- When researching global TV channels, the owner is often a state. Then it may be geopolitical interests that play a role in which protests you find interesting to report on and how they are portrayed, says Alexa Robertson, a professor at Stockholm University in Media and Communication Science with a particular focus on global TV news.

For example, Alexa Robertsons in her research found that BBC World portrayed the protests in Hong Kong as "for democracy", while China's global news channel CGTN portrays the protests as a financial problem, with irresponsible young insurgents making it difficult for companies to manage their business.

"These different ways of reporting can make it difficult for us citizens to form an idea of ​​what chaotic protests are about," she says.

Journalism about protests keeps cultural memories alive

In her analysis, she has not seen news as a source of information, but a carrier of ideology. Journalism, she says, is a format of recurring stories that keep cultural memories and shared perceptions alive.

The starting point of her research is that journalists are among the most influential creators of social reality perceptions and that their reporting on the world can help citizens understand people from other cultures - or not.

Ideology as the guiding field for reporting

Alexa Robertsson explains that research shows that in Sweden people have become interested in “the underdog” - they want to give “the little man” a voice. In some other parts of the world, other political interests are driven instead.

"Giving" the little man "a voice is very much a political position," she says.

She has also studied the Russian channel RT, formerly known as Russia Today, which reports frequently on protests in Europe and the USA in particular.

"RT reports rather about protests against economic injustices and against refugees than about movements that are for democracy," she says.