In a country where almost all leading politicians declare themselves as feminist, it is hardly surprising to find several women in top media positions. For example, in 2020, all three public service companies had a female director and two of four national newspapers based in Stockholm had a female editor-in-chief. Generally speaking, employment conditions are equal between men and women in the media sector, including equal pay for equal work.
Data on journalists’ salaries shows that differences still exist between pay for men and women. These differences are mainly explained by the previous domination of men in the profession, and the fact that more experience as a journalist is normally linked to a higher salary. Gradually, more women are working in newsrooms, and journalist education programmes at the university level in Sweden are nowadays also dominated by female students. Interviews show that the biggest news organisations have special programmes to increase the number of women in leading positions.
