The Portrayal of Incel Violence : A Thematical Comparative Case Study of US and Swedish Media’s Presentation on Incel Attacks

Abstract: The research conducted in this thesis will focus on incels’ violence, the media coverage of it, and incels’ debatable connection to extremism. Using a comparative case study on incel violence enables an examination of how media presents the coverage, identifying similarities, differences, and patterns from a transnational perspective by analyzing news articles from two selected newspapers in the US and two newspapers from Sweden over a specific period. A systematic content analysis is conducted to identify and analyze key themes in the media coverage related to incel violence. The analysis includes examining how the coverage was presented, what language tone was used, the focus on the coverage, and the characteristics of perpetrators and victims presented by the newspapers. The findings reveal that there are consistent similarities but also differences in the media coverage of incel violence across the four newspapers analyzed. Four out of five identified themes in the coverage were consistent among the newspapers, indicating a shared approach in the portrayal of incel violence. However, there may also be some contextual and cultural differences influencing the coverage, which require further exploration. This study contributes to a better understanding of the media representation of incel violence and highlights the consistent themes observed in the selected newspapers. The findings suggest that there is a shared narrative and coverage of incel violence, transcending national boundaries.