Conclusion
Sweden has traditionally been more of a newspaper than television country. Today, it is a very digital country. The internet penetration, in general, is almost 100 percent, and smartphones are also widespread. Most people have access to the internet in their pockets 24/7.
There have been few major political controversies in Sweden when it comes to media policy, but when competition has increased through the advent of new digital actors, the private media companies have raised their voices in the debate and demanded transfers from public service to companies that serve local journalism. The subsidy system is now under debate, which seems to have moved from a focus on the financial needs of media companies to a focus on the information needs of citizens.
The business models for legacy media are under severe pressure. Advertisers leave, and newspaper companies try to charge the audience for their content in a new way. It is, however, hard when the public has become accustomed to free content online. Even though a lot of the media content in social media derives from legacy media, nobody pays for it.
The gap concerning media consumption between young and old people has increased over the last decade, and this trend seems likely to continue. People over 50 tend to hold on to traditional media in parallel with their use of digital media, whereas young people use legacy media to a very low extent, except when it appears in their general digital flow.