Stockholm – Anna Hagwall, a member of parliament for the
anti-immigration Sweden Democrat party, was widely criticized on Thursday,
including by her own party, after she put forward a motion to scrap press
support, state subsidies available for newspapers in Sweden, to stop the
Bonnier Group’s “control” of media.
“Eighty percent of media is owned and controlled by the same owner.
That is not acceptable. Therefore, media ownership needs to be spread over more
independent companies and people. To change this I suggest scrapping press
support.”
The concept of press support was launched in Sweden decades ago to
secure the survival of local newspapers and avoid monopolies. It is usually
awarded to the second largest newspaper in each town.
The Bonnier Group is Sweden’s largest media company, owning titles such
as Expressen and Dagens Nyheter. Fact check: it owns around 25 percent of the
daily newspaper industry in Sweden today.
It also receives none of the direct press support of 436 million kronor
($50.60 million) handed out to media each year, writes Aftonbladet, but does
get a share of the so-called 50 million kronor distribution support.
But Hagwall writes in an email to Aftonbladet, Sweden’s largest
newspaper and owned by Norwegian media company Schibsted: “Most small
newspapers are controlled directly or indirectly by Bonnier and why it should
get paid by Swedish taxpayers is a mystery. Small rural newspapers have become
direct or indirect mouthpieces for DN/Bonnier.”
“No family, ethnic group or company should be allowed to
directly/indirectly control more than five percent of the media,” she
adds.
The reference to an “ethnic group” was widely slammed in
Sweden as antisemitic on Thursday, interpreted as a slur on the Bonnier
Family, whose ancestor Gerhard Bonnier was Jewish.
“Antisemitic conspiracy theories have obviously made it from the
swamps of the internet to proposals in the Swedish parliament. This should make
it clear to all decent parties in the Swedish parliament that the Sweden
Democrats are not a party to count on,” said Culture and Democracy
Minister Alice Bah Kuhnke, who represents the Green Party in the government.
“This is an elected member of parliament writing this proposal, in
other words a person of power. It is so distasteful words cannot describe
it,” she told Aftonbladet.
Senior members of Hagvall’s own party have also criticized her motion.
“Anna Hagvall’s motion
does not mirror the party’s support for public service and media politics in
general. The actions have damaged our confidence in her. This is going to have
consequences for her future work in the party and parliament,” writes
Mattias Karlsson in a press statement issued by the Sweden Democrats late on
Wednesday.
Footnote: In her motion, Hagwall adds that Swedish broadcaster
SVT should return to how it operated in the 50s and 60s, broadcasting only for
one hour in the morning, one hour in the afternoon and three to four hours in
the evening to stop it “supplying a politically correct agenda”. She
also suggests that it should broadcast the same type of programmes as in the
50s and 60s, “but this needs to be thought through”.
