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'Serious' media and checking sources important: Swedish King

TT/The Local
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'Serious' media and checking sources important: Swedish King
Sweden's King Carl XVI Gustaf (left) was speaking during a state visit from Canadian Governor General David Johnston. Photo: Fredrik Sandberg/TT

Sweden's King has emphasized the importance of "serious" media and checking sources in a new interview released at a time when the accuracy of some international media portrayals of Sweden have been called into question.

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The eyes of the world are on Sweden at the moment, following US President Donald Trump's comments about immigration in the country.

The documentary which inspired Trump has been criticised in Sweden for its factual inaccuracies, while the photographer who shot it has even claimed that filmmaker Ami Horowitz edited it in order to take quotes from interviews out of context.

In a new interview with newspaper Sydsvenskan, King Carl XVI Gustaf has emphasized the importance of positive examples from Sweden also being detailed, for the sake of the country's international image.

"Without media that works seriously and carries out good criticism of its sources, that doesn’t work," he told the newspaper.

READ ALSO: Why Trump's false claims are bad news for Sweden

The King was in Malmö on Wednesday as part of Canadian Governor General David Johnston’s state visit to Sweden, and the Swedish monarch praised work being done in the southern city.

"It is important to present the good examples. There are so many positive developments, and good Swedish research that we don’t even know about here in Sweden. In Malmö University for example a lot of good research is being conducted on integration issues," he said.

It is important to provide a balanced image of Sweden which also highlights the good things happening there, he added:

“It may take a bit of time. It’s important not to give up. I've been doing it for more than forty years.”

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