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thriving press. In 1966 the government began a program of subsidies involving a total of SKr23 million to be divided among the parties in proportion to the number of seats they held in the Riksdag. It was left to each party, however, to decide how the subsidy should be spent, the respective presses constituting one of several outlets. The tendency has since been for the strongly organized parties with a weak press (i.e., the Social Democratic Party) to spend the money on their newspapers, and for parties with strong press support and weaker organization (i.e., the Liberal and Conservative Parties) to devote these additional resources to strengthening their organizations. The total subsidy for FY71 was SKr24.5 million. This program of subsidies has not proven adequate in checking the process of newspaper concentration, however, and in 1969 the Riksdag approved a plan specifically for a press loan fund. The plan is based upon recommendations by a 1967 government commission that a press loan fund be established from which government loans totaling SKr125 million would be advanced to newspapers over a 5-year period. These loans could be used to invest in buildings and machinery, to help pay for marketing programs, and to put the finances of losing enterprises in order. The Riksdag approved the commission's recommendations in May 1968, and the loan fund went into operation on 1 July 1969.

More than half of the daily newspaper circulation in Sweden is accounted for by the press of the three major cities: Stockholm, Goteborg, and Malmo. Their daily newspapers circulate throughout the entire country and, therefore, constitute the national press. The metropolitan newspapers do not, however, completely dominate the field. Large regional papers are published in Karlstad, Linkoping, Sundsvall, Jonkoping, Orebro, Vasteras, and Boden. Furthermore, one of the most significant aspects of Swedish journalism is the strength of the local press, and there are few localities which do not have a newspaper. The newspapers in the three largest cities are published, with only few exceptions, 7 days a week. In the rest of the country, 6-day publication is the rule. Alongside these daily newspapers are 40 or more local papers which appear 2, 3, 4, or 5 days a week.

Sweden's national newspapers compare favorably in quality and coverage with the better metropolitan papers in other countries, although there is no Swedish equivalent of the New York Times, The Times of London, Le Monde, or the Neue Zurcher Zeitung. In appearance and content Swedish newspapers are similar to those in the United States. Front pages feature the important world, national, and local news of the day arranged in horizontal display with two-, three-, and four-column headlines. With the exception of the evening tabloids, all newspapers are standard size. The larger metropolitan newspapers have 50 to 60 pages, while the smaller regional and local papers have 10 to 20 pages. Most Swedish newspapers give considerable space to foreign, national, provincial, and local news from the various wire services; editorials; financial and business news; cultural matters; and sports events. There are no syndicated columns, unless one counts the recent introduction in some newspapers of selected columns by prominent U.S. columnists. A noteworthy feature of Swedish newspapers is the daily editorial summary, which reprints selected editorials from other newspapers

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