När tidningarna blev moderna. Om svensk journalistik 1898-1969

Sammanfattning: The aim of the thesis is to increase the knowledge of some of the phenomena involved in the development and expansion of Swedish journalism in the 20th century. This is done primarily by research into the works of three major newspapermen, but also by studies of seven Swedish dailies’ reporting of nine labour market conflicts. The three newspapermen are C. G. Tengwall (chapter 1), Ewald Stomberg (chapter 2) and Sigfrid (Sigge) Ågren (chapter 4), all driving forces in the development of strategies to consolidate the positions of their respective papers among their readership. With Tengwall, at Svenska Dagbladet 1898-1907, came the introduction in Sweden of the modern popularized daily newspaper with a broad and varied content. Stomberg, also at Svenska Dagbladet, became, above all during the period 1910-20, a keen promoter of “active journalism”. Sigge Ågren, the strong man in the central editorial office of Expressen for 25 years, from its start in 1944 and onwards, was one of the prime movers behind a type of journalism that strove to report from the perspective of those concerned. Of the nine labour market conflicts (chapter 3), the first concerned the cabbies in Stockholm during April/May 1900 and the ninth a breakout group of engine drivers in May 1969. Here particular attention is paid to how journalism gradually allowed the different parties, including members of the general public, to contribute to an increasingly dramatized description of the events, at the expense of a factual account. Chapter 3 also gives a number of examples of how headlines and run-in texts, page layout, the use of pictures and the use of editorials changed, and in more detail, how the role of professional subeditor evolved. On the whole, it is a question of rather slow developments, albeit in the same direction. The development of news journalism went hand-in-hand with successive popularization; new topics were introduced, the presentation styles changed, and the reporter’s role was strengthened and differentiated. Newspapermen, who, with journalistic entrepreneurship, could successfully grasp the interplay between the market and the available production resources, were the key actors in this process. By 1969, with an increasingly well thought through and vigorous editing of the journalistic material, and with methods for exciting and captivating presentation of news, Swedish daily press journalism had at its disposal a powerful arsenal for its depiction of reality.