Beat Memo: Sweden
By Ida Hult Posted Apr 1 2003
CONTEXT
Sweden shares borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge.
Sweden’s population is 8.9 million. Eighty -five percent of the population lives in the southern half of the country.
The literacy rate for people over 15 years old is 99 percent. Swedish is the broadest of the Nordic languages and understood by Norwegians and Danes. Five languages are protected as minority languages. Almost all Swedes speak English.
ECONOMY
Sweden has achieved an enviable standard of living under a mixed system of high-tech capitalism and extensive welfare benefits. As a result, there are no Swedes living below the poverty line.
The economy is oriented toward foreign trade, and raw materials play a major role. Full-time employment means 40 hours of work a week.
The music business is one of the most important economic industries in Sweden.
RELIGION AND POLITICS
Nonparticipation in military alliances, with the objective of remaining neutral in times of war, is a doctrine that has broad popular support.
Sweden is a parliamentary democracy. Carl XVI Gustaf is Head of State, but the monarchy is purely constitutional. Sweden is governed by a Social Democratic minority government with cooperation with the Left Party and the Green Party.
The government and Riksdag have equal numbers of men and women, and legislation in the field of gender equality aims at creating equal conditions. Most men take parental leave.
Swedish environmental policy reflects the idea that the transformation into an ecological society must be high-tech and research-intensive.
In 2000, the Church of Sweden became independent from the state and was placed on the same footing as other religious organizations. Eighty-four percent of the population belongs to this church.
CLIMATE AND CULTURE
Sweden has a varied landscape with many ecosystems. Northern Sweden (beyond the Arctic Circle) has long, snowy winters, but the sun shines around the clock during the short Arctic summers. In the south, the winters are milder and the summers longer.
The right to roam across any publicly or privately owned land is protected by “The Right of Public Access” doctrine.
Typical for the Swedish mentality is “Jantelagen,” a set of values that says that you shouldn’t believe that you are better than others.
Greeting, smiling and nodding at strangers is generally considered inappropriate.
Stockholm is suffering from a severe housing shortage, and finding a place in the city is almost impossible. It is advisable to find a landlord in a suburb.
Swedish roads are comparable to those of the United States, but due to the sparse population outside urban areas, secondary roads have only two lanes. A valid U.S. driver’s license may be used, but drivers must be at least 18 years of age.
MEDIA
Sweden has one major news agency, Tidningarnas Telegrambyrå.
There are roughly 160 newspapers and 3,000 periodicals. Many of the publications with the largest circulation are produced by organizations, like Vår Bostad (1 million subscribers) published by the National Tenant’s Association. Magazines, as opposed to dailies, don’t receive subsidies.
The tabloid Aftonbladet and the daily newspaper Dagens Nyheter have the biggest circulation. One of the fastest growing newspapers is the alternative daily Stockholms Fria Tidning, which is owned by political activists. There is no daily paper in English.
There are three public broadcasting companies, responsible for television (Sveriges Television), radio (Sveriges Radio) and educational radio and television (Utbildnin-
gsradion). Operations are largely financed by television license revenue, the fee being 1812 kronor per annum (213 USD).
Sveriges Radio broadcasts on four channels. There are also privately-owned networks, the largest being French-owned NRJ and Swedish-owned Radio Rix.
Metro, a newspaper that started in 1995 in Sweden, is a free daily that began its distribution on the Stockholm subway system. IPI’s Peter Preston examines the success of this and other free dailies on page 5.
WORKING
Work permits might be difficult to get if you are not from the European Union since its citizens have priority. However, few foreign journalists stay in Sweden for longer than three months, and American citizens do not need a visa for that length of time.
Sweden is a part of the Schengen Agreement, so Swedish work permits and visas are legitimate in all the other Schengen countries as well. You can apply for visas and work permits at the Swedish Embassy if you have a valid passport. Many people try to extend work permits and visas through Sweden’s migration authorities (www.migrationsverket.se).
The freedoms given to journalists in Sweden are almost unrestricted. Inter- national and indigenous journalists are treated equally.
In 1916, the Swedish Press Council – the first of its kind in the world — was established. The Swedes also contributed to free press by institutionalizing the role of the ombudsman.