Mediernas roll (the role of the media): our walkthrough of chapter 6 of UHR’s Sverige i fokus

Free media

In Sweden the media are free. This means that the state may not control what they publish. The freedom rests on two fundamental laws, the Freedom of the Press Act (tryckfrihetsförordningen) and the Fundamental Law on Freedom of Expression (yttrandefrihetsgrundlagen).

The media have a role that goes beyond spreading news. They are also a place where people can discuss society openly, and they provide entertainment as well.

Most Swedish newspapers are today also online. There the news is updated several times a day instead of waiting for the next edition.

The principle of public access

The principle of public access (offentlighetsprincipen) means that official documents held by public authorities are public. Everyone may read them, unless the document is secret. What is secret is covered by confidentiality (sekretess) and is not handed out.

The principle is important for journalists. A journalist who wants to find out how an authority made a decision can request, for example, the authority’s email and other documents that are not secret. Then you can follow how the decision took shape step by step.

The task of journalists

The task of journalists is to scrutinise politicians and others who hold power. They are to examine power, not exercise it themselves. The principle of public access exists precisely to make that scrutiny possible.

Anyone who wants to tell an editorial office something has source protection (meddelarskydd). This means the person may be anonymous and must not be punished for what they tell.

For what is published in a newspaper, the responsible publisher (ansvarig utgivare) has the legal responsibility. This applies even to texts that someone else has written. The publisher must make sure the publication contains no defamation or insults.

Public service

Public service means media companies that are to stand free from political and other interests. When they report on an issue where the parties disagree, they must let several opinions be heard without taking sides.

The idea is that the whole population should get impartial news and facts, regardless of where they live and how much they earn. A small town should get the same range of content as a big city. SR, SVT and UR do not broadcast advertising. Instead they are paid for by the public service fee (public service-avgiften), which is collected through taxes.

Different kinds of media

Many media are run by private companies and earn money from advertising. This is often true of daily newspapers and evening tabloids, both those found in one part of the country and those found across the whole country.

The state nevertheless gives financial support to daily newspapers and other news media. The reason is that there should be many different media with news. A democracy needs several voices that report independently of each other.

Source criticism

Being source-critical (källkritisk) means checking whether a piece of information is correct before you believe it. You can ask yourself whether what you have read, seen or heard is really true.

Source criticism is needed because false information can reach many people quickly and affect what they think. Untruths turn up in all kinds of media, not only social ones.

A journalist should check a piece of information in several independent sources before it is published. The sources must also be reliable.