Mass media in Sweden

Mass media in Sweden has a long history, starting with a law from 1766 that allowed people to share news freely. Today, many newspapers and other media are supported by the government, and one big company, Bonnier AB, owns a lot of them.

In the past, Swedish television and radio were only run by the government, but this changed over time. Until 2019, people who owned TVs or radios had to pay a special fee to support public broadcasting. This was done by reporting their devices to the government, but it was not always easy to track everyone. In 2018, the Riksdag decided that everyone with an income would have to pay this fee instead, and all parties except the Sweden Democrats agreed to this change.

Sweden also has ways for media to watch itself and make sure it follows the rules, like the work of the Press Council.

Press

The 19th Century Swedish journalist Godfrey Renholm (1880 painting by Ernst Josephson

Sweden's newspapers get help from the government through special support. This help used to go to newspapers chosen by political parties, but now it goes more directly to newspapers that meet certain rules, like having at least 2000 readers.

Sweden's newspapers follow their own rules, overseen by the Public Press Ombudsman and the Swedish Press Council. One rule is that they do not name people who are only suspected of doing something wrong. Sweden has had freedom for its newspapers since 1766, when a law was made to protect this right. Today, this freedom is part of Sweden's Constitution.

The most read newspaper in Sweden is Aftonbladet, owned mostly by the Norwegian company Schibsted and also by the Swedish Trade Union Confederation. Another big newspaper, Expressen, is owned by Bonnier AB and has sister papers in Gothenburg (GT) and Malmö (Kvällsposten). Bonnier AB also owns Dagens Nyheter, Sweden's major morning newspaper. Other big papers include Svenska Dagbladet, Göteborgs-Posten, and Sydsvenska Dagbladet. Bonnier AB also owns many popular magazines in Sweden.

Television

Main article: Television in Sweden

Television began in Sweden in 1956, with broadcasts started by a public company called Sveriges Radio. A second channel, TV2, joined in 1969, and both channels competed. Later, the company split into four parts, and Sveriges Television (SVT) took over TV broadcasting.

For many years, SVT was the main TV channel. In 1987, the first commercial channel, TV3, began broadcasting from London by satellite. In the early 1990s, TV4 became the first commercial channel allowed on the national network.

Sweden started digital TV in April 1999 and finished turning off old analogue signals by late 2007. Today, several companies and channels are popular, including SVT, TV4, Viasat, and SBS Broadcasting Group.

Many people get their TV through cable, aerials, or satellite dishes.

Radio

National radio in Sweden is mainly provided by Sveriges Radio (SR), which gets its money from a special fee paid by people who own televisions. SR has four national channels: P1, P2, P3, and P4. P4 is a regional network with 25 stations that broadcast locally.

Commercial radio started selling licenses in the early 1990s, and before that, some local stations already existed in big cities. There are two types of private radio: community radio and local commercial radio. Over time, most of these local stations were bought by bigger companies. Today, the largest networks include Rix FM and Mix Megapol, along with a few others in the main cities.

Journalistic bias

The Department of Journalism and Mass Communication at the University of Gothenburg has done yearly surveys about political party support among members of the Swedish Union of Journalists, Sweden's largest group for journalists. A survey from late 2011 to early 2012 showed more support for leftwing parties, like the Left Party and the Green Party, compared to the general public.

After the 2010 elections, researcher Kent Asp looked at over 1,000 articles from Sweden’s big newspapers. He found that 43% of articles about the Red-Greens were negative, while only 27% of articles about the centre-right Alliance were negative. When describing the leaders, 53% of articles about the Red-Green leader Mona Sahlin were negative, but only 30% of articles about the Alliance leader Fredrik Reinfeldt were negative.

Controversies

Crime reporting

Swedish media has sometimes been criticized for not covering certain events enough, like bombings that have happened in the country.

Ideological and political bias in reporting

Some people have said that Swedish media does not always tell the full story fairly. They think some reporters might be influenced by their own political views or by the areas where they live. In 2005, a report said that some important jobs in public media were filled by people who supported the same political party.

In 2010, new rules were made that required government approval for new public service media products. This was seen as unfair by some.

Female genital mutilation reports

Main article: Prevalence of female genital mutilation by country § Sweden

In 2014, a newspaper reported that girls in a school class had been harmed in a serious way. Later, it was found that this was not true and the girls had not been harmed while living in Sweden.

Lists

Here are some important lists about media in Sweden: