Project information
Project manager
Mahitab Ezz El Din
Participating organization
Linnaeus University
Financier
FKH Forskningsexcellens 2025
Timetable
1 Jan 2025-31 Dec 2025
More about the project
In 2022 and 2023, Sweden found itself at the center of an international media storm. A series of public Quran-burning incidents—first carried out by a far-right activist and later by an Iraqi asylum seeker—sparked protests, diplomatic tensions, and outrage far beyond Sweden’s borders. What began as isolated acts quickly escalated into a global controversy, raising serious security concerns. Sweden’s security service responded by increasing the national terror threat level, underlining how deeply these events resonated both at home and abroad.
But how were these events actually told to the public? And whose voices shaped the story?
This study looks closely at how the Quran-burning crisis was covered in the media—both in Sweden and in the Arab world. By analyzing news reporting from Sweden’s leading daily newspaper Dagens Nyheter and the tabloid Aftonbladet, alongside Arabic-language coverage from Al Jazeera and Al Arabiya, the project explores how the same events can be framed in very different ways depending on where—and by whom—they are reported.
Using a Critical Discourse Analysis, the study examines the language, perspectives, and power relations embedded in news stories. The study addresses the following research questions:
- How are Sweden and the Quran-burning crisis represented in Arab and Swedish media coverage of the events?
- Which voices dominate the reporting?
- How are the power relations between actors revealed in the news reporting?
By focusing on these questions, the project sheds light on how Sweden is portrayed in Arab media, how freedom of expression and respect for religion are negotiated in news narratives, and how journalism itself can shape public understanding during moments of crisis.
