Keywords

Introduction

This first part of the empirical analyses presents the sources used and how the news stories were framed. This provides an overview of what the coverage looked like across topics and which sources the stories were built on. The sources were of special significance since Sputnik in particular, but also RT, base their stories on material from other media. Sputnik rarely dispatches reporters to the location of an event, and RT only occasionally. The latter usually relies on experts invited to the studio.

The framing analysis was structured according to the three themes discussed in Chap. 4: public health, climate change, and moral values and ethics. It included all the news items sorted under these themes published or broadcast between July 1, 2019, and January 31, 2021. The theme “moral values and ethics” was later found to be too broad, and therefore divided into gender, culture, and anti-liberalism in order to better reflect the content of the news. With the exception of the news items about climate change, the same news coverage was used for the narrative analysis. In Sweden, climate change was not used to the same extent as the other themes for disinformation purposes. This was to a large extent linked to its focus on the world famous environmental activist, Greta Thunberg, who featured in the vast large majority of the coverage of climate change and the environment. Although her Swedish background was mentioned, Greta was only rarely positioned in the narratives as a representative of Sweden. Nor was Sweden depicted in connection with her activism or with environmental concerns. Climate change is, however, included in the framing analysis.

Sources

The sources were not just used for items of information, facts, or figures. More importantly, they seemed to influence or even set the agenda on what events to cover and for quotes and depictions of actors. Articles were thus often built around a few statements by the authorities made in a broadcast or published in traditional media. In many cases, it was difficult to distinguish between actor and source. There were also instances where an authority of some kind was said to have made a statement but where the original source of the statement was not mentioned. Some articles in Sputnik were reworked, edited, or copied from Swedish conservative or right-wing media.

As can be seen from Table 5.1, a high proportion of the sources were from Swedish domestic media, with an emphasis on public service broadcasting (television and radio) and the national daily broadsheets. A frequent way for RT and Sputnik to refer to the broadcast media was “state-controlled”; other terms were “state television” and “state media”. This was defined as having strong leftist and left-green leanings at odds with the distribution of political views among the Swedish public. In one article, the Swedish television broadcaster was depicted as:

Table 5.1 Sources of plots used by RT and Sputnik
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largely modelled after the BBC and sharing many traits with its British counterpart. It is funded by a public service tax on personal income. Previous surveys have indicated a massive left-wing slant at SVT. Over 50 percent of its staff reportedly supports the left-wing Green Party, which only got 4.4 percent of the votes in the 2018 general election, barely passing the 4 percent threshold to enter parliament. (Sputnik, October 7, 2019e)

Public service broadcasters and broadsheets were used to make reference to various types of Swedish organizations, political parties, individual politicians, and government ministers, as well as representatives of government and other agencies, business leaders, and so on, which were often collectively referred to as the establishment. The voices and opinions of citizens, or “ordinary people”, were most often quoted from social media, such as individual tweets or Instagram posts (quotes from netizens). Tweets and Facebook items were most often published as screenshots pasted into the articles. There were also articles referencing surveys conducted by Swedish polling institutes such as Novus. The use of these sources was at times confusing and the figures were often presented using dramatic and exaggerated phrases.

Dominant Frames Depicting Sweden

The framing analysis was undertaken to identify the problems and possible solutions presented in the coverage. Coding for frames entailed identifying the key issues and how they were constructed by way of their contextualization and textual composition. In contrast to a topic, which denotes the subject of the news item, or answers the question of what the news item is about, a frame connotes the problem posed by or key issue of the item and answers the question of how the issue is being depicted. The same topic can thus be framed in different ways or take on different connotations. Each news item in the sample was described with reference to what the problem revolved around. Having coded all the news items, patterns were sought among the frames described and framing categories were developed for each theme. The distribution of frames identified for each theme is presented below, starting with the distribution of gender frames (Table 5.2. Each section exemplifies the content of a different framing category).

