Välfärden, samhällskritiken och medierna

Abstract

Welfare, critique and the media – social workers’ voices in podcasts in social policy and social workSocial workers and social policy researchers can engage in social work and critical social policy, in traditional media and in the new media. In recent years, the social media have been increasing in both the international media systems and in the media system in Sweden. One channel for social workers to use to be able to make their voice heard in society is to participate, debate and discuss social policy in podcasts. In 2016, the Union for Professionals, Akademikerförbundet SSR, developed ”Social Services Podcasts”. At the same time the National Board of Health and Welfare introduce a new podcast on social services and health care that is called ”Podcast in the Deep”. This article examines voices and themes in social policy and social work in a total of 112 programmes in two podcasts: ”Socialtjänstpodden” and ”In Depth” during the years 2016–2019. There are several challenges for the storytelling tradition and social criticism in social policy and social work in podcasts, which is highlighted in this article.