This article examines the relationship between politics and public relations, based on recent developments in Sweden and Norway. It has become increasingly common for PR firms to offer well-paid job opportunities for former politicians. Then, after some years as advisors in public affairs, including lobbying activity, some of them return to politics as members of the government, press officers or advisors. The article discusses the background for this development, and poses some questions concerning integrity and the possible consequences for democracy.

On the basis of Scandinavian journalism research this article discusses the changing political roles of news organizations and journalists after the fall of the party press and the dissolution of broadcasting as a state-controlled monopoly. Given these institutional changes, we ask the following: what new roles, if any, are news organizations and journalists playing in the political system? What are the characteristics of these new roles, and how do news organizations use their newfound political power? We address these questions in the context of an institutional approach to the news coupled with Hallin and Mancini's analysis of media systems.

The democratic importance of journalism is related to public good aspects of media products, as well as news media’s positive externalities. Journalism of high quality helps ensure we are all better informed and thus benefits democracy. Lack of investigative journalism may incur large social costs. However, journalism as a public good is difficult to fund on a commercial basis. Historically, an economic solution for media companies has been advertising subsidies, plus different types of public and private support. Today, the long-time marriage between news organisations and advertisers is severely weakened, and nothing so far suggests that digital revenues alone can finance a varied, broad and original news production. In the eyes of capitalist investors, news organisations represent the past, not the future. This article discusses, on the basis of Scandinavian media experiences and recent policy reforms, the necessity of a media policy and a funding system that acknowledges quality journalism as societal knowledge production and a public good.

Den digitala revolutionen har under några decennier gjort att tillgången på informationskällor har ökat dramatiskt. Samtidigt har det inneburit mångdubblade möjligheter för felinformation och desinformation, för falska nyheter och för spridning av myter och propaganda. Gränslinjen mellan sanning och lögn har blivit svårare att dra. Utvecklingen är en utmaning för journalistikens informationskvalitet och nyhetsmediernas roll som informationskälla, granskare och forum för samhällsdebatt.

I den här boken diskuteras källkritikens villkor, principer och betydelse i en tid där desinformation och lögn sprids minst lika snabbt som sanna påståenden. Bokens normativa utgångspunkt är kravet om sannfärdighet och verklighetsförankring i nyhetsmediernas rapportering. Källkritikens begrepp och praxis diskuteras först och främst i förhållande till journalistikens utmaningar, men de generella problemställningarna är också relevanta för andra ämnesområden där kunskap är beroende av trovärdiga källor och kvalitetsgranskat källmaterial. Eftersom medier av olika slag är centrala för kommunikation och kunskapsförmedling i vår samtid, är källkritisk medvetenhet av generell betydelse för alla samhällsmedborgare. Källkritik! Journalistik i lögnens tid är ett bidrag till en mer kvalificerad diskussion på området.

This chapter focuses on the basis of Nordic research, present data about the incidence, types and consequences of scandals in Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden as well as discuss the political and societal effects of scandal journalism. It discusses the way in which mediated political scandals are launched, dramatized and interpreted. For Nordic news media, information on norm violations that can be reported, staged and dramatized as a political scandal is a competitive resource and a strategic, market-related investment in terms of reputation and audience interest. In practice, professional standards in Nordic scandal journalism vary considerably. The most typical Nordic “sex scandals” are accusations of rape or sexual harassment, buying sexual services from prostitutes or intercourse with minors, actions prohibited by law. Several factors may have influenced the increased importance of scandals in Nordic countries after the millennium. The liberalization and deregulation of the public sector in all Nordic countries has created opportunities for more private competition, but it has also increased the importance of lobbyism.

Investigating powerful institutions and public figures plays an important part in the professional ideology of journalism. Exposing circumstances that create scandals help news organisations strengthen their legitimacy, and sometimes result in journalistic awards.  In certain contexts journalistic investigations provide us with new knowledge about goings on in the hidden corridors of power, insights that can strengthen open, democratic debates. A society without any revelations that voters interpret as scandalous may be symptomatic of authoritarian control and a lack of press freedom. According to the sociologist Jeffrey Alexander (1988), journalists are taking in the responsibility of restoring the moral order of society.

