In mid-June, the Moderates presented their report with proposals for a new media policy.
One of the proposals is for SR, SVT and UR to be audited by auditors, appointed by the companies' respective management foundations.
It is written that: “an independent audit function within each program company shall be established.
The audit function shall be responsible for broad and scientifically sound reviews of the companies' objectivity and impartiality and have a driving and auditing role in the new permit and budget process. "
This has caused some uproar.
The public foundations of public service companies are appointed by the government, with the exception of the chairman.
Something that could open up for political interference when the auditors are to be appointed and carry out their assignments, the critics say.
Sofia Wadensjö Karén, CEO of Utbildningsradion, accuses the Moderates of slamming the door on political control of public service companies.
- It is a kind of overcoat inside the business that is not suitable for any editorial company.
Regardless of whether it is public service or whether it would be commercial companies, we should not have auditors employed by someone else who controls editorial activities, she says.
"A misinterpretation"
Viktor Wärnick, cultural policy spokesman for the Moderates, believes that Sofia Wadensjö Karén has got it all on the back foot.
- That is simply not true.
It's a misinterpretation of her.
- We believe that a broader review and increased transparency is needed.
It would be a wise measure to have internal auditing functions in the individual companies that are either appointed directly by the companies or in the ownership foundation.
It is absolutely not a question of any political control or external scrutiny, he says.
Opens to change the proposal
But the Moderates are prepared to reconsider the question of whether the auditors should be appointed by the companies' politically appointed foundations, says Viktor Wärnick.
He opens up for the public service companies themselves to own the recruitment.
- You could review so that it is the companies directly (who will appoint the auditors. Editor's note.) We are by no means locked into the technical issue. The point is that it is definitely not about an external review or moving the fingers of politics. in the companies.
Is it not enough for public service to be examined by the Review Board?
- They only examine individual cases.
We believe that this internal audit could make more comprehensive reviews in collaboration with, for example, academia and research, but could also provide a basis for the political processes and permit decisions that will now take place every eight years.
The moderates will vote on the proposal for a new media policy program at the party meeting this autumn.