Sympathy for the…

Dagens Industri today writes about a new poll that claims that the left for the first time in a year and a half has support of a larger percentage of the Swedish population than the right.

It can be a healthy reminder to see that, with the exception of 1991, sympathies for the left are down between elections but manages to climb up during the election year. [Insert conspiracy theory of your own choice here.]

Source: SOM-institutet (pdf). Question: It is sometimes said that political opinions can be placed on a scale from left to right. Where would you place yourself on such a left-right scale?

Law blog brings in business

In Sweden, one corporate blog after another is being shut down. But in the US, patent lawyer Dennis Crouch “blawg” Patently-O brings in some serious business to his law firm.

“The first job came two months into the blog’s life, when a small software development company hired Crouch to do patent prosecution.”

“Crouch has also landed work for his firm prosecuting business-method patents and was hired by a group of hedge-fund analysts to advise them on the recently settled patent suit against the maker of the BlackBerry. All told, Crouch says blog readers have brought the firm “less than $1 million” worth of business.”

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PR jackpot of the day

File under “to good to be true”. Dagens Nyheter’s columnist Peter Wolodarski today writes a piece about Swedish banks and their fees for managing funds. He calls it “bank robbery” and that the fees are a “continuing theft”.

On the opposite side in the paper is Avanza’s much discussed advertising campaign for its new fund savings offer where customers can invest in funds without any charges whatsoever. Is this what is called integrated communication?

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Metro launches entertainment weekly

Metro launches a weekly entertainment guide with calendars and tips for the weekend. The paper will be distributed on cafés and bars in Stockholm on Fridays and the first issue is due tomorrow. Resumé has a dummy of the front page here.

– The circulation will be significantly lower than Metro’s, editor-in-chief Sakari Pitkänen tells Dagens Media.

The paper will cover topics like restaurants, movies, shopping and sex and the planned distribution will be between 12,000 and 15,000 copies. As Vassa Eggen points out, how will this affect Metro’s co-operation with Nöjesguiden, the leading free entertainment publication?

The trend towards entertainment and gossip “journalism” continues. Just last week, news agency TT Spektra announced they will start a new section called Bling, that will cover celebrities, fashion and entertainment.