The Swedish COVID-19 strategy: the importance of consensus culture and mass media structure: The importance of consensus culture and mass media structure

Abstract

Aim: To outline consensus culture and mass media structure in Sweden in relation to reporting of the COVID-19 pandemic and the Swedish strategy during in the spring of 2020. Methods: Discussion of preconditions for mass media scrutiny of the Swedish strategy in the spring of 2020. Results: Frode Forland, the Norwegian equivalent to the Swedish state epidemiologist, has (among others) called attention to the lack of critical questions at the press conferences held by the Public Health Agency (PHA) and other authorities during the spring of 2020. The questions later became more critical during the autumn, when the second wave became more extensive than any scenario predicted by the PHA. Conclusion: A deeper scientific scrutiny of the role of Swedish mass media scrutiny of the Swedish strategy during the spring of 2020 is needed.