In Europe and in the U.S., right wing populism is on the rise. This poses problems not only for the political system, but also for journalists, publishers and news organizations. At the same time, media is currently undergoing a fundamental structural change. The digital information landscape is challenging not only old business models, but also traditional media’s unique position as news providers. In recent years, the extreme right in Sweden and other European countries has built a strong and growing network of websites and social media operations. The right-wing movements in different countries learn from each other. Ms. Pettersson’s talk centers around this question: how dangerous is this development for journalism and democracy in a broader sense, and how should traditional media outlets meet the challenge.

Karin Pettersson is the political editor-in-chief at Aftonbladet, Scandinavia’s biggest daily newspaper. She is also the co-founder and former editor-in-chief of Fokus, Sweden’s leading newsmagazine. During her time at Fokus, the publication won one of Sweden’s most prestigious awards for reinventing political journalism. At Aftonbladet, she has quadrupled the readership of the editorial page and started a new digital brand for editorial journalism online. Pettersson won the European Newspaper Award for a series about Roma people in Stockholm. She is the 2017 Nieman-Berkman Fellow in Journalism Innovation. The fellowship is a collaboration between the Nieman Foundation and the Berkman Center for Internet & Society at Harvard and is designed to generate new ideas to advance quality journalism in the digital age. Pettersson is also a Ruth Cowan Nash Nieman Fellow. Nash was best known for her work as an Associated Press war correspondent during World War II. As a Nieman Fellow, Pettersson will study how extreme right-wing and racist movements use digital platforms to reach audiences and how this affects the work of traditional media.