The Audit Board for Radio and Television has the task of checking that the rules on impartiality, objectivity and undue favor are followed by Swedish radio and television media, such as Sweden's Radio and SVT.
Now, the Audit Board itself will be examined by the OAG, which is tasked with examining how the state's money is used. The authority wants to check whether the Audit Board's audits of public service are effective and lead to correct corrections and measures.
- It is both exciting and important to review the media area, says Gunnar Myrberg, Audit Director at the Swedish National Audit Office, to the Culture News.
- Given the size of the broadcasters, how much money they get and how important they are, it is also important that there is a working review of them. Therefore, we would like to review the Review Board.
Control body under magnifying glassMore recently, the Review Board has been in the public conversation on two occasions. In November, the Swedish Democrats criticized public service in a debate article, and proposed the introduction of a scientific council reviewing SVT and SR.
The same month, the Media reviewed the P1 Review Board, and showed that the authority has long processing times. In 2019, the average wait time for someone who filed a complaint was 178 days.
- This is information that we have taken part in, and of course will look at, but that is not why we do the review, says Gunnar Myrberg.
- Sometimes we do audits because there is a problem situation, but we have no indication that there are major flaws in the Audit Board in this case.
Want to give facts to the debateMyrberg, on the other hand, points to the debate over the past year about the future of public service, and believes that an examination of the effectiveness of the Review Board may be a relevant basis for this issue.
The review will be presented in the form of a report at the end of 2020, and may contain, in addition to a review of the Review Board's activities, concrete proposals for improvements presented to the Riksdag.