Media in Sweden
Encyclopedia
Swedish media has a long tradition going back to the 1776 law enacting freedom of the press
.
The press is subsidized by the government and is owned by many actors, the dominant owner being Bonnier AB. Swedish TV and Radio was until the mid 1980s a government monopoly, which slowly has been eroded despite resistance, e.g. a call for prohibition of private ownership of satellite dish receivers.
Public service media is financed by a special fee (tax) levied on all who own a TV or Radio receiver. Reporting ownership is voluntary, but TV sellers are obliged to report purchase to the government, and the government also has a special service of agents
, with equipment capable of detecting tell-tale emissions from TV-receivers, who patrols residential areas in order to catch those who have not reported ownership of a receiver.
Swedish media has mechanisms for self regulation, such as the Swedish Press Council.
. Originally this was directly distributed through the political parties to their supporting newspapers, but nowadays subsidies are more direct in form, and are tied to certain requirements, e.g. a minimum of 2000 subscribers. Support also exists in indirect form in the shape of partial tax-exceptions.
The Swedish Press is self-regulated through the Public Press Ombudsman, or Allmänhetens Pressombudsman and the Swedish Press Council, or Pressens Opinionsnämnd. One example of this is that Swedish media follow a principle of not disclosing the identities of suspected criminals. There was some controversy when Dagens Nyheter
on 27 September 2003 published the name and picture of Mijailo Mijailović
, who was the suspected assassin of Swedish foreign minister Anna Lindh
.
Freedom of the press in Sweden dates back to 1766 when it was enshrined in a law enacted by the Riksdag of the Estates
. It is today a part of the Constitution of Sweden
.
The Swedish newspaper with the widest circulation is the evening newspaper Aftonbladet
, controlled by the Norwegian media conglomerate
Schibsted
(majority holder) and the Swedish Trade Union Confederation
. Its competitor, Expressen
, is controlled by Bonnier AB and has sister editions in Gothenburg
(GT) and Malmö
(Kvällsposten). Bonnier AB also controls the major national morning newspaper, Dagens Nyheter
. Its Stockholm competitor Svenska Dagbladet
is owned by Schibsted. Göteborgs-Posten
is the major regional newspaper in Gothenburg
and the west of Sweden, while another Bonnier-owned newspaper, Sydsvenska Dagbladet, dominates in Malmö
and the south. Bonnier AB also owns Sweden's major business newspaper, Dagens Industri. The Local
is one of the few English language general news websites in the country.
Through its subsidiary Bonnier Tidskrifter AB, Bonnier AB also controls many of Sweden's most popular magazine
s, such as Amelia, Allt om Mat, Teknikens Värld
and the business magazine Veckans Affärer
. Other major magazine publishers in Sweden are Allers förlag, the Danish-controlled Egmont and the French Hachette Filipacchi Médias
.
Sweden also has many large organizations which almost all produce membership magazines with a wide readership. The biggest ones, with readership figures above 300 000, include Vår Bostad (published by the Union of Tenants and HSB, a cooperative building society), PRO-pensionären (published by the Pensioners’ National Organization) and the magazines of the largest trade unions: Kommunalarbetaren (published by the Municipal Workers' Union
), Siftidningen (published by the Union of Clerical and Technical Employees in Industry
) and Dagens Arbete (published jointly by the Metalworkers' Union, the Industrial Union, the Graphic Workers' Union
, the Paper Workers' Union and the Forest and Wood Workers' Union
).
Television trials from the Royal Institute of Technology
started in 1954. Broadcasts officially started in 1956. The broadcasts were made by the public broadcaster Sveriges Radio
. When a second channel, TV2
, started in 1969 it was broadcast by the same company, but the two channels were supposed to compete against each other. Since SR was split into four different companies in the late 70s, the television broadcasting has been the responsibility of Sveriges Television
(SVT).
SVT and its two channels dominated television for a long time. In 1987 the first commercial channel, TV3
was started, broadcasting from London
via satellite. In connection with the loosening up of the State media monopoly there was a debate regarding how to preserve the media monopoly, with Social Democratic parliamentarian Maj Britt Theorin
proposing that private ownership of satellite dishes be prohibited in Sweden.
In the early 1990s, TV4 became the first commercial channel to be allowed to join the national terrestrial broadcasting network, run by Teracom
. Sveriges Television is funded by a fee
-- fixed by Parliament
and collected by the Kiruna
-based Receiving Licence Agency, Radiotjänst i Kiruna AB
-- and is regulated, together with TV4, by the Swedish Broadcasting Commission
.
Sweden was an early adopter of digital terrestrial television
, officially launching it in April 1999. The analogue shutdown of the SVT and TV4 signals started in September 2005 and was completed in late 2007.
Four companies and five channels dominate the Swedish television viewing:
The prospect of the digital shutdown has caused SVT and TV4 to start several new channels. SVT have SVT24
, SVTB and Kunskapskanalen
. TV4 have started lots of channels, including TV4 Plus
, TV4 Film
, TV400 and TV4 Fakta
. Channels owned by Viasat include TV6 and TV8
. Other channels such as Eurosport
, Discovery Channel
, MTV Sweden
and Disney Channel Scandinavia
also have a relatively strong position in Sweden.
