ABSTRACT
Times change, and some of the features that once seemed so central or definitive of a society can transmute, altering its character. Sweden at the turn of the century looks different than it did two decades ago. At that point, the familiar stereotypes about, for example, a welfare state with a robust public sector, emphasizing material security for its population, was still pretty much in place. The ruling Social Democratic Party, allied with the unions and popular movements, could still claim to successfully represent the interests of the working class vis-à-vis industry and capital. Class and labor relations under the Swedish “middle way” were characterized by relative harmony. A certain climate of self-satisfaction with a well engineered society with a promising future, still prevailed. Today, such features, as well as many others, have been deeply altered by historical developments. Some of these changes are unique to Sweden, but many of them reflect patterns common to most Western societies. What have also changed are some key dimensions of the Swedish media. In this chapter, I will be looking at the Swedish mass media, primarily with reference to journalism, against the backdrop of these larger societal changes. My angle of vision will emphasize power in relation to the media, with the theme of democracy as a basic horizon. The focus will be on the mass media; the newer interactive media have as yet not played a decisive role in the realignment of power. How this will be in the future is of course an open question.