Gender

Table 5.2 Distribution of frames in the theme of gender in Sputnik and RT, July 2019 to January 2021
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Gender (In)equality

Several news reports were centered around gender equality and inequality, both of which might have been considered problematic depending on the context. Some articles reported on equality issues with reference to statistics and surveys and just presented the results—at times without making any explicit point (Sputnik, July 17, 2020m; Sputnik, February 26, 2020e). There were news items about discrimination against and sexual abuse of both women and men, and also targeted at LGBTQ+ groups (Sputnik, July 9, 2019a; Sputnik, October 8, 2019f). The #metoo movement was frequently used to stress gender conflicts, but especially to make a point about threats to masculinity (see e.g. Sputnik, July 9, 2019a; Sputnik, October 29, 2019i). Men were depicted as victims, and said to be frequently targeted with unfounded and false allegations or accusations. According to RT and Sputnik, Sweden was the country “hardest hit”, or even “totally engulfed”, by the #metoo campaign, and was now plagued by internal divisions between men and women with no strategy for how to move forward.

LGBTQ+ (Sexuality, Homophobia, Sexual Minorities)

Similarly, the Swedish establishment was depicted as a tenacious defender of the rights of LGBTQ+ people to fulfil and express their sexuality. There were reports about a new hymnal developed to be inclusive of LGBTQ+ groups, a bill passed in parliament removing the obligation on HIV infected persons to inform their partners and several articles about gender reassignment surgery to give individuals the gender of their choice.

However, embedded in most of these reports were resistance to and divisive views on LGBTQ+ communities, and news topics aroused strong comments on social media, which were published in the articles. A hockey player criticized her teammates for beginning a lesbian relationship, negatively affecting the quality of their play; the Minister of Equality was looking into removing the terms “mother” and “father” to promote gender neutrality. One topic said to have provoked great controversy in domestic politics was participation by the Swedish armed forces in the Stockholm annual pride event. Critics argued sarcastically that the Swedish defense forces should not be engaged in political activism. The armed forces were accused of being reckless with taxpayers’ money and ignoring their main tasks. The media coverage used the tension between the armed forces’ marketing sexual liberalism and the public’s dislike of such campaigns to expose internal conflicts and stress the alleged weakness of Sweden’s defenses.

Migrants and Muslims Threaten Equality and Feminism

The gender issue was frequently framed as connected to immigrants, and especially Muslims. This frame focused on the subordination of women in Islamic societies and how this was influencing the Swedish way of life. This was expressed using a relatively limited set of phrases, some of which were identical across a number of articles, and was combined with statements about the large increase in the number of Muslim migrants to Sweden. Muslim women were reported as posing a difficult dilemma for Sweden, whose politicians and officials believed that they were defending freedom of religion when in fact they were defending Muslim subordination and the oppression of women. Much attention was given to heated debates about the veil and the hijab. There were reports of heated disputes between politicians (especially at the municipal level) fueled by suggested or imposed regulations on wearing the veil in public. Engaged politicians and netizens positioned themselves as for or against, and argued strongly for their point of view. The Swedish authorities were accused of gullibility by citizens who argued that the Islamic faith was incompatible with Swedish legislation and liberal values, and who expected leaders to defend Swedish law and values. Immigrants, mainly from Arab countries, were portrayed as a burden, capitalizing on Swedish welfare, increasing the cost of social services because of Arab women’s needs (e.g. subsidizing Muslim migrants’ driving licenses) and posing a threat to women by exposing Swedish and Arab women to abuse and violence.

Swedish Feminist Policy

RT and Sputnik’s portrayal of the relationship between men and women in Sweden was one of tension and polarization. Sweden was depicted as suffering from an ongoing gender war that the national leadership had failed to control or prevent. Sweden was said to pride itself for its progressive ideas on gender and equality in general, and its feminist foreign policy in particular. It was described as having a naive belief that promoting feminism was the answer to all social ills. Critics argued that Sweden was way off when it came to gender equality concerns; and that feminists and feminist policies were overly radical, absurd, and even unethical—doing more harm than good. Sweden’s relationships with other countries, such as Israel, Saudi Arabia, and Morocco, had deteriorated as a result of Swedish feminist and gender politics. Swedish men and women were also negatively affected, although it was not made clear how. The stories covered alternated between discrimination against men and discrimination against women.

