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Newsworthiness as a Governing Principle in Public Sector Communication

Author

Listed:
  • Maria Grafström

    (Stockholm Centre for Organizational Research, Stockholm University, Sweden)

  • Hanna Sofia Rehnberg

    (Stockholm Centre for Organizational Research, Stockholm University, Sweden)

Abstract

This article examines what qualifies as news when public agencies in Sweden claim to engage in media work. We unwrap and explore what happens when ideas about “newsworthiness” enter the practice of public sector communication. What becomes news, and how? What kinds of content are favored, how are stories told, and what voices are heard? The ideas of newsworthiness in a public sector context are here conceptualized as a logic of appropriateness that governs civil servants’ media work. We base our analysis on a three-year case study of a Swedish county council’s digital news channel, VGRfokus. The analysis focuses on how ideas of newsworthiness are constructed and mirrored in and through the content of VGRfokus, as well as how they are reflected and acted upon by communications professionals working at the news channel. We suggest that ideas of newsworthiness may function as a governing principle and tone down or even hide conflicts and tensions between key values of bureaucracy and market, otherwise often manifested in public sector communication.

Suggested Citation

  • Maria Grafström & Hanna Sofia Rehnberg, 2022. "Newsworthiness as a Governing Principle in Public Sector Communication," Media and Communication, Cogitatio Press, vol. 10(1), pages 88-98.
    • Handle: RePEc:cog:meanco:v:10:y:2022:i:1:p:88-98
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Fredriksson, Magnus & Edwards, Lee, 2019. "Communicating under the regimes of divergent ideas: how public agencies in Sweden manage tensions between transparency and consistency," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 101031, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
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