Two dominating networks of premium content exists: TV1000
and Viasat Sport
, owned by Viasat, and C More Entertainment
owned by TV4 Gruppen (using the Canal+
brand).
The main pay television distributors are: Com Hem
(cable), Boxer
(terrestrial), Viasat
(satellite) and Canal Digital
(satellite). There are also several smaller cable networks, most notably Tele2Vision
and Telia Digital-tv
. As of 2006, it is estimated that 50 percent of the households receive their television signals from a cable network, 30 percent from a regular aerial
and 20 percent using a satellite dish.
(SR), which is funded through the same fee that is collected for television sets. The sale of commercial radio licenses began in the early 1990s, though commercial radio existed before this through local stations in the larger cities (närradio).
SR have four national channels: P1, P2, P3 and P4. P4 is a regional network where 25 stations broadcast locally for much of the day.
There exists two systems for private radio: community radio
(närradio) and local commercial radio (PLR, privat lokalradio).
When the PLR licenses were auctioned in the early 1990s several different local stations appeared. The licencees would consolidate over the years and in 2006 almost all licenses were owned by Modern Times Group
or SBS Broadcasting Group
, since SBS bought Fria Media in February 2006.
Most stations are part of a network, the two largest being Rix FM (36 stations, MTG) and Mix Megapol
(24 stations, SBS), both using AC
-formats. Three other networks exist: The Soft AC network Lugna Favoriter (12 stations, MTG) and two CHR
networks, only existing in the three major cities: The Voice
(SBS) and NRJ (MTG).
ed towards the political left. The Department of Journalism and Mass Communication (JMG) at Gothenburg University
has conducted yearly surveys regarding their political party sympathies among the members of the Swedish Union of Journalists
, the largest trade union organizing journalists in Sweden. The latest survey, conducted in late 1999, has shown a significant higher percentage of support for the centre-left political parties (mainly the Left Party
and the Green Party
) compared to these parties' support amongst the general Swedish population. 31 percent of the journalists favoured the Left Party, compared to 15 percent of the general population. All the previous surveys has shown similar results.
As regards to foreign policy issues, Swedish media has often been criticized of reporting biased towards the United States
/the Bush administration
, and towards Israel
in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict
. A debate was sparked in 2004 when the Sveriges Radio
correspondent in the United States, Cecilia Uddén, who was reporting from the 2004 presidential election
, said during a live radio debate:
After this statement Uddén was put into quarantine by the management of Sveriges Radio for the rest of the U.S. election. Uddén is currently the correspondent for Sveriges Radio in the Middle East
. Regarding the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, Uddén has stated in an interview that "in order to be able to describe the conflict honestly you have to side with the weaker part [i.e. the Palestinians]"
policy and the societal and financial costs associated with it. Criticism has focused on accusations that those in the media who shape public opinion often do this based on ideological constructs and exhibit a lack of awareness of current societal problems, often pointing to the fact that journalists and editors predominantly reside in segregated low-risk upper middle-class areas. Well-known Swedish journalists have echoed criticism regarding cover-ups, with Janne Josefsson
calling it "one of the worst betrayals we journalists have made ourselves guilty of"("ett av de värsta sveken vi journalister gjort oss skyldiga till"). He also notes that critics were unjustifiably silenced through racism allegations. A former high-profile News-presenter of the Swedish State Television resigned her position and made a public statement that she did so due to the bias in State TV news-reporting and the belittling and racism accusations launched at critics.
Charges have also been made by journalists that the State Media are politically biased through direct political control, predominantly by the Social Democratic party. Accusations have been made that it has been long-term party policy to fill strategically important positions in the public-service media with persons loyal to the party.
This has resulted in media-reporting being susceptible to being directed by political considerations.
Freedom of the press
Freedom of the press or freedom of the media is the freedom of communication and expression through vehicles including various electronic media and published materials...
.
The press is subsidized by the government and is owned by many actors, the dominant owner being Bonnier AB. Swedish TV and Radio was until the mid 1980s a government monopoly, which slowly has been eroded despite resistance, e.g. a call for prohibition of private ownership of satellite dish receivers.
Public service media is financed by a special fee (tax) levied on all who own a TV or Radio receiver. Reporting ownership is voluntary, but TV sellers are obliged to report purchase to the government, and the government also has a special service of agents
Radiotjänst i Kiruna
Radiotjänst i Kiruna AB is Sweden's TV licensing body. It is a private corporation, formed in 1988 and based in Kiruna. The company is a subsidiary of the three Swedish public service broadcasters Sveriges Television, Sveriges Radio and Sveriges Utbildningsradio...
, with equipment capable of detecting tell-tale emissions from TV-receivers, who patrols residential areas in order to catch those who have not reported ownership of a receiver.
Swedish media has mechanisms for self regulation, such as the Swedish Press Council.
Press
The Swedish press is subsidized by the government through Press supportPress support
Press support is a Norwegian state subsidy available for newspapers. The subsidy is twofold; the first part is a direct subsidy of the second- largest, by circulation, newspapers in each city...
. Originally this was directly distributed through the political parties to their supporting newspapers, but nowadays subsidies are more direct in form, and are tied to certain requirements, e.g. a minimum of 2000 subscribers. Support also exists in indirect form in the shape of partial tax-exceptions.
The Swedish Press is self-regulated through the Public Press Ombudsman, or Allmänhetens Pressombudsman and the Swedish Press Council, or Pressens Opinionsnämnd. One example of this is that Swedish media follow a principle of not disclosing the identities of suspected criminals. There was some controversy when Dagens Nyheter
Dagens Nyheter
is a daily newspaper in Sweden. It has the largest circulation of Swedish morning newspapers, followed by Göteborgs-Posten and Svenska Dagbladet, and is the only morning newspaper that is distributed to subscribers across the whole country. In 2009 DN had a circulation of 316,000, reaching 881...
on 27 September 2003 published the name and picture of Mijailo Mijailović
Mijailo Mijailovic
Mijailo Mijailović is the self-confessed and convicted assassin of the Swedish Minister for Foreign Affairs Anna Lindh, whom he stabbed on 10 September 2003 at the NK department store in Stockholm...
, who was the suspected assassin of Swedish foreign minister Anna Lindh
Anna Lindh
Ylva Anna Maria Lindh was a Swedish Social Democratic politician, Chairman of the Social Democratic Youth League 1984-1990, Member of Parliament 1982-1985 and 1998-2003...
.
Freedom of the press in Sweden dates back to 1766 when it was enshrined in a law enacted by the Riksdag of the Estates
Riksdag of the Estates
The Riksdag of the Estates , was the name used for the Estates of the Swedish realm when they were assembled. Until its dissolution in 1866, the institution was the highest authority in Sweden next to the King...
. It is today a part of the Constitution of Sweden
Constitution of Sweden
The Swedish Constitution consists of four fundamental laws :* The 1810 Act of Succession * The 1949 Freedom of the Press Act * The 1974 Instrument of Government * The 1991 Fundamental Law on Freedom of Expression...
.
The Swedish newspaper with the widest circulation is the evening newspaper Aftonbladet
Aftonbladet
Aftonbladet is a Swedish tabloid founded by Lars Johan Hierta in 1830 during the modernization of Sweden. It is one of the larger daily newspapers in the Nordic countries. Aftonbladet is owned by the Swedish Trade Union Confederation and Norwegian media group Schibsted, and its editorial page...
, controlled by the Norwegian media conglomerate
Media conglomerate
A media conglomerate, media group or media institution is a company that owns large numbers of companies in various mass media such as television, radio, publishing, movies, and the Internet...
Schibsted
Schibsted
Schibsted is a Norwegian media conglomerate with operations in 20 countries, the most important being Norway and Sweden. The company has its headquarters in Oslo, Norway and is listed on Oslo Stock Exchange....
(majority holder) and the Swedish Trade Union Confederation
Swedish Trade Union Confederation
The Swedish Trade Union Confederation , commonly referred to as LO, is a national trade union centre, an umbrella organisation for fifteen Swedish trade unions that organise mainly "blue-collar" workers...
. Its competitor, Expressen
Expressen
Expressen is one of two nationwide evening tabloid newspapers in Sweden, the other being Aftonbladet. Expressen was founded in 1944; its symbol is a wasp and slogans "it stings" or "Expressen to your rescue", always on the reader's side....
, is controlled by Bonnier AB and has sister editions in Gothenburg
Gothenburg
Gothenburg is the second-largest city in Sweden and the fifth-largest in the Nordic countries. Situated on the west coast of Sweden, the city proper has a population of 519,399, with 549,839 in the urban area and total of 937,015 inhabitants in the metropolitan area...
(GT) and Malmö
Malmö
Malmö , in the southernmost province of Scania, is the third most populous city in Sweden, after Stockholm and Gothenburg.Malmö is the seat of Malmö Municipality and the capital of Skåne County...
(Kvällsposten). Bonnier AB also controls the major national morning newspaper, Dagens Nyheter
Dagens Nyheter
is a daily newspaper in Sweden. It has the largest circulation of Swedish morning newspapers, followed by Göteborgs-Posten and Svenska Dagbladet, and is the only morning newspaper that is distributed to subscribers across the whole country. In 2009 DN had a circulation of 316,000, reaching 881...
. Its Stockholm competitor Svenska Dagbladet
Svenska Dagbladet
Svenska Dagbladet is a daily newspaper in Sweden. The first issue appeared on 18 December 1884. Svenska Dagbladet is published in Stockholm and provides coverage of national and international news as well as local coverage of the Greater Stockholm region...
is owned by Schibsted. Göteborgs-Posten
Göteborgs-Posten
Göteborgs-Posten is a major daily newspaper in Sweden. It is published in Gothenburg, with containing coverage of local, regional, national and international issues. It is chiefly distributed in western Götaland. It has the second largest national circulation, after Dagens Nyheter and before...
is the major regional newspaper in Gothenburg
Gothenburg
Gothenburg is the second-largest city in Sweden and the fifth-largest in the Nordic countries. Situated on the west coast of Sweden, the city proper has a population of 519,399, with 549,839 in the urban area and total of 937,015 inhabitants in the metropolitan area...
and the west of Sweden, while another Bonnier-owned newspaper, Sydsvenska Dagbladet, dominates in Malmö
Malmö
Malmö , in the southernmost province of Scania, is the third most populous city in Sweden, after Stockholm and Gothenburg.Malmö is the seat of Malmö Municipality and the capital of Skåne County...
and the south. Bonnier AB also owns Sweden's major business newspaper, Dagens Industri. The Local
The Local
The Local is an English-language online news portal localised for Sweden, Germany, France and Switzerland. Each site, while alike in appearance, has separate editorial teams, each focused on its respective market....
is one of the few English language general news websites in the country.
Through its subsidiary Bonnier Tidskrifter AB, Bonnier AB also controls many of Sweden's most popular magazine
Magazine
Magazines, periodicals, glossies or serials are publications, generally published on a regular schedule, containing a variety of articles. They are generally financed by advertising, by a purchase price, by pre-paid magazine subscriptions, or all three...
s, such as Amelia, Allt om Mat, Teknikens Värld
Teknikens Värld
Teknikens värld is a leading motor magazine in Sweden, owned and published by Bonnier. The magazine primarily features automotive news, reviews and test drives of passenger cars from various segments. Books are also published under the name, e.g...
and the business magazine Veckans Affärer
Veckans Affärer
Veckans Affärer is a Swedish business journal published weekly, dealing in all business-related matters both within and outside Sweden....
. Other major magazine publishers in Sweden are Allers förlag, the Danish-controlled Egmont and the French Hachette Filipacchi Médias
Hachette Filipacchi Médias
Hachette Filipacchi Médias, S.A. is a magazine publisher. It is a wholly owned subsidiary of Lagardère Media of France.- History :Hachette Filipacchi was founded by Louis Hachette in 1826 when he purchased the Librarie Brédif. Hachette was purchased by Matra in 1980, a firm associated with Ténot &...
.
Sweden also has many large organizations which almost all produce membership magazines with a wide readership. The biggest ones, with readership figures above 300 000, include Vår Bostad (published by the Union of Tenants and HSB, a cooperative building society), PRO-pensionären (published by the Pensioners’ National Organization) and the magazines of the largest trade unions: Kommunalarbetaren (published by the Municipal Workers' Union
Swedish Municipal Workers' Union
The Swedish Municipal Workers' Union is the largest trade union in Sweden with 570 000 members as of 2005, it was created 1910. It is commonly referred to as Kommunal.The majority of members are employed by varying local level municipalities....
), Siftidningen (published by the Union of Clerical and Technical Employees in Industry
Swedish Union of Clerical and Technical Employees in Industry
The Swedish Union of Clerical and Technical Employees in Industry was the largest trade union for white-collar workers in Sweden. In 2008, it merged with HTF to form Unionen....
) and Dagens Arbete (published jointly by the Metalworkers' Union, the Industrial Union, the Graphic Workers' Union
Swedish Graphic Workers' Union
The Swedish Graphic Workers' Union was a trade union in Sweden. It was founded in 1973 and was merged with Swedish Forest and Wood Workers' Union June 1, 2009 into GS and had by that time 23,000 members...
, the Paper Workers' Union and the Forest and Wood Workers' Union
Swedish Forest and Wood Workers' Union
-External links:* official site....
).
Television
- Main article: Television in SwedenTelevision in SwedenTelevision in Sweden began in Sweden in the early 1950s with the first test transmissions, prior to the opening of the first station, Radiotjänst, two years later. A second channel was launched in 1969...
Television trials from the Royal Institute of Technology
Royal Institute of Technology
The Royal Institute of Technology is a university in Stockholm, Sweden. KTH was founded in 1827 as Sweden's first polytechnic and is one of Scandinavia's largest institutions of higher education in technology. KTH accounts for one-third of Sweden’s technical research and engineering education...
started in 1954. Broadcasts officially started in 1956. The broadcasts were made by the public broadcaster Sveriges Radio
Sveriges Radio
Sveriges Radio AB – Swedish Radio Ltd – is Sweden's national publicly funded radio broadcaster. The Swedish public-broadcasting system is in many respects modelled after the one used in the United Kingdom, and Sveriges Radio - like Sveriges Television - shares many characteristics with...
. When a second channel, TV2
SVT2
SVT2, until 1996 TV2, is one of two television channels broadcast by Sveriges Television in Sweden. It was started by Sveriges Radio in 1969. SVT2 is generally more specialist, compared to SVT1.-History:...
, started in 1969 it was broadcast by the same company, but the two channels were supposed to compete against each other. Since SR was split into four different companies in the late 70s, the television broadcasting has been the responsibility of Sveriges Television
Sveriges Television
Sveriges Television AB , Sweden's Television, is a national television broadcaster based in Sweden, funded by a compulsory fee to be paid by all television owners...
(SVT).
SVT and its two channels dominated television for a long time. In 1987 the first commercial channel, TV3
TV3 (Sweden)
TV3 is a television channel targeted at a Swedish language audience owned by Viasat . It was founded on 31 December 1987 by entrepreneur Jan Stenbeck as joint Scandinavian channel, but Denmark and Norway soon got their own versions of TV3...
was started, broadcasting from London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
via satellite. In connection with the loosening up of the State media monopoly there was a debate regarding how to preserve the media monopoly, with Social Democratic parliamentarian Maj Britt Theorin
Maj Britt Theorin
Karin Maj Britt Margareta Theorin , commonly known as Maj Britt Theorin, is a Swedish social democratic politician. She served as President of the International Peace Bureau from 1992 to 2000, following Bruce Kent, and as a Swedish Member of the European Parliament from 1999 to 2004...
proposing that private ownership of satellite dishes be prohibited in Sweden.
In the early 1990s, TV4 became the first commercial channel to be allowed to join the national terrestrial broadcasting network, run by Teracom
Teracom
Teracom is a terrestrial broadcast transmission service company owned by the Swedish Government. Teracom owns all Swedish broadcast transmission sites, and distributes all terrestrial radio and TV channels, private as well as public-service, analogue as well as digital.Teracom Components is a...
. Sveriges Television is funded by a fee
Television licence
A television licence is an official licence required in many countries for the reception of television broadcasts...
-- fixed by Parliament
Parliament of Sweden
The Riksdag is the national legislative assembly of Sweden. The riksdag is a unicameral assembly with 349 members , who are elected on a proportional basis to serve fixed terms of four years...
and collected by the Kiruna
Kiruna
Kiruna is the northernmost city in Sweden, situated in Lapland province, with 18,154 inhabitants in 2005. It is the seat of Kiruna Municipality Kiruna (Northern Sami: Giron, Finnish: Kiiruna) is the northernmost city in Sweden, situated in Lapland province, with 18,154 inhabitants in 2005. It is...
-based Receiving Licence Agency, Radiotjänst i Kiruna AB
Radiotjänst i Kiruna
Radiotjänst i Kiruna AB is Sweden's TV licensing body. It is a private corporation, formed in 1988 and based in Kiruna. The company is a subsidiary of the three Swedish public service broadcasters Sveriges Television, Sveriges Radio and Sveriges Utbildningsradio...
-- and is regulated, together with TV4, by the Swedish Broadcasting Commission
Swedish Broadcasting Commission
Granskningsnämnden för radio och TV – English title: The Swedish Broadcasting Commission – was a Swedish government agency formed in 1994 to regulate already broadcasted radio and television in Sweden.-Jurisdiction:...
.
Sweden was an early adopter of digital terrestrial television
Digital terrestrial television
Digital terrestrial television is the technological evolution of broadcast television and advance from analog television, which broadcasts land-based signals...
, officially launching it in April 1999. The analogue shutdown of the SVT and TV4 signals started in September 2005 and was completed in late 2007.
Four companies and five channels dominate the Swedish television viewing:
- SVTSveriges TelevisionSveriges Television AB , Sweden's Television, is a national television broadcaster based in Sweden, funded by a compulsory fee to be paid by all television owners...
with SVT1SVT1SVT1 is the primary television station of the Swedish public service broadcaster Sveriges Television in Sweden.-History:The channel began broadcasting in 1956 and was known as Radiotjänst TV, A year later, it was renamed Sveriges Radio TV. In 1969, the second television station TV2 was launched and...
and SVT2SVT2SVT2, until 1996 TV2, is one of two television channels broadcast by Sveriges Television in Sweden. It was started by Sveriges Radio in 1969. SVT2 is generally more specialist, compared to SVT1.-History:... - TV4 GruppenTV4 ABTV4 Group is a Swedish media company that owns the largest commercial television channel in Sweden, TV4.Since 2007, the company is fully owned by Bonnier through Nordic Broadcasting Oy...
with TV4 (owned by Bonnier) - ViasatViasatViasat is a DBS distributor and TV broadcaster, owned by the Swedish media conglomerate Modern Times Group. Broadcasting from London, the target markets are in the Nordic and the Baltic Countries...
with TV3TV3 (Sweden)TV3 is a television channel targeted at a Swedish language audience owned by Viasat . It was founded on 31 December 1987 by entrepreneur Jan Stenbeck as joint Scandinavian channel, but Denmark and Norway soon got their own versions of TV3...
(owned by Modern Times GroupModern Times GroupModern Times Group is a Swedish media company. MTG was formed out of the media holdings of investment company Kinnevik, which in 1997 was distributed to the company stockholders. Among the assets were Viasat and Metro International...
) - SBS Broadcasting GroupSBS Broadcasting GroupSBS Broadcasting Group was a European broadcasting group, operating commercial television, premium pay channels, radio stations and related print businesses in Western and Central and Eastern Europe...
with Kanal 5Kanal 5 (Sweden)Kanal 5 is a Swedish commercial television channel established in 1989. It is owned by the media corporation ProSiebenSat.1 Media.After a troublesome 1990s, Kanal 5 launched new strategies in the early 2000s that established it as a popular entertainment channel targeting young people...
(owned by ProSiebenSat.1 MediaProSiebenSat.1 MediaProSiebenSat.1 Media AG is a European media conglomerate, operating commercial television, premium pay channels, radio stations and related print businesses. It was formed on October 2, 2000 by merger of German TV broadcasters ProSieben Media AG and Sat.1 SatellitenFernsehen GmbH...
)
The prospect of the digital shutdown has caused SVT and TV4 to start several new channels. SVT have SVT24
SVT24
SVT24 or 24 is a Swedish language TV channel broadcast by Sveriges Television . It started broadcasting in 1999 as a dedicated news channel. In 2003 extended its scope to include other current events-related programmes and sports in the weekends...
, SVTB and Kunskapskanalen
Kunskapskanalen
Kunskapskanalen is a Swedish language television channel broadcasting educational and factual programming between 9 a.m. and 01 a.m. all days of the week...
. TV4 have started lots of channels, including TV4 Plus
TV4 Plus
Sjuan is a sister channel of Swedish TV4, owned by TV4 AB. The main focus of the channel is on entertainment, sports and lifestyle programmes. The channel started as TV4 Plus in 2003 but changed name to Sjuan in September 2011....
, TV4 Film
TV4 Film
TV4 Film is a Swedish film channel owned by TV4 AB.TV4 applied for a license to broadcast a film channel terrestrially in the autumn of 2003 and were granted a license in December...
, TV400 and TV4 Fakta
TV4 Fakta
TV4 Fakta is a Swedish documentary channel owned by TV4 Group. It started broadcasting in 2005.Much of the programming is taken from the A&E Television Networks. Since December 2005, the remainder of the schedule is filled with the English language Euronews...
. Channels owned by Viasat include TV6 and TV8
TV8 (Sweden)
TV8 is a television channel owned by Modern Times Group broadcasting to Sweden. It focuses on news, current affairs, documentaries and drama. The channel was started by the private equity firm Ratos in 1997 and was sold to MTG in 1999....
. Other channels such as Eurosport
Eurosport
Eurosport is a pan-European television sport network operated by French broadcaster TF1 Group. The network of channels are available in 59 countries, in 20 different languages providing viewers with European and international sporting events...
, Discovery Channel
Discovery Channel
Discovery Channel is an American satellite and cable specialty channel , founded by John Hendricks and distributed by Discovery Communications. It is a publicly traded company run by CEO David Zaslav...
, MTV Sweden
MTV Sweden
MTV Sweden is a general entertainment channel broadcasting to the Swedish market. The channel replaced MTV Nordic on September 18, 2005.-History:* MTV Sweden launched in September 2005 along with MTV Finland and MTV Norge...
and Disney Channel Scandinavia
Disney Channel Scandinavia
For the Disney Channel in other countries, see Disney Channel . For the original Disney Channel, see Disney Channel.Disney Channel Scandinavia is an edition of The Walt Disney Company-owned Disney Channel broadcasting to the Nordic countries and Baltic states...
also have a relatively strong position in Sweden.
Two dominating networks of premium content exists: TV1000
TV1000
TV1000 is a group of cable and satellite movie channels broadcasting to the Nordic countries and owned by Modern Times Group . It is also the name of the flagship channel.-History:...
and Viasat Sport
Viasat Sport
Viasat Sport is the common brand of several sports channels targeting the Nordic, Baltic and Eastern European countries owned by Modern Times Group.Viasat Sport is also the name of one tv-channel in Russia, Belarus, Ukraine, Kazakhstan and the Baltics...
, owned by Viasat, and C More Entertainment
C More Entertainment
C More Entertainment is a premium television company, operating under the banner CANAL+, that targets the Nordic Countries and with one separate channel in Sweden ....
owned by TV4 Gruppen (using the Canal+
Canal+
Canal+ is a French premium pay television channel launched in 1984. It is 80% owned by the Canal+ Group, which in turn is owned by Vivendi SA. The channel broadcasts several kinds of programming, mostly encrypted...
brand).
The main pay television distributors are: Com Hem
Com Hem
Com Hem AB of Sweden, supplies triple play services that include cable tv, digital television, broadband, telephony and HDTV.Founded in 1983 as Televerket Kabel-TV as part of the former state-owned Televerket, the company has been successively named Svenska Kabel-TV AB and Telia InfoMedia...
(cable), Boxer
Boxer TV Access
Boxer TV Access is a Swedish company providing pay television channels on the digital terrestrial television network in Sweden. Modeled on the British ITV Digital, it was founded in October 1999. Some channels on the Swedish DTT are free-to-air, but most of the channels require subscription from...
(terrestrial), Viasat
Viasat
Viasat is a DBS distributor and TV broadcaster, owned by the Swedish media conglomerate Modern Times Group. Broadcasting from London, the target markets are in the Nordic and the Baltic Countries...
(satellite) and Canal Digital
Canal Digital
Canal Digital is a Scandinavian television distributor and internet service provider that was founded in March 1997 as a joint venture between the French pay-TV company Canal+ and the Norwegian telecommunications operator Telenor...
(satellite). There are also several smaller cable networks, most notably Tele2Vision
Tele2Vision
Tele2Vision is a Swedish cable television distributor owned by Tele2. It was started in 1986 .Tele2 was relatively late in adopting digital television, broadcasting analogue only until early 2006...
and Telia Digital-tv
Telia Digital-tv
Telia Digital-tv is an IPTV distribution platform in Sweden owned by TeliaSonera. It was launched in January 2005 from a few locations, soon expanding into other locations.In September 2007, Telia announced that the platform had 200,000 subscribers....
. As of 2006, it is estimated that 50 percent of the households receive their television signals from a cable network, 30 percent from a regular aerial
Television antenna
A television antenna, or TV aerial, is an antenna specifically designed for the reception of over the air broadcast television signals, which are transmitted at frequencies from about 41 to 250 MHz in the VHF band, and 470 to 960 MHz in the UHF band in different countries...
and 20 percent using a satellite dish.
Radio
National radio is dominated by public service company Sveriges RadioSveriges Radio
Sveriges Radio AB – Swedish Radio Ltd – is Sweden's national publicly funded radio broadcaster. The Swedish public-broadcasting system is in many respects modelled after the one used in the United Kingdom, and Sveriges Radio - like Sveriges Television - shares many characteristics with...
(SR), which is funded through the same fee that is collected for television sets. The sale of commercial radio licenses began in the early 1990s, though commercial radio existed before this through local stations in the larger cities (närradio).
SR have four national channels: P1, P2, P3 and P4. P4 is a regional network where 25 stations broadcast locally for much of the day.
There exists two systems for private radio: community radio
Community radio
Community radio is a type of radio service, that offers a third model of radio broadcasting beyond commercial broadcasting and public broadcasting. Community stations can serve geographic communities and communities of interest...
(närradio) and local commercial radio (PLR, privat lokalradio).
When the PLR licenses were auctioned in the early 1990s several different local stations appeared. The licencees would consolidate over the years and in 2006 almost all licenses were owned by Modern Times Group
Modern Times Group
Modern Times Group is a Swedish media company. MTG was formed out of the media holdings of investment company Kinnevik, which in 1997 was distributed to the company stockholders. Among the assets were Viasat and Metro International...
or SBS Broadcasting Group
SBS Broadcasting Group
SBS Broadcasting Group was a European broadcasting group, operating commercial television, premium pay channels, radio stations and related print businesses in Western and Central and Eastern Europe...
, since SBS bought Fria Media in February 2006.
Most stations are part of a network, the two largest being Rix FM (36 stations, MTG) and Mix Megapol
Mix Megapol
Mix Megapol is a private Swedish radio network controlled by ProSiebenSat.1 Media AG. It launched in 1993 under the name Skärgårdsradion . Later that year the name was changed to Radio Megapol when the broadcasting permissions were auctioned out. In 1997 the word "Mix" was added and their slogan...
(24 stations, SBS), both using AC
Adult contemporary music
Adult contemporary music is a broad style of popular music that ranges from lush 1950s and 1960s vocal music to predominantly ballad-heavy music with varying degrees of rock influence, as well as a radio format that plays such music....
-formats. Three other networks exist: The Soft AC network Lugna Favoriter (12 stations, MTG) and two CHR
Contemporary hit radio
Contemporary hit radio is a radio format that is common in the United States, United Kingdom, Canada and Australia that focuses on playing current and recurrent popular music as determined by the Top 40 music charts...
networks, only existing in the three major cities: The Voice
The Voice Hiphop & RnB Sweden
The Voice of Hiphop & RnB is a Swedish radio station. A webcast of the station is available through on the internet.- History :The Voice, former Radio City and Mix Megapol, started in April 2004 in Stockholm on 105.9. The Voice is owned by ProSiebenSat.1 Media AG. After the merge with Bonnier...
(SBS) and NRJ (MTG).
Journalist bias
Media in Sweden is often criticized of being biasBias
Bias is an inclination to present or hold a partial perspective at the expense of alternatives. Bias can come in many forms.-In judgement and decision making:...
ed towards the political left. The Department of Journalism and Mass Communication (JMG) at Gothenburg University
Gothenburg University
The University of Gothenburg is a university in Sweden's second largest city, Gothenburg.- Character :The University of Gothenburg is the third-oldest Swedish university, and with 24,900 full-time students it is also among the largest universities in the Nordic countries...
has conducted yearly surveys regarding their political party sympathies among the members of the Swedish Union of Journalists
Swedish Union of Journalists
The Swedish Union of Journalists is a trade union in Sweden. It is affiliated with the Swedish Confederation of Professional Employees, and the International Federation of Journalists.-Membership:The SJF has a membership of more than 19 000 members:...
, the largest trade union organizing journalists in Sweden. The latest survey, conducted in late 1999, has shown a significant higher percentage of support for the centre-left political parties (mainly the Left Party
Left Party (Sweden)
The Left Party is a socialist and feminist political party in Sweden, from 1967 to 1990 known as the Left Party – The Communists .On welfare issues, the party opposes privatizations...
and the Green Party
Green Party (Sweden)
-External links:**...
) compared to these parties' support amongst the general Swedish population. 31 percent of the journalists favoured the Left Party, compared to 15 percent of the general population. All the previous surveys has shown similar results.
As regards to foreign policy issues, Swedish media has often been criticized of reporting biased towards the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
/the Bush administration
George W. Bush
George Walker Bush is an American politician who served as the 43rd President of the United States, from 2001 to 2009. Before that, he was the 46th Governor of Texas, having served from 1995 to 2000....
, and towards Israel
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict
Israeli-Palestinian conflict
The Israeli–Palestinian conflict is the ongoing conflict between Israelis and Palestinians. The conflict is wide-ranging, and the term is also used in reference to the earlier phases of the same conflict, between Jewish and Zionist yishuv and the Arab population living in Palestine under Ottoman or...
. A debate was sparked in 2004 when the Sveriges Radio
Sveriges Radio
Sveriges Radio AB – Swedish Radio Ltd – is Sweden's national publicly funded radio broadcaster. The Swedish public-broadcasting system is in many respects modelled after the one used in the United Kingdom, and Sveriges Radio - like Sveriges Television - shares many characteristics with...
correspondent in the United States, Cecilia Uddén, who was reporting from the 2004 presidential election
United States presidential election, 2004
The United States presidential election of 2004 was the United States' 55th quadrennial presidential election. It was held on Tuesday, November 2, 2004. Republican Party candidate and incumbent President George W. Bush defeated Democratic Party candidate John Kerry, the then-junior U.S. Senator...
, said during a live radio debate:
I don't think either that Swedish media have any requirement whatsoever regarding fairness when it comes to the U.S. election. We have no reason to be fair and present both sides views as we would have done in a Swedish election.
After this statement Uddén was put into quarantine by the management of Sveriges Radio for the rest of the U.S. election. Uddén is currently the correspondent for Sveriges Radio in the Middle East
Middle East
The Middle East is a region that encompasses Western Asia and Northern Africa. It is often used as a synonym for Near East, in opposition to Far East...
. Regarding the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, Uddén has stated in an interview that "in order to be able to describe the conflict honestly you have to side with the weaker part [i.e. the Palestinians]"
-
- It is also important to take into consideration, that many outlets are owned by corporations, therefore while the worker may have a 'left' political view, the owner and/or editor of the outlet may have a 'conservative' or pro-business one.
Ideological and political bias in reporting
The reporting in Swedish media has sometimes, by journalists, been accused of bias and cover-ups, in particular as regards Swedish immigrationImmigration to Sweden
Immigration to Sweden is the process by which people migrate to Sweden to reside in the country. Many, but not all, become Swedish citizens. People have been migrating to the geographic region of Sweden for hundreds of years, with rates of immigration and source countries varying throughout...
policy and the societal and financial costs associated with it. Criticism has focused on accusations that those in the media who shape public opinion often do this based on ideological constructs and exhibit a lack of awareness of current societal problems, often pointing to the fact that journalists and editors predominantly reside in segregated low-risk upper middle-class areas. Well-known Swedish journalists have echoed criticism regarding cover-ups, with Janne Josefsson
Janne Josefsson
Janne Josefsson is a Swedish investigative journalist who has had numerous shows on Sveriges Television such as Fittja Paradiso, Uppdrag Granskning and Debatt. Uppdrag Granskning has uncovered some of Swedens most noted scandals such as the ICA meat repackaging controversy, and have both received...
calling it "one of the worst betrayals we journalists have made ourselves guilty of"("ett av de värsta sveken vi journalister gjort oss skyldiga till"). He also notes that critics were unjustifiably silenced through racism allegations. A former high-profile News-presenter of the Swedish State Television resigned her position and made a public statement that she did so due to the bias in State TV news-reporting and the belittling and racism accusations launched at critics.
Charges have also been made by journalists that the State Media are politically biased through direct political control, predominantly by the Social Democratic party. Accusations have been made that it has been long-term party policy to fill strategically important positions in the public-service media with persons loyal to the party.
This has resulted in media-reporting being susceptible to being directed by political considerations.
Lists
- List of Swedish newspapers
- List of Swedish magazines
- List of Swedish television channels
- List of Swedish radio stations
- List of Swedish language writers
- List of Swedish companies
See also
- Communications in SwedenCommunications in Sweden- Telecommunications :Sweden liberalized its telecommunications industry starting in 1980s and being formally liberalized in 1993. This was three years ahead of USA and five years before the European common policy introduced in January 1998 allowed for an open and competitive telecommunication market...
- Culture of SwedenCulture of SwedenSwedish culture has been described as Lutheranism, trade unionism, and self-reliance, aspects that have been associated with Swedish mentality....
- OmbudsmanOmbudsmanAn ombudsman is a person who acts as a trusted intermediary between an organization and some internal or external constituency while representing not only but mostly the broad scope of constituent interests...
- Freedom of information legislation in Sweden
- Freedom of the press and freedom of expression in Sweden