Nordic Media Systems

Abstract

AbstractThe present chapter reviews the structures and developments that characterise the Nordic media landscape. The Nordic countries are marked by various commonalities, in support of consensus-making and managing conflict, which have become associated with “corporatism”. Partly drawing on that context, they have commonly been depicted as belonging to a special “Nordic” media model. After taking note of the stylised key dimensions of such a model, we examine the actual features of the Nordic media systems and how they have evolved over time. In this, additionally, we compare the media systems of the Nordic countries with those of each other while also making international comparisons. Through the recent phase, associated with digitalisation, commercialisation, and populism, the Nordic countries have continued to display a special media model, although with a shift away from defensive and rigid sentiments towards becoming more conducive to adaptation and renewal. As the media landscape has become more complex and multifaceted, however, tensions building at the intersection of changed conditions for journalism, unruly media content, and polarising politics, pose serious questions for the road ahead.