Schibsted Media, which owns several major Swedish newspapers, such as Aftonbladet, Svenska Dagbladet, and Omni, had a heavy financial year in 2024. According to Schibsted’s CEO, Siv Juvik Tveitnes, who Dagens Media interviewed, the end of Aftonbladet’s paper version may be earlier than expected.
“We believe that Aftonbladet’s paper version is the first in our portfolio to be closed down,” says Juvik Tveitnes.
She adds that 2024 was a negative year financially and that 2025 looks to be equally weak if no action is taken.
”The year 2024 will be very weak. It will be negative. We have seen that 2025 will also be weak if we do nothing, so we are now looking at our costs,” she explains.
The paper circulation of Aftonbladet has long been declining, making the future of printed newspapers look bleak.
“Aftonbladet’s profitability in print is getting weaker every year,” Juvik Tveitnes continues.
She believes the paper could be closed as early as this year. “We are monitoring profitability in print and working to maintain it,” she says, but she adds that the exact date of a possible closure has not yet been decided.
The decision was prompted by declining revenues from digital advertising and subscriptions, while costs for printed material have increased. These combined factors mean that Schibsted is considering significant cost savings to mitigate the negative financial effects.
In a follow-up article, Dagens Media writes that if Aftonbladet closes its paper version, Expressen may also have to stop printing. This is because Aftonbladet is physically co-distributed with Expressen, which has allowed the newspapers to share distribution costs.
Leaving X means losing readers
Alongside the newspaper’s death, several newspapers have decided to stop posting on X.com, losing contact with readers who see Elon Musk’s takeover of X as a step towards securing freedom of expression.
Peter Wolodarski, Editor-in-Chief at DN.se, Sweden’s most popular newspaper, stopped posting on X in November 2024. Aftonbladet made the same decision last year, while SvD.se and Dagens ETC.se chose to stay on X.