Förorten brinner! : En studie av alternativa medier i Stockholms förorter

In this study we examine five selected media organisations with different forms of production platforms that all appear in Stockholm's southern and western suburbs, which are part of the million-construction project. Their stated ambition is to present an alternative image of the suburbs than that found in mainstream media. They want to portray themselves instead of constantly being described by others. The purpose of the study is to gain a better understanding of the reason for the emergence of these media, their visions according to the media producers themselves, and how they relate to mainstream media. The study is based on a theoretical framework that focuses on diverse approaches of alternative media and the journalists' role in a democratic society. The wide data analysis from qualitative informant interviews, with small observations as a complement, showed results indicating criticism against the misrepresentation of Stockholm suburbs in mainstream media. Furthermore the results show that the overall dissatisfaction of this misrepresentation is one of the main reasons why the different media, which are both represented by citizens and journalists, were founded. The founders saw their work either as a reaction to this misrepresentation or as a way to fill a gap in their community. The local papers we visited embraced the notion of citizen journalism, which proved to be a part of filling the mentioned gap, while other organisations expressed political goals. In summary, there were similarities between the media organisations in terms of problem definition as well as differences in how they approached these problems. Furthermore the analysis confirmed the democratic shortage that is experienced in these areas, and that these media therefore are trying to oppose. They provide the local community they operate in with news, information and opinion, but they also aim to be a platform for participation and discussion.