Who can be seen in the media room?

Narrow middle-class perspective on TV channels

The report shows that only 5% of those seen and heard on Swedish Television belong to the working class, which makes up half of Sweden's population. It is mainly people from the powerful and middle classes who appear or are depicted on TV.

- In our survey of the Swedish TV landscape, it turns out that SVT is the worst of the major Swedish TV channels at including people with working class backgrounds in its programming. In addition, people from different class backgrounds are portrayed in different ways once they appear in the programme. Working-class people are generally portrayed in a less nuanced way and are less likely to have a voice in the programmes they appear in," says Peter.

Representation important issue at Visual Communication

The question of who can be seen in the media space is something that is discussed in all projects in the Visual Communication programme.

-"We know from the past that when individuals and groups are invisible or denied voice and recognition, it has negative consequences for the groups concerned, but it can also have wider societal consequences. Representation is an issue of power and democracy and is therefore an important part of the teaching of Visual Communication. Social class is a dimension of this that is sometimes overlooked but has received increased attention in recent years, due to the growing economic gaps in society. Class also interacts with issues of ethnicity and gender, as women and people from non-European ethnic backgrounds, for example, are often in a more vulnerable position in the labour market,' says Peter.

The report is published by Katalys and can be read in full here.