Abstract
According to Hallin and Mancini (2005), an important issue about the comparing media systems is the differentiation or not of mass media. Differentiation is defined by Parsons (1971) as 'the division of a unit or structure of a social system into two or more units or structures that differ in their characteristics and functional significance for the system'. He explained that 'social functions initially fused are separated' in a process of change. The convergence of media systems towards the liberal model can be studied through the level of differentiation of each media system. Indeed, in the 'liberal' countries, media systems have strong ties with economy and less with the political field; in the 'polarized pluralis' countries, media are strongly connected with politics; and in the 'democratic corporatist' countries, to which Sweden belongs, media have strong ties with both economic and political fields, but experienced a shift away from politics in the last few years and so formed a convergence towards the liberal model.
