Regulatory Bodies

Statutory Bodies

The Radio and Television Board (Radio- og tv-nævnet, RTB) is responsible for the regulation in the audiovisual sector. It has to respond to the Government and specifically to the Ministry of Culture, which also appoints seven members (upon a total of eight) of this regulatory body. The RTB issues licenses to the broadcaster and monitors the broadcasters compliance to their legal obligations.

Self-Regulatory Bodies

The Danish Press Council was established in line with the Media Liability Act and is an independent body working to adjudicate complaints about the mass media. These complaints then are addressed using “Sound Press Ethics” as required by the Act; what they amount to is a code of professional standards for the mass media and the Council thus gives its rulings on their basis. As it was created by the provisions of the Media Liability Act which also outlined its composition, its nature is that of a co-regulatory body.

Several outlets have their own in house ombudsman such as the two public broadcasters DR (Danish Broadcasting Corporation) and TV2 and the newspaper Politiken.
The Radio and Television  Council is tasked with issuing broadcasting licences, regulating whether service providers are in line with the relevant legislation and for managing grants for non-commercial television and radio operators.