Status: Free
Legal Environment: 2
Political Influences: 2
Economic Pressures: 4
Total Score: 8
Population: n/a
GNI/capita: n/a
Life Expectancy: 80
Religious Groups: Lutheran (87 percent), other [including Roman Catholic, Orthodox, Baptist, Muslim, Jewish and Buddhist] (13 percent)
Ethnic Groups: Swedish (majority), Finnish, Sami
Capital: Stockholm
Legal protections for press freedom, including freedom of information, were first established as part of the Freedom of the Press Act in 1766 and are enshrined in constitutional law. Newspapers are no longer closely connected with political parties, but their editorial pages continue to reflect their original affiliations. The state broadcaster dominates television, and media ownership is highly concentrated. Government subsidies provide as much as a quarter of the income of economically weak papers, although the subsidies represent just 3 percent of total press revenues. In April the media company Mediearkivet was ordered to pay 1,500 euros to a freelance journalist for illegally using two of his articles.
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