Sweden and the Daily Press

Sweden is a leading press nation in the European Union. In terms of newspaper issues per capita, Sweden lies second (behind Finland). Daily newspaper circulation (4-7 issues/week), totalling 489 copies per 1 000 adult inhabitants, is two and a half times as large as the mean value for the Union as a whole, which is 190 copies. The full ranking list is shown in Table 1.

One of the reasons for the high rate of daily newspaper consumption is that Sweden is sparsely populated. Urban areas lie well apart, and many are large enough to sustain daily newspaper publication. The demographic structure has meant that a large number of newspapers have established a place for themselves around the country. Most of the Swedish dailies in the market today have enjoyed at least 115 years of uninterrupted publication. No other industry can boast as many well-established companies.

The Swedish daily press encompasses just over twelve newspapers (4-7 issues/week) per million inhabitants. This is three times as many as the mean value for the Union, which is just under three newspapers per million. Average circulation in Sweden is fairly small, totalling 22 200 copies, and only five dailies outside the three metropolitan areas of Stockholm, Göteborg and Malmö have a circulation in excess of 50 000 copies.

Table 1 Daily newspaper circulation in the European Union, 2004

In the mid-19th century, the Swedish daily press began seeking a broad, popular readership. It was no longer content just to serve the country's elite. The only factors restricting the newspapers' scope of action were geographical ones. Distribution was to be confined to the place of issue, as this was what the advertisers wanted. In accordance with business models imported from the US and France, advertisers accounted for two thirds of revenue and thus had a strong influence on the newspapers' market perceptions. High levels of advertising revenue enabled the newspapers to keep down their prices for subscriptions and single copies, which boosted circulation. Readers' willingness to pay was confirmation that they attached value to the product. Thus it became possible to build up a relationship between newspaper and reader. By applying this model, Sweden's daily newspapers developed into mass media.

In terms of content, the newspapers focused on local matters. They sought to publish as often as possible, but usually not on Sundays. Only fourteen of today's 82 dailies in Sweden appear seven days a week. Separate Sunday newspapers do not exist.

At the distribution stage, too, the level of service was high. Subscribers soon had their newspapers delivered at home. Given the strong local character of their operation, it was natural for the newspapers to look after advertising sales themselves. Only the canvassing of national advertisers was entrusted to advertising agencies. Beginning in the 1930s, local newspapers increasingly took control of this sphere of activity as well, by collaborating with one another. Joint advertising arrangements were organised along political party lines. And just as in the political arena, there were bloc boundaries that could not be crossed.

The evolution of the Swedish daily press into a mass medium was led by private enterprise, but also aroused interest elsewhere. In their efforts to reach a broader audience, the private newspaper owners naturally sought to win readers both from among the country's rapidly growing popular movements and from among party members and sympathisers. The popular movements and the parties, however, preferred to look after their own and to avail themselves of the political power inherent in daily newspaper publication.

With the formation of public opinion as their overall goal and financial results as a secondary consideration, parties and popular movements entered the daily press market. Competition in the market increased, but the actors operated under differing conditions. The parties and the popular movements sought to extend their readerships as far afield as possible - all sympathisers and voters were equally valuable wherever they lived - while the privately owned newspapers kept to established business models and focused on the readers' role as consumer, which meant concentrating their distribution. In privately owned newspapers, content was of a general nature, while newspapers owned by organisations tended to tie their own hands for ideological reasons by refusing to write about everything - avoiding sport, for instance - or by criticising their main source of income, advertising. Some privately owned newspapers also prioritised opinion-making, but the reverse - organisation newspapers giving priority to profit - was seldom seen.

Karl-Erik Gustafsson, Professor of Media Economics, Jönköping International Business School and Professor Emeritus, School of Business, Economics and Law, Göteborg University

Find the full report here (pdf).