The first Press Council was established in 1916. It was restructured after political pressure in 1969 when members of the public were included in the council, a national press ombudsperson was added, and economic sanctions were introduced against erring newspaper organisations. In 2020, both institutions were replaced by The Media Council and The Media Ombudsman, as broadcast media were also included in the self-regulation system along with print and digital publications. The Media Ombudsman is an independent self-disciplinary body that facilitates complaints from the public and selects cases to bring to The Media Council (Media Ombudsman & Media Council, 2021). The council then decides whether or not the media outlet deserves the blame. The code of ethics includes referral to democratic values and rights of reply. The journalists’ union has a committee that can sanction members for unethical behaviour, but in practice – and as was the case in 2011 as well (see von Krogh & Nord, 2011) – it rarely does.
The Publicists’ Club, which is a member of the umbrella organisation the Press Cooperation Committee, upholds a continuous function of self-criticism with regular panels and debates on critical media matters. Top editors at leading national news media regularly comment upon current publicity debates and publishing decisions taken by them.
The self-regulation system is frequently under debate in Sweden, but has hitherto shown its strength and is generally respected by media companies. The system can’t be described as completely decisive for daily newsroom work, but it is occasionally used when principles for news selection and publishing criteria are discussed. The system was tested in 2017 when the threshold for publishing rumours and allegations of sexual harassment was lowered during the #metoo movement. 38 complaints were handled by The Media Council and 24 of them were approved, all criticising newsrooms for lack of reporting and substantiation. The current ombudsperson for the media has toured newsrooms in Sweden discussing the #metoo cases.