“The Unsexy Space”

This study found news coverage framed in line with what Wagnsson and Barzanje (2021) termed in previous analyses of Sputnik “the Unsexy space”. Sputnik and RT frequently published stories in which the Swedish authorities or public figures sparked strong reactions by expressing—in statements or through policies—liberal views on sexual intercourse. When Swedish artists, influencers, and business representatives were reported as celebrating feminism and empowering women’s sexuality, they were hailed by some and rejected by others. Critics argued that such views were inappropriate or offensive, and in some cases that these were expressions of hate against men. The items almost exclusively comprised controversial events that it was reported had provoked outrage from the general public, such as artworks with genitalia-related motifs or social issues centered on women’s menstruation. Issues around prostitution, human reproduction, abortion, pedophilia, and gender dysphoria among children were also part of the coverage, and used to demonstrate the harm that a preoccupation—or “near obsession”—with sexuality had caused. Taken together, Sweden’s liberal sexual attitudes were made to appear highly contentious, and as serving as a breeding ground for crime and mental illness.

Culture

The frame culture analyzed the ways in which Sweden was talked about with regard to identity (both national and personal) and national image. This also included ways of life and expressions of national symbolism, as well as art and music, national traditions and ceremonies, and reports on the sense of belonging of explicit ingroups and outgroups (Table 5.3).

Table 5.3 Distribution of frames in the culture theme in Sputnik and RT, July 2019 to January 2021
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Selling Out Sweden

Articles framed as “selling out Sweden” depicted a fear of how the Swedish authorities talked about Swedish traditions, values, habits and heritage, and their reluctance to deal with “deviant” or harmful religious and criminal practices. Religious radicals and criminals who violated the social contract were said to be allowed to roam free while victims of crime and abuse had to manage for themselves, receiving no support or sympathy from the state. Immigrants and villains (the difference between two was often blurred), on the other hand, were treated as sensitive creatures rather than perpetrators, and were seldom convicted or punished. Referencing countless allegations and angry comments from people on social media, public dissatisfaction with the Swedish political and legal authorities was portrayed as severe, and it was stated that the general public found their state institutions and government too passive and sometimes easily fooled. The articles expressed views about a dysfunctional undemocratic system that was bleeding financially and culturally, but was still handing out taxpayers’ money and pushing Swedes and their traditions aside for the sake of Muslims and foreigners. This idea was amplified in coverage that reported allegations as facts, and stated that the Swedish church was “leaking membership at an alarming rate” (Sputnik, December 11, 2019o), that it could no longer sustain or maintain its churches and that in the long run it would be unable to fulfill its obligations to preserve cultural heritage. The Church of Sweden was also accused of supporting Muslim political activism and providing room for oppressive religious movements.

Islamic Takeover of the Swedish Way of Life

An overwhelming proportion of the material on culture in RT and Sputnik concerned Muslim influences on Swedish society and how the Swedish authorities responded to or managed these. Overall, Sweden was portrayed as a country facing severe threats to national core values and national unity due to “mass immigration” (Sputnik, February 19, 2020d), primarily from countries in the Middle East and the Arab world. Immigrants were portrayed as troublemakers and reported as overrepresented in the crime statistics, engaged in subversive activities, profiting from the Swedish welfare system, and cheating Swedish agencies and bureaucracies. People who had lived in Muslim societies described what kind of a threat Muslims were to secular and Christian societies, that the ideology would bring radicalism to Sweden and the existence of so-called sleeper cells, which were just biding their time before they would move into action and take over Swedish society (see for example Sputnik, December 2, 2019l). Muslims were said to disrespect liberal and secular values, recklessly assert their rights and demand that their norms and habits should be the norms and habits of Sweden, despite the clash between these and the Swedish way of life. These alleged developments were said to cause resentment in the population, which had been made victims in their own country. The situation was described as deplorable and desperate, leaving honorable citizens concerned and fearful, first and foremost for the sake of the children which was a group, the reports argued, that was particularly exposed and affected. Non-Christian and pro-Muslim activities in schools and homes, such as Islamic role-play, were a sign of ongoing Islamification and indoctrination, and were leading families to leave Sweden (see for example Sputnik, August 29, 2019c). Using comparisons to the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, when over one million Swedes left for the United States, it was reported that emigration was an increasing trend in Sweden, and that 2015 (same year as the European migrant crisis) was a “bumper crop”.Footnote 1

