Nutshell Paragraphs, Fact-Base or Propaganda: How Do Nutshell paragraphs in five news media reflect an international crisis?

Abstract: Abstract Thesis: 15 hp Program and/or course: Master’s program in Investigative Journalism (MIJ), Master´s thesis in Investigative Journalism, JU2603 Level: Second Cycle Semester/year: St/2023 Supervisor: Mathias Färdigh Examiner: Annika Bergström Keyword: The nut graph, the nutshell paragraph, the nut graf, fact, propaganda, agenda setting, comparative analysis, content analysis, international crisis, the Libyan crisis, NATO, journalism, journalist, editor, editorial manipulation, newspaper, TV, media, news media, Swedish news media, print news media, news writing, audience, Global Times, Dagens Nyheter, Rossiyskaya Gazeta, the Guardian, the New York Times. Purpose: The aim of the study is to conduct a comparative analysis of the contents of nut graphs written by five print news media outlets: Dagens Nyheter, Global Times, Rossiyskaya Gazeta, The Guardian, and The New York Times, regarding the Libyan crisis, in order to examine whether they set media agendas through the nut graph. This study will be carried out from an agenda-setting perspective, focusing on the media agenda, aiming to gain insights into how these news outlets from China, Russia, Sweden, the UK, and the US reflected the Libyan crisis in their nut graphs. Furthermore, the thesis aims to explore how the Swedish news media handle the nut graph. Theory: The theoretical framework of this thesis is centered around content analysis of the nut graph written by Dagens Nyheter, Global Times, Rossiyskaya Gazeta, The Guardian, and The New York Times in the framework of second level of agenda-setting theory. In the context of this study, the agenda-setting theory provides a lens through which to analyze how the five selected news media construct their narratives of the Libyan crisis through the use of the nut graph. By examining the emphasis placed on specific aspects of the crisis within the nut graph, this framework allows for a deeper understanding of how the media outlets shaped the significance of specific issues in the minds of their audiences. In addition, Dagens Nyheter, a Swedish news media, is specifically examined to investigate distinctive features of its possible nut graphs in contrast to other selected news media outlets. Method: This study employs a qualitative method to gather the data needed for a comparative analysis of nut graphs within news articles addressing the Libyan crisis across the five selected news outlets. Central to this study is the qualitative content analysis of nut graphs, which concisely capture an article's core message. Complementing the content analysis, email interviews are conducted with participants from both categories – editors and journalists, and field experts and academics – affording them ample time to contemplate questions and provide insights that enrich the qualitative investigation. Result: The study suggests avoiding a nut graph about international crisis news articles is better than including a weak one, as the latter could mislead the audience. Given that the nut graph summarizes a news article's 'so what' essence effectively, editors can potentially use it as a tool for setting agendas consciously or unconsciously. However, this study could not establish conclusive evidence of media agenda setting through the nut graph written by the selected news media about the Libyan crisis. While a few examples hint at media agenda through the nut graph by the selected news media, they are insufficient to generalize and prove the hypothesis. One of the most important findings of the study is that editors of the Swedish news media, Dagens Nyheter, typically do not compose the nut graph for their news articles. To conclude, the researcher found out through the literature that, the nut graph could present a fact or a hypothesis.