In June, the Swedish government media inquiry presented the report Ett hållbart mediestöd för hela landet [Sustainable media subsidies for the whole country], which included suggestions for how media subsidies in Sweden should be organised from 2024 onwards. The conditions for the media in Sweden are continuously evaluated by the government through official reports. The collection of reports consists of both current knowledge and facts, as well as historical sources, providing the opportunity to understand the conditions for the media over time.
Following issues over time
The first report in the Swedish Government Official Reports series [Statens offentliga utredningar (SOU)] concerning the media was published in 1924 and was about books and textbooks. Five years later, an investigation about copyright for literary and artistic works was published. In the 1930s, the first reports regarding specific types of media as we know them today (film, daily newspapers, and radio) was published. Over time, daily newspapers, radio, and later also television, have been subjects particularly in focus in SOU reports on the media. These reports have often been about freedom of the press, the right to public information, funding, propaganda, and censorship.
In 1965, a report focused on the economic conditions for the daily press for the first time. Since then, the daily newspaper market, as well as the forms for press subsidies, have been investigated regularly. Together with public service media and advertisements, these are the most frequently investigated areas over time.
On the Swedish version of this page, you can find a list of SOU reports specifically about the daily newspaper market.
Over time, SOU reports have come to include more types of media. Today, media content is not (as it was during the 1900s) tied to either paper or broadcasting, or any other physical storage media, which creates other political issues concerning freedom of expression, concentration, the rights of citizens, and so on.
The official reports are initiated by the government and written by a special investigator or committee, but more defined issues can be investigated in another, less time-consuming form – so-called ministry letters and memoranda, which the June report mentioned above is an example of. There is no historical overview of this type of document, but they are searchable from 2015 onwards on the government’s website.
About Nordicom’s compilation
Nordicom’s compilation of official reports include SOU reports regarding media in any form or legislation with relevance for the field (for example, copyright, public records, and digitalisation). The compilation is based on two sources: The National Library of Sweden and the Swedish government’s website.
Ulrika Facht