Nationalism and Cosmopolitanism

A smaller but highly relevant proportion of the news articles on culture and identity concerned the relationship between national and cosmopolitan values. It was reported that landmark institutions and large corporations, such as SAS and IKEA, were abandoning their marketing strategies and aligning themselves with cosmopolitan values (Sputnik, February 13, 2020b; Sputnik, October 31, 2019j; February 27, 2020f). These corporations had traditionally served not only as national brands, but also as important symbols of Swedish and Scandinavian national identity, including Christian values and traditions. Outraged citizens were quoted as claiming that such political correctness was ridiculous, that it had gone too far and, above all, that it was contributing to a downplaying and deconstruction of such values and traditions. These responses were spurred, for example, by a report that IKEA had decided to refer to its December sales campaign as the “Winter season” rather than “Christmas”. The tensions and conflicts between progressive multiculturalists and traditionalists—who tended to express nationalistic views—were also on display in news about right-wing extremist parties in Scandinavia, which were reported to be multiplying and taking action to bring about a purely white Sweden freed of immigrants and cleansed of traces of multiculturalism. This tied in with the theme of anti-liberalism (Table 5.4).

Anti-liberalism

Table 5.4 Distribution of frames within the theme of anti-liberalism in Sputnik and RT from July 2019 to January 2021
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Anti-establishment

As part of their attacks on liberalism, RT and Sputnik coverage frequently expressed anti-establishment views. Articles stressed the level of discontent and upset among the general public about the workings of the “state-funded media”, Swedish Television and Radio. Plots told how state media outlets had violated fundamental principles they themselves claimed to be guided by. There was talk of state media not living up to their self-proclaimed moral standards; for instance, by banning what they defined as racist words only to be found using these same words later (Sputnik, December 4, 2019m). Leading media organizations were said to be driven by status seeking and self-promotion, leading them to exaggerate events and situations and to deviate from the truth, or to make stories up such as on Islamophobic hate crimes (see for example Sputnik, October 18, 2019g). In response, netizens had accused the outlets of hypocrisy, lack of transparency, and applying double standards. Similarly, it was alleged that the Swedish authorities were mistrusted by various groups, such as right-wing voters. Leading media organizations were said to have a left-wing bias and to be engaged in left-wing activism, such as by giving opinions on whether people’s eating habits were healthy or sustainable (see for example Sputnik, December 4, 2019m).

Freedom of Speech

Controversies regarding freedom of speech were a recurring topic in the material. The coverage depicted the Swedish people as deeply divided on what or who should be protected and restricted in the public space. The Swedish government and the authorities were said to exercise dictatorship and to be hypocritical for arguing for the protection of freedom of speech while at the same time forbidding views to be expressed that deviated from the mainstream (Sputnik, September 15, 2020o). The role, status, and rights of racists and controversialists were portrayed as “a hot potato” that the government felt best left alone. Articles often consisted of opinions expressed in social media by members of the public who were negative about what they saw as the “Åsiktskorridoren” (opinion corridor), or the room for oppositional views, being narrowed, and calling for it to be widened (Sputnik, August 18, 2020n; Sputnik, July 2, 2020l).

