The dark side of the media welfare state : How media policy ignored consumption and climate change

This chapter revisits the concept of the media welfare state, a term we coined a decade ago (with fourth author Ole Mjøs). The concept highlighted how welfare state principles influenced media policy in the Nordic countries and how policymakers used regulatory measures to correct negative implications of state and market governance. In this chapter, we consider how policymakers responded to a trend we did not previously discuss: the media’s contribution to overconsumption and environmental damage. Based on an empirical discussion of three phases of Norwegian media policy – early television, early broadband, and early data centre policies – we argue that in facing these challenges, politicians have been less willing to use policy measures to reduce harmful consequences. Instead, there is a tendency towards unquestionably labelling media and digital platforms “a green industry”.