Competition, Collaboration and Cooperation: Swedish Provincial Newspaper Markets In Transition

Abstract

A wave of mergers has reshaped the Swedish newspaper market over the past decade. Competition has been gradually replaced with collaboration, block-building and alliances. In 11 out of 15 cities with more than one daily newspaper, a single owner controls the entire market. Based a mail survey and a short case study, this paper asks how newspapers on these markets balance professional areas of competition and collaboration, without compromising strategic differentiation, customer confidence and journalistic independence.

Key Words:

• newspapers
• coopetition
• ownership concentration
• media policy
• press subsidies