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Sweden – (C3) Transparency of data on media system

Score in short:

Data are available, although they could be easier to find.

Score in detail:

In 2006, the latest parliamentary general investigation of press conditions was published (SoU 2006:8), the eighth investigation since 1963. It is available at the government website as is an investigation from 2003 made by the Swedish Competition Authority. There have also been several general investigations on public service radio and television, and the latest one was published in autumn 2008 (SoU 2008:64).

Every year the academic research institution Nordicom at University of Gothenburg publishes a report on the media situation, including the ownership structure, that is easy to download from the Internet. This material does not seem to be well known or frequently in demand by the public, as it does not appear among the first 100 hits on a Google search (made by the authors, August 2010) for Swedish media ownership concentration.

The newspapers in our sample do not print information about their owners in every daily issue. Their websites, however, contain information on, for instance, owners, circulation, finances and editorial policies. The public service websites include information on management, financing and government relations.