[mbrock]

The government doesn't own "the press" in Nordic countries.

In Sweden, there are a couple of TV channels (SVT) and a few radio channels (SR) which are run according to the "public service" model.

The existence of SVT/SR is protected by the constitution and they are funded by a kind of flat tax on media receivers while still managed independently of the government (the majority coalition has no direct power over public service).

Anyone familiar with SVT/SR or the public service model understands that they aren't "state media" in an authoritarian sense, most obviously because there is a plurality of commercial channels too.

There is no state press whatsoever, and the existing commercial papers are mostly center-right liberal, except for the venerable social democratic Aftonbladet.

I work at a small startup in Stockholm so I'm existence proof that there are options other than huge corporations or the state....

Of course there are problems, but your criticism seems misinformed and exaggerated.