Community Media Forum Europe (CMFE) has expressed its concern at the current risks of commercialization threatening the community radio in sector in Sweden by calling on the Swedish government to take the issue into serious consideration through a letter addressed to the Swedish Minister of Culture, Lena Adelsohn Liljeroth.
Currently there are 130 radio stations in Sweden broadcasting on FM frequencies designated by law for non-commercial community radio (närradio) which should be operated by non-profit local associations (NGOs). CMFE has been informed that since 2009 there are loopholes in the Swedish radio law, which make it possible for private commercial operators to take control of those frequencies.
Today, while such a frequency is formally licensed to a not-for-profit NGO, approximately 25 of the radio stations are operating as pure commercial for-profit enterprises also created and controlled by the commercial operator by proxy. It has been reported that since the law was amended in August 2010 the number of privatised community radio stations is increasing month by month. While the official commercial radio stations must pay a licence fee to operate an FM frequency, those informal commercial radio stations take advantage of being formal NGO’s and as such are not paying any licence fee. In fact, an informal unregulated fourth radio sector is developing in Sweden.
CMFE is aware of other problems with the Swedish community radio sector such as digitalisation of small radio stations and structural financing. However, CMFE regards the privatisation of närradio as a most acute and serious problem, which is also an unique situation in Europe. In several countries not-for-profit financing by advertisements is allowed in community radio but in no other countries is privatisation allowed.
CME believes privatisation will be detrimental to the development of community media and the intentions put forward by the European Parliament in 2008 and the Council of Europe in 2009. Privatisation of community media will deprive civil society of a major resource for freedom of expression and cultural development, especially for minority groups.
CMFE argues that the takeover of community radios by commercial radios should be blocked until this loophole in the present legislation is closed. CMFE further recommends that an overhaul of the law regulating närradio should take into account the European perspective and recent developments in other European countries as well as resolutions and statements in the European Parliament and the Council of Europe. In this context it should also be emphasized that this is a matter of freedom of expression for the civil society.
See documents and other information on www.cmfe.eu.
(Source: Christer Hederström, Ideosphere via Radio Netherlands Media Network Weblog)
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