ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses the current political role of the Scandinavian news media. Neither 'the media' nor 'the news media' in the Scandinavian countries are part of the system of rules regulating the political process. As in most countries, media organizations are not a direct part of the political system, the electoral system, the party system or the judicial system. A Scandinavian example is the institutional development of ethical rules and self-regulation in journalism before and after the Second World War, a period in which most newspapers were still affiliated with political parties. The circulation of the Scandinavian paid printed press has weakened significantly in the last two decades, as in other European countries. The official ideological and political leanings of Scandinavian newspapers and media houses are, however, seldom changed, even when new owners have the power and legal right to do so.
