Media

Webinar 28 May 2021, organised by the Academy of Finland project ‘Transparency in the EU – From Reaction to Manifesto’ (TrUE), Erik Castrén Institute of International Law and Human Rights and in cooperation with the Open Government in the EU Blog Check against delivery

Speech by H.E. Mikael Damberg, Minister for Home Affairs, Sweden, in the Closing Session of the 2021 OSCE Counter-Terrorism Conference. The conference was held virtually, 21 April 2021.

To enable continued distribution of printed newspapers in areas where newspaper distribution is affected by mail being delivered every other day and to promote journalism throughout country, the media support appropriation is being increased by SEK 100 million. The proposal is based on an agreement between the government parties, the Centre Party and the Liberal Party.

To ensure the public’s access to information and mitigate the negative economic impact on news media as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Government, in cooperation with the Centre Party and the Liberal Party, will provide an additional SEK 500 million in support to general news media in 2020.

Stockholm, Sweden 2020-04-22. Check against delivery.

In the light of the COVID-19 pandemic, the undersigned chairs and members of the Groups of Friends on the Safety/Protection of Journalists are calling on all states to protect journalists’ and media workers’ safety, safeguard a free and independent media and ensure unhindered access to information, both online and offline.

Media throughout the country have been dramatically affected by the spread of the COVID-19 virus. The Government, the Centre Party and the Liberal Party therefore propose that media support be strengthened. The Government also announced a proposal on altered advertising regulations for TV broadcasts.

In the Budget Bill for 2020, the Government, together with the Liberal Party and Centre Party, puts forward several proposals to strengthen democracy, culture and sports throughout Sweden. Here you can learn more about some of the proposals within the Ministry of Culture’s budget areas.

To improve the conditions for news coverage and local journalism throughout the country, the Government proposes that media subsidies are increased by a total of SEK 140 million, including previously announced increases. Moreover, an increase of SEK 30 million is proposed for the current year.

On Thursday 15 August, some 80 volunteers from more than 30 countries are invited to the Ministry for Foreign Affairs to celebrate the impact made by the MFA’s and Wikimedia Sweden’s international initiative, WikiGap. The initiative has gained a foothold in more than 60 countries and has so far resulted in 32 000 new or edited articles about women on Wikipedia. These articles have now been viewed more than 100 million times.

Amanda Lind, Minister for Culture and Democracy, with responsibility for sport, talks about her areas of responsibility and her role as minister.

The Riksdag has decided that the current radio and television licence fee, which is paid by all households that have a television, will be replaced by an individual public service fee. The fee will be collected via the tax system. The fees will be administered in a closed system that is handled separately from other funds in the central government budget.

The Government has presented a bill on media support to the Riksdag. The bill proposes introducing a supplementary new media support scheme while preserving the existing press subsidy scheme.

One of the Swedish Government’s gender equality policy sub-goals is that men’s violence against women must stop. With reference to #metoo, the following lists some examples of implemented and forthcoming measures to counteract sexual violence, harassment and assault.

The #metoo movement in Sweden strongly demonstrates that more needs to be done to combat sexual harassment and sexual violence in workplaces and society at large. The Swedish Government requires all employers to take responsibility for a secure work environment. In the area of work environment and discrimination there are already many tools and relevant legislation, but the power and size of the petitions show that there are deficiencies in compliance with the regulations. For this reason, Minister for Employment Ylva Johansson and Minister for Gender Equality Åsa Regnér have met with the labour market and union partners, and several ministers have in recent weeks convened meetings with heads of government agencies and business leaders in order to focus on the responsibility of employers to counteract sexual violence and harassment.

In the Budget Bill for 2018, the Government is increasing the budget for culture by SEK 745 million. This includes SEK 275 million to be invested in libraries and SEK 115 million in freedom of the arts. In addition, further investments will be made on democracy policy and anti-discrimination policy. The Budget Bill for 2018 is based on an agreement between the government parties and the Left Party.

Geneva, 29 June 2017. Check against delivery.

Op-ed by Swedish Minister of Culture and Democracy Alice Bah Kuhnke and Irina Bokova, UNESCO Director-General, Huffington Post 29 June 2017 The safety of journalists is deteriorating across the globe. Journalists and media workers are victims of censorship, pressure, threats, physical abuse, violent attacks or mortal violence. Tackling this challenge successfully calls for political will and intensified cooperation. We call on all governments to join UNESCO in a renewed and stronger commitment to defend freedom of expression.

Stockholm, 17 May 2017. Check against delivery.