Fløde-tv og fællesskaber. En analyse af mediedækningen af det danske tronskifte

Abstract

This master's thesis will examine the media coverage of the Danish royal succession of the throne, which took place on January the 14th, 2024. In light of this event, a major affective community emerged. Many people showed up in Copenhagen to physically participate in the event and many others turned to Instagram to show their support and join the online affective community. In this thesis we will investigate how the mediation of the event plays a role in creating and reinforcing these affective communities. The royal succession of the throne can be characterized as a media event with traits of a mega-event and is therefore in itself a media event that attracts a large audience. In the weeks leading up to and on January the 14th, the succession was comprehensively covered by the media and was furthermore spread across multiple platforms – this included live transmissions, documentaries, a tribute show to HM Queen Margrethe II and significant activity on the royal family's Instagram account. Furthermore, in this thesis we will investigate the two Danish public service institutions' live transmissions, as these were crucial for allowing many to follow the event. To investigate DR’s live transmission, we will apply Gunn Enlis theory of mediated authenticity concluding that the live transmission appears authentic. This authentic aspect significantly enhances the viewer's sense of experiencing the event up close. In this thesis, we will also investigate the perspective that the two public-service institutions, DR and TV2, had on the royal succession. Especially DR’s transmission appears almost excessively positive and uncritical. Additionally, the documentaries about the new King as well as the tribute show that was produced to thank HM Queen Margrethe II also show a somewhat excessive positive portrayal. Furthermore, the thesis investigates how this almost excessive positive perspective affects the community that emerges around the royal family. We conclude that there has always been a community around the Danish royal family, and that the succession of the throne reinforced this already existing community. Additionally, based on an analysis of the royal family's Instagram profile, we conclude that the media coverage of the event constituted new online affective communities. By investigating the activity on Instagram and applying affect theory, we discover that an affective environment could clearly be traced on Instagram. By using Mogens Olsens model of commentary types on social media, we investigate which types of comments dominate the royal family's Instagram profile. This investigation reveals that it is primarily emotional and personal comments that dominate, clearly demonstrating that affect is present among the users. This affective community will be examined more thoroughly to discover what it is made of, and to do this we apply theory of ‘Danishness’ and nationalism. Since the community seems to be based on more than just an interest in the royal family, we also consider other major events, including the Tour de France and the 2020 UEFA European Championship in men's football. In the investigation of these communities, which emerge on the basis of other large media events, we conclude that a mix of Danishness, national pride and the simple desire to belong to a group are the key elements in these communities. In our analysis of the royal succession, we also discover that the event mediawise is similar to other mega-events. We therefore conclude that the media coverage to a large degree plays a defining role in enabling us to participate in affective communities during these major events.

A master thesis from Aalborg University

Fløde-tv og fællesskaber. En analyse af mediedækningen af det danske tronskifte

[Corny TV and Communities. An analysis of the media coverage of the Danish succession of the throne]