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ABSTRACT
This study investigates how geographic representations and regional industrial identity in news media are used to mobilize local/regional actors and to attract inward and outward investments by mediating and narrating stories of the recovery and rebirth of a region in distress – that is, how media contribute to economic development in or of the region. The study targets media attention covering the dismantling and relocation of two regionally embedded life science and likewise anchor firms: the Pharmacia and Upjohn merger in Uppsala in 1995 and the closure of AstraZeneca's operations in Lund in 2010. By drawing on the method of framing and content analysis of news articles derived from a public media database, the analysis show that: (a) geographic representation and associations are intensified in times of media turbulence; (b) news coverage follows two subsequent phases (an initial ‘crisis’ phase and a following more optimistic ‘recovery’ phase) and (c) news media (as intermediary actors and arenas) by communicating ideas of a shared regional industrial identity contribute to the construction of a ‘perceived regional advantage’ (as understood and communicated by news media). Thus, regional industrial identity-building and how the region is perceived by internal and external audiences are important for regional development.
Acknowledgements
The author would like to thank Professor Håkan Håkansson, BI Norwegian Business School, for the inspiration leading to this paper and Professor Anders Malmberg, Uppsala University, for providing useful comments.
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.
Notes
1. However, the cluster and related concepts have also been criticised as being elusive, at times confusing and open to multiple interpretations and understandings (cf. Markusen, Citation1999; Martin & Sunley, Citation2003; Malmberg & Power, Citation2006).
2. These processes do, however, not have to be spatially confined within the region, but can cross several scales and boundaries in, for instance, global knowledge pipelines (see Bathelt et al., Citation2004).
3. These intermediaries are often exemplified as technology transfer offices, university holding companies, science parks, business incubators, research and business consultants, institutions for collaboration to name a few.
4. See AffärsData, Retrieved March 6, 2014, http://www.ad.se/info/kallor.php .
5. In the Pharmacia case the search was delimited to ‘Pharmacia’ and the place-name ‘Uppsala’ in articles published over a time period stretching from 1994 to 2002. As for the case covering AstraZeneca, articles printed during the period 2008–2012 were used where the search words were limited to ‘Astra’ and ‘Lund’.
6. An example of a positive headline would, for example, read: ‘Here 10 000 jobs have been created: Packaging, pharmaceuticals and artificial kidneys are some examples of Lund's successful products’, and a negative: ‘The deathblow against Lund’ (translated by author).
7. Although the search words did not include Stockholm, it was nevertheless also counted as a ‘control variable’ to compare the occurrence of place names (as Pharmacia also had operations in Stockholm) (see ).
8. As pointed out by Paasi (Citation2002) and Eriksson (Citation2008) regional identity also involves a struggle between stakeholders and over meaning. In the Uppsala case the dominant view of the industrial identity as connected to biotech activities was not embraced by everyone, especially those working in or promoting the regional IT sector.
9. The Governing Board consists of leading representatives of Uppsala University, the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (SLU), Chamber of Commerce Uppsala County, Uppsala County Administrative Board, Uppsala County Council, Uppsala Regional Council and the City of Uppsala.