokus på NRK Fjernsynets valgformater. Acta Humaniora. 388. Vis sammendrag

  A Journalistic Choice. Interaction – Production - Dramaturgy. The meeting between journalism and politics during election campaign periods exemplified with the election formats of NRK. Through ethnographic methods this thesis explores the dominating production premises and principles behind political TV-journalism during election campaign periods in Norway. The thesis further investigates the nature of the relations between central TV-teams and politicians and their parties during this period, with a focus on the power balance between the two groups. Based on an extended case design the thesis then analyses the Norwegian case in a comparative context where different kinds of political and public control regimes with the audio visual election coverage in different democracies are explored. This design opens up for a combination of a micro level study of the interaction between journalists and politicians with meso and macro level analyses of institutional and structural factors that come into play as central premises for these relations. The theoretical perspectives that feed the empirical analysis are based on a combination of Pierre Boride’s field theory and arguments from the theories of Ervin Goffman and Arlie Hochschild concerning the significance of emotional norms for the way we interpret and behave in communicative situations. The main empirical finding of the thesis is that the Norwegian political field in particular, compared to the political elites in other countries, has adapted to the premises of a journalistic logic during an election campaign period. This is a journalistic logic based on popular or tabloid criteria, it is largely implicit rather than made explicit, and it is based on preliminary agreements with the politicians involved, open for changes according to upcoming events and alternating judgments of newsworthiness. The meeting between journalism and politics are in Norway asymmetrical in the sense that journalists control resources that politicians are highly dependent of, whereas the politicians lack the ability or will to change the premises of the journalistic logic in play.

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• Haugsgjerd, Atle & Thorbjørnsrud, Kjersti (2021). Innspill til debatten om strukturell rasisme: potensial, utfordringer og kritikk. Tidsskrift for samfunnsforskning.  62(1), s 78- 79 . doi: 10.18261/issn.1504-291X-2021-01-04
• Haugsgjerd, Atle; Midtbøen, Arnfinn Haagensen & Thorbjørnsrud, Kjersti (2020). Ulikhet og ideologi: Hva kan norsk samfunnsforskning lære av Piketty?. Tidsskrift for samfunnsforskning.  61(4) . doi: 10.18261/issn.1504-291X-2020-04-04 Fulltekst i vitenarkiv. Vis sammendrag

  Med utgivelsen av Capital in the Twenty-First Century i 2013, satte Thomas Piketty ulikhet på dagsordenen med en kraft som er få akademiske utgivelser forunt. Forskere, allment samfunnsinteresserte så vel som politikere, lærte om hvordan den økonomiske ulikheten i mange land har skutt i været de siste 30–40 årene til fordel for en svært liten minoritet av superrike. I sin siste bokutgivelse – Capital and Ideology fra 2019 – tar Piketty opp igjen tråden fra 2013-utgivelsen. Denne gangen utvider han perspektivet til de politiske og ideologiske strukturene som skaper og reproduserer ulikhet.Pikettys flerfaglige tilnærming til studiet av ulikhet – i kombinasjon med hans betydning for det akademiske og offentlige ordskiftet – gjør det naturlig for oss i TfS-redaksjonen å invitere til et symposium om hans siste bokutgivelse. I dette nummeret har vi derfor invitert tre nestorer innenfor norsk samfunnsforskning, statsviteren Øyvind Østerud, sosiologen Marianne Norli Hansen og samfunnsøkonomen Kalle Moene, til å reflektere rundt hva deres fag kan lære av Pikettys siste bok.

• Thorbjørnsrud, Kjersti (2019, 13. september). Informasjonsstrukturen i den norske valgkampen legger ikke til rette for meningsfull formidling.  Morgenbladet.
• Thorbjørnsrud, Kjersti (2019). Mediatisering og implisitt normativitet i innvandringsforskningen. Tidsskrift for samfunnsforskning.  60(1), s 84- 87 . doi: 10.18261/issn.1504-291X-2019-01-07
• Thorbjørnsrud, Kjersti (2019). Mediatization and implisit normativity in the study of immigration. Tidsskrift for samfunnsforskning.  60(1), s 84- 87 . doi: 10.18261/issn.1504-291X-2019-01-07
• Thorbjørnsrud, Kjersti (2019). Sykdom og helse i mediene.
• Thorbjørnsrud, Kjersti (2019). The Human Interest Economy: Making media cases out of patients.
• Thorbjørnsrud, Kjersti (2019). Tilliten til den politiske journalistikken under press.
• Thorbjørnsrud, Kjersti & Figenschou, Tine Ustad (2019). Alarmed citizens: Immigration, mistrust and alternative media.
• Figenschou, Tine Ustad; Fredheim, Nanna Alida; Thorbjørnsrud, Kjersti & Ytreberg, Espen (2018). The use of digital and mainstream media lobbying health interests.
• Thorbjørnsrud, Kjersti (2018, 07. desember). Personlig sykdom er gull verdt for mediene.  Morgenbladet.
• Figenschou, Tine Ustad; Karlsen, Rune; Kolltveit, Kristoffer & Thorbjørnsrud, Kjersti (2017). Media influence on bureaucratic decision-making: Evidence from Norway and the Netherlands.
• Figenschou, Tine Ustad & Thorbjørnsrud, Kjersti (2017). Dual Personalization: Government communication in an emotional media landscape.
• Figenschou, Tine Ustad & Thorbjørnsrud, Kjersti (2017). Helsebyråkratiets bevisste bruk av media.
• Figenschou, Tine Ustad & Thorbjørnsrud, Kjersti (2017). Social bureucracies? Government communication beyond the news logic.
• Figenschou, Tine Ustad & Thorbjørnsrud, Kjersti (2017). Sosialt byråkrati?.
• Midtbøen, Arnfinn Haagensen; Steen-Johnsen, Kari & Thorbjørnsrud, Kjersti (2017). Utstøting og selvsensur truer ytringsfriheten i Norge. Aftenposten (morgenutg. : trykt utg.). Vis sammendrag

  En fungerende offentlighet er sannhetssøkende, bygger på utveksling av rasjonelle argumenter og er åpen for kritisk meningsbrytning. Men fungerer offentligheten slik i praksis, eller bidrar trusler, stigmatisering og selvsensur til en fattigere felles offentlighet, der bestemte grupper og synspunkter forsvinner? Etter over fire års empirisk arbeid i prosjektet Status for ytringsfriheten i Norge er vår konklusjon at den norske offentligheten ikke lever opp til slike idealer. Utstøting og selvsensur er to sentrale mekanismer som regulerer hvem som deltar og hva som ytres i norsk offentlighet.

• Moe, Hallvard & Thorbjørnsrud, Kjersti (2017). Høyresiden har størst mistillit til journalistikken. Aftenposten (morgenutg. : trykt utg.).
• Thorbjørnsrud, Kjersti (2015). Framing Irregular Immigration in Western Media. American Behavioral Scientist.  59(7), s 771- 782 . doi: 10.1177/0002764215573255
• Figenschou, Tine Ustad; Thorbjørnsrud, Kjersti & Ihlen, Øyvind (2012). Mediatized bureaucracy: Uncovering mediatization in public organizations.
• Thorbjørnsrud, Kjersti (2010). Med media som 7. sans : norsk politikk som ekstremt case. Sosiologi i dag.  40(4), s 77- 91

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