Xenophobia

When topics linked to the extent of ethnic and religious discrimination were broached in the coverage, the stories tended to be framed around uncertainties over whether xenophobia should be seen as a big problem in Sweden. Native Swedes and ethnic minorities were depicted as opponents that lacked respect for one another, with one seeking to cause harm to the other on the basis of race and ethnicity. There were, for instance, reports about Nazi raids (Sputnik, November 12, 2019k) and so-called dominance crimes intended to humiliate Swedes (Sputnik, March 23, 2020h; Sputnik, December 18, 2019p). News reports referred to evidence that discrimination and attacks against members of minority groups with non-Christian beliefs were on the rise in Sweden, but native Swedes were also shown as victims.

Public Health

The coverage on public health was centered almost exclusively around Covid-19. However, medical issues such as risk factors, symptoms, treatment, and infection tracing were not the focus. The coverage was framed around Sweden’s Covid-19 strategy, national governance, crisis management, public opinion, and international reaction (Table 5.5).

Table 5.5 Distribution of frames in the public health theme in Sputnik and RT, July 2019 to January 2021
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The Swedish Government Is Inept and Hypocritical; The Public Ignorant and Careless

One issue that was often reported was how the Covid-19 crisis had affected the relationship between the Swedish government (state institutions) and the people. This issue was repeatedly framed as Swedish governance being dysfunctional, and how the leadership was weak and indecisive about what to do to stop the spread of Covid-19. Disagreements over the Covid-19 strategy, demonstrated by civil protests, domestic political opposition, and scientists calling for tougher measures, were used to “puncture the myth” that Sweden was a stable and respectable country. Sweden was said to hold an exaggerated belief in itself, making claims to strong social cohesion as a society permeated by solidarity, loyalty, and morality. Sweden had lulled itself into a false sense of security with a leadership that argued it was well prepared to manage the pandemic. Stories of youths intentionally spitting at or coughing near the elderly, the police, and healthcare staff were used to back claims that the Swedish assertion that Swedes were standing on high moral ground, loyally supporting one another in times of crisis, was a distortion (Sputnik, April 13, 2020j; Sputnik, March 31, 2020i). There were also images of crowded shops and cafés, and large gatherings of people happily waving flags. Citizens craving individual freedom were described as going overboard. Understanding of the covid-19 crisis was said to differ strongly between social groups, partly because elites and the establishment were refusing to be transparent about the virus and crisis management, keeping citizens uninformed of the threats to their lives and health (Hellman, 2021, pp. 461–462).

Sweden Is an Outcast, Losing International Status

Another prominent public health frame was that of Sweden, in light of the pandemic, showing itself to be an outcast—and a state losing international status. Sweden was reported to have made international headlines by choosing a Covid-19 strategy that differed from most other countries in the “West”, and which had had seriously negative consequences for people. Sweden was talked about as an outlier, out of touch with reality, driven only by self-interest and with little or no solidarity shown with the international community. The strategy was reported as causing negative reactions around the world as the number of deaths and infections increased. Sweden’s open and liberal policy was described as a “stand-alone-approach”, which included odd and insufficient measures with severe consequences for the elderly and the most vulnerable. Foreign commentators stated that no one should follow or be inspired by the Swedish example (Hellman, 2021, p. 460). In one article, Sweden was grouped together with Belarus as the only country to keep its borders open. Sweden was also accused of prioritizing economic growth and military capability over public health.

Sweden Is Gambling with Citizens’ Lives and Poor Crisis Management

Sweden’s unconventional response to the pandemic gave rise to articles scrutinizing Swedish crisis management and the healthcare system. The Swedish government was accused of ignoring the risks of Covid-19, and taking insufficient measures to tackle the disease and mitigate its effects. The Swedish strategy was described as daring but morally dubious, and not uniformly supported; it was “passive”, “lax”, and entirely reliant on personal responsibility and voluntary social distancing. The strategy was called a “gamble” (Sputnik, May 1, 2020k), a “risky move”, a “deadly mistake” (RT, June 4, 2020), and “an experiment” that lacked scientific evidence. The value-laden concept of herd immunity, also referred to as the Great Barrington Declaration, was frequently debated or hovered around without being discussed in detail or substantiated (Hellman, 2021, p. 462). It was claimed that the Swedish government and Public Health Agency had a Malthusian attitude, or had adopted Darwinian theory, and accepted the sacrifice of human lives for the greater good of the wider population. Government officials and medical health experts were accused of being cynical and violating human dignity. In addition, Sweden lacked sufficient medical supplies and protective equipment to deal with the disease.

