Political interference, legal threats and economic problems. Sweden’s public media is facing many threats, at the same time as the number of online attacks continues to grow, says Reporters Without Borders (RSF) Sweden’s report, which calls on the Swedish authorities to provide constitutional protection for public media’s editorial independence.

Freedom of the press is still far from guaranteed in a country that is generally seen as a model for respect for this freedom. This is the conclusion of a Report with the title “Swedish Public Service Media Under Fire” which has just been published by RSF Sweden.

In Sweden, as in other European countries, the corona crisis has highlighted the importance of public media and revived the debate about their independence. This can be seen in the number of viewers for the public TV channels SVT1 and SVT2which rose by 36% and 14% in April, compared with the same month last year, which shows the confidence that Swedes have in their public service media.

But public media are under political pressure, especially from Sweden’s right-wing governing coalition, which calls for tougher control, budget cuts and a tighter task. During the (liberal-conservative) Moderates’ conference in 2017, some members even demanded that the three state-funded broadcasting units – the TV broadcaster be completely abolished SVTthe radio transmitter SR and the production company FROM. Linus Bylund, a politician who is a member of the far-right party Sweden Democrats and who is also a member of the public service companies’ ownership foundation, proposed in February that public service journalists should be held personally accountable for the content they produce and should be subject to salary deductions or even dismissal if there is a lack of impartiality.

Cases of direct political interference in public media are even more worrying. The border was crossed in February when a member of parliament submitted a request to the Riksdag’s culture committee that the heads of public media be called to defend content that his party considered lacking impartiality and objectivity. The request was finally rejected.

At the same time, harassment and attacks on journalists online have increased as the public debate has become more polarized. Erika Bjerströma former US-based correspondent and current climate correspondent at SVT, is one of the journalists who has discovered how important their choice of words or expressions can be. After a critical comment about a speech by Greta Thunberg in Madrid in December 2019, she was subjected to a wave of violent attacks on social media that included accusations of being neoliberal and linked to the oil industry. She was eventually forced to close her Twitter account.

“When we observe the situation in Europe, we see that public media are threatened by a lack of funding and growing political control,“, Said RSF Sweden’s chairman Erik Halkjaer. “We must safeguard free and independent journalism in Sweden. That is why we must safeguard their independence by enshrining it in the Swedish constitution.“Constitutional protection for public media and their editorial independence is the subject of a parliamentary commission appointed by the Minister of Justice in 2018.

The RSF report also recommends that the current system of editorial independence and accountability be maintained, and calls on the authorities to systematically investigate all threats and attacks against journalists and to prosecute those responsible.

“Sweden, which is ranked 4th in the RSF’s World Press Freedom Index, should be a role model in Europe,“Said Pavol Szalai, Head of the RSF’s European Union and Balkan Desk. “Guaranteing the independence of the Swedish public media is a way to lead by example for many other countries such as Poland, which – ahead of the next presidential election – uses its public television as an election campaign tool. “

Sweden is ranked fourth out of 180 countries and territories in the RSF’s 2020 World Press Freedom Index.