<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">

<p>In this article, we analyse mediated representations of elite and non-elite voices about climate change, by juxtaposing two Swedish non-fiction television series: one narrates the work of environmental scientists, the other discusses climate change with diverse citizens in a vox pop format. We argue that the discursive practices of these programmes reproduce the antagonistic subject positions of experts and ordinary people, allocating them radically different positions of power in relation to climate change. Whereas the experts are presented as actors of change with the knowledge to solve the crisis, ordinary people are shown as passive recipients of advice and moral judgment, in need of change. In addition, we highlight the role of media professionals in these articulations. The article shows how these subject positions support persuasionist strategies, but also how the elite/non-elite juxtaposition tends to exclude the latter from a meaningful engagement on equal terms.</p>
</abstract>

In this article, we analyse mediated representations of elite and non-elite voices about climate change, by juxtaposing two Swedish non-fiction television series: one narrates the work of environmental scientists, the other discusses climate change with diverse citizens in a vox pop format. We argue that the discursive practices of these programmes reproduce the antagonistic subject positions of experts and ordinary people, allocating them radically different positions of power in relation to climate change. Whereas the experts are presented as actors of change with the knowledge to solve the crisis, ordinary people are shown as passive recipients of advice and moral judgment, in need of change. In addition, we highlight the role of media professionals in these articulations. The article shows how these subject positions support persuasionist strategies, but also how the elite/non-elite juxtaposition tends to exclude the latter from a meaningful engagement on equal terms.

“How is he entitled to say this?”: Constructing the identities of experts, ordinary people, and presenters in Swedish television series on climate change

Institute of Communication Studies and Journalism

Nordicom Review

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

In this article, we analyse mediated representations of elite and non-elite voices about climate change, by juxtaposing two Swedish non-fiction television...

	Experts	Ordinary people	Media professional (presenter)
Role	Actors of persuasion and change	Objects of persuasion and change	Actor and organiser of persuasion and change (“critical change agent”; Hanitzsch, 2011)
Role	Provider of advice and moral judgment	Recipient of advice and moral judgment	Provider of advice and moral judgment

Activity level	Active	Mostly passive (but still empowered to speak)	Active (e.g., as gatekeeper)

Knowledge-ability	Speak from the position of authority and knowledge, with a singular perspective	Diverse opinions (as opposed to “knowledge”)	Bridges the experts and the ordinary people, but authoritative and knowledgeable in relation to media production

Independence	Autonomous	Influenceable	Autonomous

Mode of presentation	Credible (full names, titles, affiliation, awards)	Mostly anonymous	Credible (full name, role in the production process in credits)

Language	Specialised jargon, confident, well-spoken	Colloquial language use, nervous, inconsistent	Translator of jargon, confident, well-spoken

Material context	Professional	Private	Hybrid

“How is he entitled to say this?”: Constructing the identities of experts, ordinary people, and presenters in Swedish television series on climate change

Online veröffentlicht: 25. Apr. 2022

Seitenbereich: 111 - 128

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/nor-2022-0007

Schlüsselwörter
elite, ordinary people, climate change, persuasionism, discourse theory

© 2022 Kirill Filimonov et al., published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Figure 1

Figure 2

Mediated representations of three subject positions in television series on climate change

“How is he entitled to say this?”: Constructing the identities of experts, ordinary people, and presenters in Swedish television series on climate change

Online veröffentlicht: 25. Apr. 2022

Seitenbereich: 111 - 128

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/nor-2022-0007

Schlüsselwörterelite, ordinary people, climate change, persuasionism, discourse theory

© 2022 Kirill Filimonov et al., published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Figure 1

Figure 2

Mediated representations of three subject positions in television series on climate change

Schlüsselwörter
elite, ordinary people, climate change, persuasionism, discourse theory