It would, however, be naïve to interpret any mediated scandal as strengthening democratic processes. Sometimes scandal reports reveal transgressions of norms that from a political point of view are quite trivial and after some time are easily forgotten by the public. The distinction between the important and the irrelevant may then be blurred. Democratic values are not necessarily enhanced when elected leaders, after days or weeks of media hunts, are pressed to resign before those who have elected them have a chance to influence the outcome. Neither do unilateral media campaigns that include tendencies of demonization create an ideal climate for reasoning and public debate.

For a long time the Nordic region was regarded a scandal-free zone compared with other parts of Western Europe and the US. Commenting well-known political corruption cases in Western Germany in the 1980s, John Logue (1988: 261), for example, added that the Scandinavian labour movements and governments “are virtually free of such embarrassments”. Nobody would award such a political and moral certificate today.

An analysis of national, political scandals in Sweden, Norway, Denmark and Finland covering the period 1980 – 2009, confirms that political scandals have gradually become a more regular feature in news media coverage, but with a low increase throughout the first two decades. The significant increase comes in 2000-2009, with a level nearly three times higher than in the first two decades (Allern, Kantola, Pollack & Blach-Ørsten, 2012).  In this article we will present some of the results from this Nordic study and compare them with a new analysis of national political scandals in two of the countries, Sweden and Norway, in the following five years (2010-2014). Three questions will be addressed: Is there still an increased incidence of mediated scandals over time? In a societal context, how important are the norm violations? What have been the consequences for scandalized politicians?

Among the questions discussed is how important are the norm violations that have led to political scandals? Have the types of scandals changed over time? How may rivals and political opponents use mediated scandals? Are character assassination and demonization typical traits of a scandalization process? Are male and female politicians treated differently? Scandalous! is based on case studies and content analyses of mediated political scandals in Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden, including an analysis of the frequencies, types, characteristics and consequences of national political scandals in 1980 – 2010.

I den här texten diskuteras några av de demokratiproblem som är knutna till en samhällsutveckling där privat, kommersialiserad lobbying spelar en växande politisk roll och där politiskt tillitskapital kan utnyttjats kommersiellt.

Först definieras och diskuteras begreppet lobbyism, därefter dryftas den ekonomiska och politiska bakgrunden till PR-branschens framväxt. Sedan går vi mer konkret in på politiska karriärer i ”svängdörrarnas rike” och ger exempel på politisk påtryckarmakt. Efter det för vi en diskussion om vilken typ av kompetens som är till salu på denna konsultmarknad.

I slutavsnittet pekar vi på behovet av ökad öppenhet och hårdare reglering av ett politiskt system där politiskt förtroendekapital i rask takt förvandlas till en ordinär vara på marknaden.

The topic of this paper is the media visibility of Swedish advocacy think tanks, as measured by references to these think tanks in leading Swedish print newspapers. Advocacy think tanks are, in contrast with more research-oriented think tanks, characterised by their outspoken ideological and political agenda. In public debates, they often have a partisan role. Four research questions will be answered: How often are these advocacy think tanks referred to in the news? How important are they as commentators and opinion-makers? How are they presented as sources in the news? What is the relative strength of market-liberal and right-wing think tanks versus red/green think tanks, in terms of media representation and agenda-setting?

The selection criteria, type of newspapers, and time period used in this study of Swedish advocacy think tanks have been coordinated with parallel, national think tank studies by media researchers in Denmark, Norway, and Finland. Several changes in the think tank landscape took place after the turn of the millennium, which motivated us to select two full newspaper years, 2006 and 2013, to better cover these developments. To gain a deeper understanding of the think tanks’ backgrounds, their cooperation with other think tanks, and their media strategies, we conducted background interviews with representatives from four advocacy think tanks. We met with Karin Svanborg-Sjövall, CEO of Timbro; Boa Ruthström, CEO of Arena Idé, and Maja Dahl, communication manager of Arena Idé; Mattias Goldmann, CEO of Fores; and Daniel Suhonen, the leader of Katalys.

