What are some managers not understanding?

We have told about the night nurse Kajsa Magnusson who learned how a substitute in the night patrol in Forshaga behaved badly against the elderly. When she sounded the alarm, the investigation was shut down without any notification being sent to the Inspection for Health and Care. She was also told that she would not talk about this with anyone other than the managers. At least with the media. Saying such a thing to an employee can be a violation of the Statement of Freedom of Expression.

Nurse Kajsa Magnusson recorded the conversation with her manager, and when we at SVT play it for him, he says he realizes he has done wrong.

In Forshaga, measures will now be implemented to prevent this from happening again.

But unfortunately, similar events are nothing unusual. Employees who lift abusive circumstances are silenced by their managers, are forbidden to talk to the media, suffer reprisals if they still do. Both we and other media have reported this time and time again.
But the coin does not appear to have been dropped by some executives. What do they not understand?

Talking to us journalists, talking about abuses or irregularities is a democratic right. Protected in one of our constitutions, moreover - which says a lot about how important it is.

And why is it important? It is a matter of misunderstandings, irregularities and abuse not to be hidden and silenced, but to be illuminated by the media. This is of course incredibly important in a democratic society and extra important in terms of publicly funded activities, such as in municipalities, regions and authorities, for example.

Whether you are employed in public administration or in a private company, you have the right to turn to the media and submit information. You are also covered by anonymity protection - we who receive your tip must not reveal who you are if you want to be anonymous.

If you are a public employee, for example in a municipality, your protection is even stronger. Your managers may not even ask who has talked to the media, and certainly not punish you for doing so, for example by repositioning or dismissing you.

More about freedom of communication, see here.

You can thus feel completely confident in submitting your news tips to us. We guarantee your anonymity. One of our most important tasks at SVT is to examine misunderstandings and highlight things that would otherwise have happened without transparency. And to do that, we depend on your tips. Turn to any of our reporters - names and email addresses are available after the articles on our site and in our app. Or contact our planning editor Inger Karlsson.

You can also email me directly.

Tomas Skoglund