Mass media in Sweden

Mass media in Sweden has a long history. It started with a law from 1766 that let people share news freely. Today, many newspapers and other media get help from the government. One big company, Bonnier AB, owns a lot of them.

In the past, Swedish television and radio were only run by the government. This changed over time. Until 2019, people who owned TVs or radios had to pay a special fee to support public broadcasting. They reported 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. All parties except the Sweden Democrats agreed to this change.

Sweden also has ways for media to watch itself and follow the rules. The Press Council helps with this.

Press

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

Sweden's newspapers receive government support. This support goes to newspapers that meet certain rules, such as 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 started in Sweden in 1956. A public company called Sveriges Radio began the broadcasts. A second channel, TV2, started in 1969. 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 showing shows 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 stopped using old analogue signals by late 2007. Today, several companies and channels are popular, including SVT, TV4, Viasat, and SBS Broadcasting Group.

Many people watch TV through cable, aerials, or satellite dishes.

Radio

National radio in Sweden is mainly provided by Sveriges Radio (SR). SR 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. 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 University of Gothenburg does surveys each year about which political parties journalists support. One survey showed that journalists support leftwing parties, like the Left Party and the Green Party, more than the general public do.

After the 2010 elections, a researcher studied many articles from big Swedish newspapers. He found that more articles about the Red-Greens were negative than articles about the centre-right Alliance. He also found that more articles about the Red-Green leader Mona Sahlin were negative than articles about the Alliance leader Fredrik Reinfeldt.

Controversies

Crime reporting

Swedish media has sometimes been criticized for not covering some 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:

Mass media in Sweden