Reality Is Catching Up – Restrictions Revisited

The fourth category of the public health frame focused on Sweden heading towards an apocalypse or doomsday scenario that the government was unable to prevent, in tandem with the incompetent government framing. The news stories told how difficult priorities might have to be set in the social services, such as in healthcare, care for the elderly and the police force. Revealing statements by government officials said that the country had “got its tactics wrong” and that precautions or stricter restrictions were “necessary to turn the tide”. These were used especially in headlines and subheadings to convey an image of the Swedish leadership acknowledging its failure. Experts and television commentators presented alarming estimates of the number of infections and patients in intensive care, and of mortality rates. To amplify this deceptive message, the figures were sometimes illustrated in graphs with steep curves on the screen or in pictures. Voices calling for radical action to adopt strategies contrary to those of the government or the Public Health Authority (Folkhälosmyndigheten) were also given prominence.

Climate Change

The climate change frame for Sweden was centered almost entirely around the myth and persona of Greta Thunberg—most often spoken of as Greta. This included depictions of Greta as a person, her situation, her activism, and the responses to her protests, public rallies, and speeches. Even though Greta is Swedish, there were few references to Sweden in the coverage. The narrative about Greta also contained very little information or substance on environmental questions or concrete climate change-related topics. Nonetheless, this brief section on the coverage is included in the analysis. The articles about climate change were coded into four frames that illustrate how Greta was made to represent Sweden or Swedish values. Only a limited part of the coverage on climate change and the environment dealt with questions other than Greta. A few were in line with the Greta discourse, in that they identified Sweden as a country with extremist views on the question of climate change. Partly because of the “Greta syndrome”, people were said to have gone mad when it came to fighting climate change. Children were being taught to eat insects; cannibalism was being discussed, and so on. The political left was labeled the most radical group, proposing absurd measures to protect the environment (Table 5.6).

Table 5.6 Distribution of frames about Sweden with regard to climate change in Sputnik and RT, July 2019 to January 2021
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Greta the Preacher: Moral Lectures and Shaming

The most frequent framing category portrayed Greta as a preacher presenting moral lectures and shaming people. It brings together the articles in the Russian news outlets that reported people being upset and provoked by Greta and what they saw as her cult of followers. These articles claimed that Greta and her movement induced unjustified guilt and shame, and that they gave moral lectures to people they identified as not taking proper action to combat climate change. It was said that Greta used harsh rhetoric to dismiss and reprimand adults while praising her own generation for its efforts. This criticism of her attacks on adults was combined with sarcasm. Greta was ridiculed, depicted as a saint with exceptional skills, qualities, and ideas, and referred to as the “Ayatollah of Climate Change” (Sputnik, September 23, 2019d), an “eco-version of Joan of Arc” (Sputnik, October 20, 2019h), the “climate-Messiah” (Sputnik, December 5, 2019n), and so on.

Greta the Child: A Pigtailed Puppet

Greta’s young age was often raised, invoking concern and distrust. On one hand, she and the youth engaged in her movement were depicted as victims of child abuse and child exploitation. The articles and television clips depicted adults as perpetrators: parents, teachers, or the adult world in general were either seen to be benefiting from Greta’s activism for their own sakes (e.g. by using her in branding on cars and other products or for charitable purposes) or depicted as failing in their responsibilities as adults, for example, to make sure she got a proper education. The adults had secretly brainwashed and traumatized Greta and her companions with post-apocalyptic horror stories about the end of the world as we know it, and encouraged the young activists to truant from school in order to protest. This, it was argued, was done without Greta’s knowledge or permission and it was absurd that the social services did not intervene to put a stop to it.

