Abstract
The TV oak (Television Oak) conflict concerned felling an old tree in a wealthy area of Stockholm. The case received great public attention in different media formats with different scopes (e.g., newspapers, television, internet). The TV Oak issue involved actors with different, partly conflicting perceptions. Assuming that the relevance of urban tree management issues in particular leads to increased interest among the local audience, this paper compared differences in reporting on the TV Oak case in local and national newspapers. The comparison comprised the actors “speaking” in the newspapers, the interest roles attributed to different actors and the frames used. The empirical materials used were articles concerning the TV Oak published between October 2011 and June 2012 in one local and two national Swedish newspapers. Quantitative analysis of statements in these articles showed that the geographical scope of the newspaper was not the major driving force framing the TV Oak conflict and that variety of framings, ranging from a humanised perception of the oak to a more analytical hazard perception, were used. Differences between the interest roles allocated to different actors (e.g., in terms of victim, causer, and helper in the oak conflict) showed that the framing of conflicts very much depended on single actors, in particular a high profile journalist in the national newspapers and private individuals writing letters to the editor in the local newspaper.
Highlights
Trees contribute to the delivery of many ecosystem services in urban areas, such as moderation of local climate [1,2,3,4], storm water management [5,6], recreation and human well-being [7], and cultural value [8]
Differences between the interest roles allocated to different actors showed that the framing of conflicts very much depended on single actors, in particular a high profile journalist in the national newspapers and private individuals writing letters to the editor in the local newspaper
Despite the huge range of letters to the editor in the local newspaper, the specific interest roles allocated to different actors involved in the TV Oak conflict were similar in the national and local newspapers when it came to causers and helpers of the problem
Summary
Trees contribute to the delivery of many ecosystem services in urban areas, such as moderation of local climate [1,2,3,4], storm water management [5,6], recreation and human well-being [7], and cultural value [8]. There are conflicts concerning the management of urban trees as they are associated with multiple values (e.g., cultural, historical, and aesthetic) [8,9,10,11]. Such conflicts, with the perceptions and values of the stakeholders involved, are shaped in a certain way when they attract the attention of the media. With the perceptions and values of the stakeholders involved, are shaped in a certain way when they attract the attention of the media These ‘mediatized conflicts’ can be understood as a ”process, something that occurs through repeated and socially situated interaction between individuals and groups whose perceptions and actions are structured by and expressed through media” [12]. How media depicts a conflict has implications for the way the conflict proceeds and for the manner in which decisions are taken in the conflict [12]
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