Trustworthiness in the Swedish Strategies for Covid-19 in Recorded Press Conferences from the Public Health Agency of Sweden

This article investigates structural patterns of eight recorded press conferences on Covid-19, and how the Public Health Agency of Sweden (PHA) builds trust in its information. The analysis draws on Wodak’s model, using the theoretical and methodological concepts discourse, texts, genres, situatedness, and discourse strand. The press conferences are regularly scheduled, always with the same structure. PHA uses a range of multimodal features with which they interact orally. Tension often arises in the dialogue between PHA and journalists wanting to know about death numbers, the spread of infection, and how citizens should act to stay healthy. Two discourse strands are identified: death numbers and face masks. PHA handles these discourse strands in slightly different ways. Journalists ask about the relatively high Swedish death numbers, which PHA does not deny, but is reluctant to talk about. PHA does not want to acknowledge the usefulness of face masks, saying that other measures are more effective. Both discourse strands pose potential threats to PHA’s trustworthiness. Journalists question why PHA’s death statistics show lower figures than those of other authorities, and they ask about the scientific basis for its face mask strategy, pointing to countries with different approaches.