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Press Subsidies and Business Performance of Newspaper Publishing in Three Nordic Media Welfare States

Author

Listed:
  • Mikko Grönlund

    (Finland Futures Research Centre, University of Turku, Finland)

  • Mikko Villi

    (Department of Language and Communication Studies, University of Jyväskylä, Finland)

  • Marko Ala-Fossi

    (Faculty of Information Technology and Communication Sciences, Tampere University, Finland)

Abstract

The Nordic countries have been regarded as so-called “media welfare states.” Despite the large amount of public money used on press subsidies over the decades in the Nordic countries, there is not much academic research on the financial performance of the newspaper publishing industry in these countries. This study examines the “media welfare state” approach to public support for newspapers and the financial performance of newspaper companies in three Nordic countries: Finland, Sweden, and Norway. Our data consists of the key financial figures of newspaper publishing companies in the aforementioned countries from 2005 to 2019. Based on our analysis, we argue that direct press subsidies in Sweden and Norway have not been able to prevent a decrease in the number of titles and, importantly, have resulted in a number of subsidy-dependent news outlets unable to survive on their own income. By contrast, the Finnish newspaper publishing industry has been in a better financial situation in terms of almost all indicators and throughout the review period, despite Finland abandoning direct press subsidies in the 1990s.

Suggested Citation

  • Mikko Grönlund & Mikko Villi & Marko Ala-Fossi, 2024. "Press Subsidies and Business Performance of Newspaper Publishing in Three Nordic Media Welfare States," Media and Communication, Cogitatio Press, vol. 12.
    • Handle: RePEc:cog:meanco:v12:y:2024:a:7570
    DOI: 10.17645/mac.7570
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Soontae An & Hyun Seung Jin & Todd Simon, 2006. "Ownership Structure of Publicly Traded Newspaper Companies and Their Financial Performance," Journal of Media Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 19(2), pages 119-136.
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