Mediated descriptions of reality are tremendously important to the way the public - and policymakers - perceive the police. The present article analyses how leading news outlets reported and commented on complaints against the Norwegian police during the period 2005-2008. The study is based on content analyses of press and television coverage, with special emphasis on a publicly debated police action in which a student of African origins lost his life. In most cases, news coverage of the police and the investigators of the police is event-driven, and the picture of the police seldom points to institutional or organizational problems. The story is too often one about individual wrongdoings alone. Unfortunately, such media pictures matter and influence policy decisions, especially when they become the point of departure for political debate

I Mediebilder av politikritikk redogörs för hur centrala norska nyhetsmedier rapporterat om Spesialenheten for politisaker (den norska polisens interna organisation för behandling av klagomål rörande polisen) perioden 2005-2008. Såväl press som TV undersöks med både kvantitativa och kvalitativa metoder. Resultaten visar att mediernas kritik av polisen i första hand fokuserar på individuella normbrott, sällan på organisationskultur. Specialenheten beskrivs främst som ett utredningsorgan, neutralt eller positivt belyst. Uppmärksamheten varierar, är oftast kortvarig och fokuserar på högst olika incidenter och fall. Rapporteringen om en speciell händelse under perioden, den s k Obiora-saken, får dock stora dimensioner. Två separata diskurser präglar medierapporteringen 2005-2008: "polisdiskursen" (polisen utför ett viktigt och svårt arbete) och "rasismdiskursen" (polisen är präglad av institutionell rasism).

Public relations consultants perform a range of roles. One of these roles is to be an advisor in lobbying – or ‘public affairs’ as it is called in the branch lingo. In the Nordic countries consultancies mainly see their role as advisors, in some contrast to professional lobbying firms in the US. However, this does not exclude more direct back stage lobbying on behalf of clients. The business idea is to sell their staffs knowledge of how political decisions best can be influenced. The clients, the principals who pay the bills, are most typically corporations and branch organisations, but also include interest groups and even municipalities who want to influence government decisions. In this political marketplace, former politicians, journalists and officials have found new career opportunities as well-paid lobbying consultants. Based on experiences from Norway and Sweden this paper investigates, analysis and discusses the relations and interactions between influential actors engaged in lobbying and mediated agenda setting. 

Politiska skandaler är i sin moderna form oupplösligt förbundna med nyhetsmedierna. Den här boken riktar ett kritiskt sökarljus mot hur press och TV förvaltar sin definitionsmakt när politiska ledare skandaliseras genom kampanjpräglade mediedrev. Bland frågorna som diskuteras är: Hur viktiga och väsentliga är de normbrott som tas upp? Hur utnyttjas skandaler av politiska motståndare och rivaler? Är karaktärsmord och demonisering typiska drag i nyhetsrapporteringen? Vilka etiska dilemman möter journalister - och publiken - i en sådan process? Behandlas kvinnliga och manliga politiker olika?Skandalenes markedsplass bygger på fallstudier av sådana politiska skandaler som under åren 2006-2008 fick en mycket omfattande medieuppmärksamhet. De flesta exemplen är hämtade från norsk politik, där skandaliseringen ledde till avgång för LO-ledaren, två statsråd och ordföranden i Oslos kommunfullmäktige. Ett kapitel ägnas åt mediedrevet som slutade med att två ministrar fick avgå kort tid efter att Reinfeldt-regeringen tog över makten i Sverige.

The objective of this chapter is to describe and discuss some important political journalism development trends in Denmark, Finland, Norway, and Sweden. The term political journalism traditionally refers to news, commentaries, and other genres related to the coverage of political processes, institutions, and policy questions. It is, however, difficult to draw a clear dividing line between political news and other types of current affairs coverage. While political logic once dominated the discourses of political journalism, the emergence of the news media as an independent institution gave journalists a substantial definitional power and an ability to define the communicative rules of the game, but professional political sources quickly learned to exploit news media logics for their own aims and objectives. During the last decade, the growth of social media networks and the relative weakening of the legacy media has created a less stable situation for the negotiation of control between journalists and their sources.