Free Churches of the Air: the History of Community Radio in Sweden

Abstract

Swedish community radio started in 1979 and was the first type of broadcast to be organised outside of the public service monopoly that had been in operation since 1924. This article unveils some of the aspects of the history of Swedish community radio. Through analysis of first-hand sources from the period between 1979 and 1985, the article sheds new light on the history of Swedish community radio by using the archives from the parliamentary committee setting up community radio, public inquiries, parliamentary minutes and other sources of political discourse The analysis shows that religious interests, and especially the free churches and the Pentecostal movement, played an important role for establishing community radio. The connections between the religious field and the political field in Sweden were manifold and strong in relation to the development of community broadcasting, which also had a marked effect on how the reform was designed and how it played out. During the early years of community radio, churches dominated the broadcasts, in some cities being responsible for as much as 100% of the content produced. Hence, this article sheds light on a yet untold story of Swedish media history and shows how the interests of religious organisations can be a driving force in the development of media policy and a driver of media change. It also shows that the community broadcasting reform was a catalyst within Swedish Christianity for starting to work systematically with technologies and issues related to the developing media saturated society.