Assessment Committee

• Associate Professor Jakob Linaa Jensen, Media and Journalism Studies, Aarhus University (chair)
• Associate Professor Kim Andersen, Centre for Journalism, Department of Political Science and Public Management, University of Southern Denmark
• Professor Karoline Andrea Ihlebæk, Department of Journalism and Media Studies, Oslo Metropolitan University

Supervisors

• Associate professor Unni From, Department of Media and Journalism Studies, Aarhus University, Aarhus University
• Professor Rune Stubager, Department of Political Science, Aarhus University

The dissertation will be available for reading in a digital version before the defence following a statement from the borrower promising to delete the file afterwards. If you wish to read the dissertation please contact Miriam Brems miriam.brems@cc.au.dk.

The defence is scheduled for three hours and is open to the public. All are welcome.

Abstract

In recent years, alternative media have emerged across many western democracies and managed to establish considerable user-bases. These predominantly online news sites position themselves as correctives of the media and political mainstream and their content is characterized by ideological partisanship, often accompanied by blatant attacks on the credibility of mainstream media and political opponents alike. The phenomenon is most well-known in the U.S. with examples as Breitbart and Infowars, but alternative media are also on the rise in many European countries, including Denmark (e.g., Den Korte Avis, NewSpeek, Netavisen Pio, Solidaritet). This dissertation offers the first comprehensive study of the use and users of alternative media in Denmark. It investigates why and how parts of the population seek out and engage with alternative news. Furthermore, it investigates how the use of alternative news media is related to trust in mainstream news, trust in politicians, extreme policy attitudes, and populist attitudes and vote intentions. In the dissertation, it is argued that the empirical findings from the study suggest that, in the Danish case, there is reason to temper concerns over negative democratic implications of the spread and use of alternative media.