Greta’s appearance and mental health were also frequently referred to in order to denigrate her and the spheres in which she was active. Her braids and rosy cheeks made her a perfect stereotype not only for the Nordic race, but also for the “Aryan”. Greta was made to incarnate children who were dysfunctional and vulnerable, and the green movement was accused of dishonest conduct when it used her as a poster child. Due to her medical record and her autism diagnosis, she was portrayed as having poor judgement and therefore not to be trusted. Together with her infrequent displays of bad temper, this was used to depict her as ignorant and a spoiled child who always got her own way. She was described as a solitary, naïve, and discredited girl who had been given an unreasonable amount of authority. In this sense, she was represented in Sputnik and RT as an odd mix of both victim and authoritative figure.

Greta the Celebrity: Global Actor

Greta was portrayed as a poster child (see above). She had been elevated to international stardom by adults, dominated headlines and figured on the frontpages of respectable newspapers. Pejorative language was used to describe how she frequently mingled and attended meetings with political elites, top-ranking business leaders and celebrities such as former US President Barack Obama, the Pope, and the US actor Leonardo Di Caprio. The worldwide media attention, and the prestigious awards and nominations she received, aroused criticism and negative emotions. She was called “a media darling” (Sputnik, October 23, 2020p) with access to the corridors of power, said to enjoy special privileges and bypass gates that would otherwise be closed to her. This was facilitated by politicians, officials, and powerful institutions and corporations who accepted (and even welcomed) being run and influenced by a little girl. In this spirit of anti-establishment sentiment, it was sarcastically suggested that she ought to be given an Oscar (Sputnik, February 4, 2020a).

Greta the Activist: Radical Protest

It was alleged that Greta and the “ludicrous and nonsensical cult” that revolved around her were hysterical alarmists who caused unnecessary climate panic. Climate change deniers and skeptics found Greta’s activism ridiculous and gave her epithets such as “Doomsday prophet” (Sputnik, February 14, 2020c), “guru of the apocalypse” (Sputnik, July 24, 2019b), and “eco-warrior” (Sputnik, March 4, 2020g). The measures she advocated to combat climate change were said to be extreme, illegitimate, and unreasonable. They were said to lack scientific evidence, be undemocratic and to divert attention from more important issues, such as the Covid-19 pandemic. While Greta was reported to have claimed that her diagnosis gave her superpowers, critics argued that she was mentally ill and that her protest rallies were flawed.

Greta the Pawn in the Game: Victim or Actor with Political Power?

The fifth and final framing category about climate change involved Greta being described as a political pawn in the game of power politics. There was speculation on whether various actors had taken her hostage in order to push their agenda, increase their profits, or gain a positive reputation or status. Greta was accused of double standards and hypocrisy as she protested jointly with dubious people and groups such as Nazi youths, radical anti-fascists (“Antifa”), and former criminals while also cooperating with industrial conglomerates. It was repeatedly stated that the international left, “lefties”, had aligned themselves with Greta and turned her into a propaganda symbol for their movements. Greta was also accused of contradicting herself, claiming she was non-political while at the same time siding with left-of-center politicians. Mainstream journalists were said to be aiding Greta’s activism with uncritical reporting on her campaigns instead of taking their media responsibilities seriously and exposing her scams.

Summary

This chapter has presented how Sweden and the problems it faced were framed by the Russian affiliated state media RT and Sputnik and what sources that were used. The framing analysis of news included the selected themes gender, culture, anti-liberalism, climate change, and public health published between July 1, 2019, and January 31, 2021. It was found that the most frequently used sources were Swedish public service media and the national daily broadsheets. The framing analysis emphasized threats posed to the cohesion and national identity of Sweden by different domestic groups such as feminists, migrants, and Muslims. Taken together the frames made manifest that the consequences of these threats were a decline of a once well-functioning nation with domestic unrest and an inability to defend against a gradual islamization of society. Added to this, news about the environmental activist Greta Thunberg also implicitly stressed the downside of a liberal society and its extended freedom of speech that gave global voice to a child to run the debate on climate change.