Newspapers
Statistics show Swedes (today 8.8 million) to be among the
most avid newspaper buyers in the world. In 1995, there were
95 so-called high-periodicity newspapers (4-7 issues per week)
with a combined circulation of about 4.1 million, or 65 copies
per 1,000 inhabitants. Low-periodicity newspapers (1-3 issues
per week), of which there are around 70, are mainly local or
ones which represent a particular political or ideological
viewpoint. They add about 10% to the total circulation and per
capita consumption.
The number of newspapers has declined sharply during the postwar era, from 216 in 1945 to 167 in 1995. In consequence, an increasing number of communities have become one- newspaper towns.
Traditionally, the newspapers have tended to sympathize with and even actively advocate political party programmes and ideologies. However, this political line-up has been anything but representative of the political preferences of the electorate. While Social Democrats and Communists have shared approximately half the popular vote for decades (with the Social Democrats being the overwhelmingly larger party), their share of the press amounts to only about one fifth of total circulation. Conversely, non-socialist parties have been supported by roughly four newspapers out of five, and here the liberal press has a share far exceeding the Liberal Party's share of votes cast in elections.
Permanent multi-million subsidies
Structural developments and financial conditions in the daily
press have been under close official surveillance ever since the
beginning of the 1960s. Seven commissions have come to the
conclusion that newspaper closures left the daily press less well
equipped for the discharge of its functions within the Swedish
democratic system, and accordingly a series of measures have
been taken to counteract further concentration of ownership and
to facilitate the establishment of additional newspapers. The
conditions regarding subsidies to the press are geared to the
workings of the market, the aim being for subsidies to
supplement the market system. The first subsidy measures were
taken in 1969.
The cumulative effect of the consecutive recommendations of these commissions has been to create an elaborate system of subsidies. In 1994/95, subsidies to low-coverage newspapers, i.e. those with not more than 50% household coverage in their place of issue, totalled SEK 411 million. These selective subsidies amounted to 3-4% of the net circulation and advertising revenues of all Swedish papers. In addition, subsidies of SEK 73 million were extended to newspapers participating in joint distribution schemes.
Subsidies for low-coverage newspapers today give the recipient newspapers an average revenue increment of about 15%. It is inconceivable that the subsidy system could be abolished without immediately jeopardizing a very large number of newspapers.
Since press subsidies were introduced, the links between the daily press and the political parties have been gradually dissolved, thus undermining the very raison d'être of subsidization. The subsidies are financed by a tax on all advertizing, except in television and radio.
Several attempts were made during the 1980s to launch new daily papers. All but one of them ended in failure. A business daily, Dagens Industri, founded in 1982, is the only such venture to have achieved lasting success. 1995 saw the founding of Metro, a newspaper distributed five days a week and free of charge on the Stockholm underground (subway) system.
Varietyhallmark of the dailies
Swedish newspapers are, on the whole, published from modern
and highly efficient plants utilizing advanced technology
largely computerizedand operating a fast, dependable
distribution system.
The three largest cities (Stockholm, Göteborg and Malmö) produce papers appearing seven days a week. Six-day publication is more prevalent in other parts of the country. Most provincial papers appear in the morning, while the three big cities also put out large afternoon tabloids for single-copy sales. The market for this latter kind of newspaper has been declining slowly since the beginning of the 1970s. The average Swedish daily newspaper has a circulation of 25,000 copies and appears in the morning.
The Stockholm afternoon tabloids Aftonbladet and Expressen have a near-nationwide readership and operate printing branches outside Stockholm. However, the tabloid market has experienced a sharp decline in the 1990s. Dagens Nyheter, published in Stockholm, has been printing part of its national edition elsewhere since 1985. The circulation of Dagens industri, now with six issues per week, has grown from 29,500 in 1982 to 95,200 in 1995.
Thousands of periodicals
Between two and three thousand publications qualify officially
as periodical publications. Of these only about 165 are
newspapers, i.e. are published daily or at least once a week.
The others are periodicals.
The average Swede regularly reads more than three periodicals, which places Sweden foremost in international periodical statistics.
The traditional weeklies are losing ground, and their circulation has fallen by about 50% since the end of the 1960s. The heaviest losses have been sustained by women's magazines. The family weeklies have stood firmest, but they too are on the wane. Men's magazines, which peaked between 1965 and 1975, are now plummeting. In 1995, there were 10 traditional weeklies with a circulation of 1.8 million, or about 199 copies per 1,000 inhabitants. Five family weeklies have the biggest circulation figures.
There are comparatively few magazines dealing with economic, political and literary issues. Attempts to launch such publications have been unsuccessful. Specialized journals, e.g. about food, home and leisure have done well, as have specialist journals about computers and other new technology.
By far the biggest magazines are those published by organizations, for instance, consumer magazines owned by the private retail block as well as by organizations in the co- operative movement.
Annual press subsidies have been paid since 1977 to some 400 journals of societies and organizations. For reasons of government finance, subsidies for periodicals were discontinued in 1986.
Radio and television
Radio and television in Sweden have undergone extensive
changes since the late 1980s. The former publicly controlled
monopoly of radio and television broadcasting is now being
superseded by a different structure. At present, licence-financed
programme companies with public service responsibilities are
operating side by side with commercially financed radio and
television channels.
Ever since the mid-1920s, radio and, later, television broadcasting in Sweden has been conducted by a monopoly enterprise committed to the service of the general public. Broadcasts have been financed by means of licence fees. Advertising has not been permitted. At the end of the 1970s, associations were allowed to broadcast within limited geographical areas on community radios. Advertising was banned from these broadcasts also.
It was the introduction of satellite-borne television in the mid- 1980s which prepared the way for more profound changes in national radio and television. Once it became possible for private companies to beam commercially financed television into Swedish homes, resistance to commercially financed, ground-based television broadcasting in Sweden collapsed. TV 4, a commercial terrestrial channel with nation-wide coverage, has been broadcasting since 1991. Private commercial cable transmissions have also been allowed since 1st January 1992.
Commercial local radio was introduced in 1993.
In spite of the changes which have occurred or are now planned, licence-financed public service broadcasters still dominate radio and television in Sweden. There are three broadcasting companies, responsible for television, radio and educational radio and television broadcasting, respectively.
The shares of each of these broadcasting companies are owned by a foundation, the board of which is appointed by the government after consultation with the parliamentary parties. There is, however, no interference in programming. The task of the foundations is to promote the independence of broadcasting companies.
Activities are financed out of television licence revenue, the licence fee (as from 1st January 1996) being SEK 1,476 per annum. Licence fees are fixed by Parliament, which also votes funds for the broadcasting companies. The Swedish Television Company is, at present, also allowed to a limited amount of programme financing through sponsorship.
General broadcasting policy is laid down by the Radio Act and an Enabling Agreement between the broadcasting companies and the Government. Programmes must be impartial, objective and calculated to satisfy a broad range of tastes. The Government exercises no control over programmes prior to broadcast. However, a Broadcasting Commission is empowered to raise objections to specific programmesor consider complaints from the general publicafter they have been transmitted, if they are found to have violated the Act or the Agreement.
A new Radio and Television Act is coming into force on December, 1, 1996. The statutes governing radio broadcasting will be collected in this new act.
Radioa wide-ranging output
From the inception of regular radio broadcasts in 1925 until
1955, Sweden had only one home service. Today, Sveriges
Radio Company includes four radio channels.
P 1 offers a broad range of light and serious programmes with particular emphasis on detailed newscasts and in depth social reporting. P 2 specializes in educational programmes, programmes for immigrants and serious music. P 3 and P 4 feature light music and entertainment round the clock. Regional programmes are mainly carried by P 4. There are some 25 regional programmes covering all of Sweden.
Radio Sweden, the nationwide radio's international service, provides listeners abroad with programmes in five foreign languages (English, Estonian, German, Latvian and Russian) and in Swedish.
Community radio has been broadcast since 1978. In 1995 there were about 160 transmitters and around 1,200 participating local organizations. Any legal person engaged in a non-profit making, charitable, political, union or religious activity may apply for permission to broadcast on these stations. The aim is to give voluntary organizations a new channel by which to reach their members and sympathizers. Advertizing has been permitted on community radio since 1993.
Commercial local radio has existed since 1993. In 1996, licences had been granted to 90 radio stations in 40 locations. Licences are allocated by auction, which determines the annual fee which the licence holder shall pay to the State. A local radio station may broadcast networked programmes during up to two thirds of the daily programming time. Advertizing is limited to eight minutes an hour. In September 1995, Sveriges Radio Company, Utbildningsradion and Commercial Radio were given licences to broadcast via Digital Audio Broadcasting (DAB).
The TV landslide
Television broadcasting began in 1956 and a second television
channel was added in 1969.
Sweden acquired a third terrestrial television channel in the autumn of 1991. This channel, TV 4, is a separate entity and commercially financed. Up to 10% of transmission time can be used for advertising. In principle, the advertisements have to come in between programmes or during long intermissions in sports competitions and other events. The rules on programme content are similar to those applying to the Sveriges Radio company.
A report published in February 1996 proposed that the Government should make a decision in principle on the transition to digital terrestrial TV broadcasting in Sweden. The report also proposed that the development of the terrestrial network for digital broadcasting should begin by 1997 at the latest, and the first stage should be concluded within two years after this decision. The first phase should provide broadcasting opportunities for eight nation-wide channels, i.e. five new channels in addition to the present ones. In the second phase the broadcasting network should be able to accomodate 24 channels. After the analogue network has been closed down, an additional 50 channels could be broadcast.
The Government has not made a decision regarding this proposal yet.
Satellites and cables
Cable networks for the diffusion of satellite programmes began
to be constructed in 1984. Approximately 55% of all
households in Sweden have access to satellite programmes
either via cable (35%) or private satellite dishes (20%).
Approximately 100 satellite channels can be received i Sweden.
Eleven of these aim specifically at Swedish viewers.
The cable transmission legislation which came into force on 1st January 1992 leaves the field clear for the dissemination of satellite transmissions by cable, and any individual is at liberty to transmit radio or television programmes in this way. Cable transmissions of this kind may be financed out of advertising revenue, subject to more or less the same rules as those applying to TV 4. A number of commercial cable-only channels are distributed in various parts of the country. In addition there are some 50 local cable channels divided equally between commercial and non-commercial ones.
Home video
Home video recorders came on the market in the early 1980s.
By 1995 they had been acquired by 75% of households. They
are used mainly for deferred viewing. After a fall in the use of
video recorders around 1990, their popularity has now risen
again, with 16% of the population (aged 9-79) using it on an
average day.
Measures have been taken to increase the supply of quality video films.
Cinemas and cinema-going
Cinema-going was most widespread in the mid-1950s, before
the days of television. Cinema visits averaged about 80 million
per annum. In the middle of the 1990s cinema-going has fallen
to 16 million visits annually.
The Riksdag (Parliament) has decided that film in Sweden is to receive state support (just over SEK 122 million for the financial year 1994/95). Just over SEK 60 million of this were earmarked for film production, with the rest going to other film-related activities. The major part of this state support will be financed via a fee on cinema tickets, the video industry and contributions from the national TV-channels.
FREEDOM OF THE PRESS AND FREEDOM OF
EXPRESSION IN MASS MEDIA
Sweden seems to have been the first country in the world to
establish freedom of the press. In 1766, Parliament adopted a
Freedom of the Press Act as a part of the Constitution. After the
promulgation of the first Press Act, the last decades of the 18th
century witnessed a relapse into repression and censorship, but
since the constitutional reform of 1809, freedom of the press
has prevailed. The present Freedom of the Press Act dates from
1949, with several subsequent amendments. One of the latter
covers publications not produced by conventional printing
presses: mimeographs, photocopies, etc.
In 1992, similar legislation was passed for radio, television, film and other media through the Freedom of Expression Act, which is a fundamental law.
The Freedom of the Press Act
Unique safeguards
In Sweden, as in some other democracies, public censorship of
the press as well as other serious restrictions on publishing and
distribution of printed matter are explicitly forbidden. The
Swedish lawmakers set out to safeguard press freedom by an
elaborate combination of measures.
Foremost among these is the institution of the responsible publisher. Any periodical appearing four times a year or more must appoint a responsible publisher, who alone is answerable for the contents of the publication. He alone can be held accountable for any violation of the Freedom of the Press Act.
The responsible publisher is appointed by the owner of the publication. He must be a resident of Sweden (an amendment, effective as of 1978, extended eligibility to foreign nationals domiciled in Sweden), and neither a minor nor an undischarged bankrupt.
The responsible publisher may appoint a substitute and is required to do so should he be prevented from fulfilling his duties. Only in the unlikely event that neither of them could be taken to account would it be possible to prosecute someone else for violations of press law. In such exigencies, the Act provides a chain of responsibility, according to which the legal responsibility is transferred to the owner of the paper. If for some reason even the owner should be unassailable, the printer is held accountable. As a last resort, the distributor may be held responsiblea provision that applies mainly to actionable matter in foreign publications imported to Sweden, as in such cases the prior links of the chain are not subject to Swedish law.
Only in the matter of damages can there be a question of shared responsibility. To make sure that an injured party obtains any damages awarded him while at the same time protecting the publisher from personal hardship, the court may decide that both owner and publisher are to be held accountable for the payment of damages.
Sources protected
With the introduction of a publisher with sole responsibility,
the lawmakers have deliberately created a scapegoat for all
violations of the Freedom of the Press Act. By providing a
person whowith his chain of substitutescan always be held
responsible for any transgression, they have quite intentionally
exonerated the actual culprit. In fact, the law explicitly
prohibits the investigation or disclosure of journalists' sources.
It follows that a person who contributes to a newspaper as a
reporter or informant is not only protected against legal action,
being unassailable, but his identity becomes immaterial and
thus inadmissible as a point of law.
It should be noted that this protection is extended even to State and municipal employees, who are thus free to give information to newspapers and other media without fear of legal repercussions or extra-legal pressures and intimidation.
The rationale for such extreme protection of media sources is that the mass mediathe Third Estateneed the fullest possible insight into the operations of society and thus should have the conduct of the other two estatesParliament and Governmentunder surveillance.
That the impunity of informants might induce some of them to leak irresponsible, harmful or even untruthful statements to the media is not considered too damaging. The law may protect the informant but does not exonerate the crime.
Anonymity and its limits
There are, of course, some exceptions to the general rule of
impunity and anonymity of sources. If State employees,
including military personnel, inform media of matters that
could be detrimental to the security of the State, this could
warrant legal action against informants (though the media
would certainly hesitate to disclose them). The same applies
when an official violates professional secrecy, but only in
special cases prescribed by law.
Similarly, the protection of anonymity may be overruled in a criminal case which does not involve the freedom of the press, and where the court finds that the disclosure of a source is called for by an overriding public or private interest.
Recent amendments have reinforced the protection of sources and the anonymity of informants. However, protection is withheld in cases where the gathering or divulging of information constitutes or involves high treason, espionage or other related, serious crimes.
Access to public documents
Another remarkable feature of the Swedish Freedom of the
Press Act is the principle of free access to public documents.
This, too, is an expression of the lawmakers' intent to support
the media in the role of public watchdog.
The principle that every Swedish citizen should have access to virtually all documents kept by State or local governments was introduced as early as 1766 in the first Freedom of the Press Act. It was unique then and has been adopted by few other countries even today.
The principle gives anyoneeven aliensthe right to turn to the State or a local government agency and ask to be shown any document kept in their files, regardless of whether the document concerns him personally or not. Officials are legally required to comply and even to supply copies of the document requested, if this is feasible.
This right is of great importance to anyone concerned by any proceedings, lawsuits and the like involving public agencies. But it is equally essential to journalists seeking information about what is going on behind the walls of officialdom. Their search for the facts is clearly facilitated by the right of Swedish officials to give oral information concerning their activities.
The right of access is jealously guarded, not only by the media themselves, but also by the Parliamentary Ombudsmen (JO). Traditionally, the JO have considered it one of their major duties to supervise the implementation and enforcement of this right.
Restrictions on restrictions
Of course, there are exceptions to the rule of access to public
documents. However, these restrictions themselves are more
restricted and more clearly defined than in most countries. All
exceptions from the general rule of accessibility are registered
in great detail in the 1980 Secrecy Act (which is not part of the
body of Constitutional Law and may thus be amended more
easily). Any type of document not explicitly to be kept secret
according to this Act is by definition available to the public.
Topping the list of documents that may be withheld from public scrutiny are matters relating to national security and foreign relations. Other categories that may be exempt from the rule of accessibility are documents relating to criminal matters, private financial matters, and information concerning the personal integrity and safety of individuals. The rules permitting secrecy and stating the maximum duration of restrictions are not unconditional. On the strength of circumstances in individual cases, secrecy may be relaxed or waived altogether. Furthermore, decisions under this Act are not final. Cases may be reopened and restrictions lifted at any time before the expiry of the term of secrecy.
Requests for public documents may only be rejected with specific reference to a particular rule or rules of the Secrecy Act. The applicant is entitled to a written statement quoting the legal authority (in terms of the Act) for withholding the document, and informing him of his right to appeal against the decision. The highest instance of appeal is usually the Supreme Administrative Court. The only cases in which there can be no appeal against refusals to honour requests for public documents are those in which secrecy decisions are made by Cabinet, Parliament, the supreme courts and the JO.
Violations
Offences punishable under the Freedom of the Press Act are
enumerated in the Act. They include crimes against the State
(high treason, instigation to war, incitement to riot, conspiracy,
sedition, etc.) as well as libel, threats to or contempt of minority
groups on grounds of race, colour, creed, ethnic origin,
unlawful depiction of violence, etc. For punitive measures, the
Act refers to other laws, such as the Penal Code or the Secrecy
Act.
Legal actions against newspapers mostly concern libel. Pornography is no longer punishable by Swedish law, except in special cases. In all, both criminal cases and civil lawsuits involving press law are very rare.
Prosecution and litigation
The legislators have tried to protect the media from legal
harassment by creating special rules and institutions for cases
under the Freedom of the Press Act. Public prosecution under
this act requires a decision by the Chancellor of Justice and thus
cannot be initiated by ordinary local prosecutors. The
Chancellor is obliged to obtain the consent of the Cabinet
before acting in cases with political implications.
Furthermore, the regular courts of law are modified in a special way when trying press cases. On the theory that laymen tend to be more favourably inclined towards frank and aggressive media than the judicature, press cases are tried by a jury (unless both parties agree to refrain from jury trial). The juryan institution otherwise alien to the Swedish judicial systemis comprised of nine lay members selected from a list after the parties involved have had the opportunity to exclude jurors they might consider biased or otherwise unsuitable. The task of the jury is to uphold or dismiss specific accusations submitted to it by the court concerning the guilt of the responsible publisher. For a conviction, at least six jurors must be in agreement. The judges of the court may acquit a person despite a jury verdict of guilty but may not overrule a finding of not guilty.
It should be noted that this outline of press legislation has been mainly concerned with its reference to periodical mass media. However, apart from special rules relating to the responsible publisher of periodicals, the same basic principles and safeguards also apply to non-periodical publications. The most important difference is that legal liability for non-periodical matters normally lies with the individual author. Otherwise, the chain of responsibility is largely the same.
The Freedom of Expression Act
The new fundamental law, the Freedom of Expression Act,
covers almost all existing electronic media, such as radio,
television, videos and motion pictures. The new legislation is
modelled on the Press Act. Thus, censorship of any programme
by public authorities is prohibited. For each programme, one
person designated beforehand carries sole legal responsibility.
The rules for the press regarding libel and other offences,
prosecution and court procedures also apply to radio and
television.
This means that the principles of the Press Act prohibiting censorship and allowing freedom of publication are applicable to the entire field of modern media, except in two respects. One exception is the use of the radio frequency spectrum. Due to the shortage of transmission frequencies, only a small number of companies (Sveriges Radio, the Swedish Television Company and the independent TV 4) have been awarded franchises for public-service radio or television broadcasting. This quasi- monopoly status causes special demands to be made on programme activities. Thus, the broadcasting companies are required to observe demanding standards of objectivity and impartiality. The government-appointed Broadcasting Commission reviews programme activities and investigates complaints to ensure that these standards are met.
The second exception concerns prior scrutiny. The Freedom of Expression Act sanctions legislation for the scrutiny of films which are to be shown in public. Motion pictures intended for public showing in Sweden are previewed by a National Board of Film Censorship which is empowered to delete certain sequences or ban the film altogether. This is chiefly exercised in the interest of the very young viewers and directed against excessive brutality or prurience.
The new constitutional enactment also permits previewing of videos which are to be shown in public. It is also possible to prohibit further distribution of videograms and films, and video distributors can be prosecuted.
The Freedom of Expression Act also applies to teletext if the receiver is unable to influence the content of what is transmitted. This means, among other things, that the inclusion of advertising in such transmissions can be prohibited by law.
THE PRESS COUNCIL AND THE PRESS OMBUDSMAN
For many decades, Swedish press organizations have been
intent on guarding against abuse of the liberties guaranteed by
the Constitution. As early as 1916, the Swedish Press
Councilthe first of its kind in the worldwas set up by the
Publicists' Club (the national press club), the Swedish
Newspaper Publishers' Association and the Swedish Union of
Journalists. A journalistic Code of Ethics was first adopted in
1923 by the Publicists' Club. After several amendments, the
present Code was adopted in 1994 and has been acceeded to by
journalists, publishers and the broadcasting companies.
The Code aims at upholding high ethical standards in general and, especially, at protecting the integrity of individuals against invasion of privacy, defamation and other damaging publicity. A special section is devoted to combating editorial advertising and other undue outside influences calculated to mislead the readers. A special committee watches over this type of malpractice.
In 1969, the Office of Press Ombudsman for the General Public (Allmänhetens Pressombudsman, PO) was established to supervise the adherence to ethical standards. Complaints are to be directed to the PO, who is also entitled to act on his own initiative. He may dismiss a complaint if unfounded, or if the newspaper agrees to publish a retraction or rectification acceptable to the complainant.
When the PO finds that the grievance is of a more serious nature, he will file a complaint with the Press Council, which will then publish a statement acquitting or censuring the newspaper. A censuring statement of the Council is published in the newspaper concerned and in the business papers of the press. In addition to publishing a censuring opinion, the offending newspaper also has to pay a fee.
The Council is composed of six members, two of whom represent the general public while three are appointed by the press organizations and the sixth is the chairman who holds a casting-vote. The latter has usually been a member of the Supreme Court.
It should be underlined that the Press Council, the Press Ombudsman and the Code form a strictly voluntary, non- governmental system, regulated and funded by the press exclusively.
SEK 1 (Swedish krona) = USD 0.15 or GBP 0.10 (August 1996)
Newspaper concentration
| Year | Communities | Communities |
| with 2 or more | with one | |
| newspapers | newspaper | |
| 1945 | 51 | 42 |
| 1950 | 51 | 42 |
| 1955 | 39 | 53 |
| 1960 | 32 | 56 |
| 1965 | 23 | 59 |
| 1970 | 21 | 65 |
| 1975 | 20 | 64 |
| 1980 | 21 | 62 |
| 1985 | 24 | 60 |
| 1990 | 20 | 63 |
| 1995 | 20 | 58 |
The ten largest dailies (1995 circulation figures)
| Monday-Saturday | Sunday | |
| Expressen (liberal)-tabloid | 418,300 | 519,800 |
| Dagens Nyheter (independent) | 381,800 | 434,700 |
| Aftonbladet (Social Democratic)-tabloid | 353,000 | 470,400 |
| Göteborgs-Posten (liberal) | 273,600 | 306,700 |
| Svenska Dagbladet (indep. conservative) | 200,300 | 214,500 |
| Idag (liberal)-tabloid | 136,900 | 200,300 |
| Sydsvenska Dagbladet (indep. liberal) | 126,300 | 146,200 |
| Arbetet (Social Democratic) | 97,100 | 90,600 |
| Dagens industri (financial tabloid) | 95,200 | - |
| Nerikes Allehanda (liberal) | 70,600 | - |
This fact sheet is part of the SIs information service. It can be used as background information on
condition that the source is acknowledged.
September 1996
Classification: FS 45 t Bs
ISSN 1101-6124
Fact Sheets on Sweden