Bonnier News: Using sound to earn trust in a new media landscape
Bonnier News is home to some of Sweden’s biggest, longest-running newspapers. How does the iconic publisher earn its audience’s trust? Sound.
Today’s digital landscape makes it harder than ever for publishers to be relevant and reliable. On one hand, there’s the constant demand for velocity, for more: more video, more audio, more social, more quickly. On the other hand, public trust in mass media is at an all-time low in the US, dropping to 28% in 2025.
It’s clear to see why. While we might have emerged from the initial “fake news” sinkhole, the acceleration and misuse of AI adds a new layer of complexity to media trustworthiness.
Bonnier News, one of Northern Europe’s largest media groups, understands the need for speed without sacrificing authenticity. We met with teams spanning Bonnier News’ content creation pipeline to discuss the future of trust in an ever-changing, AI-first media landscape.
They broke everything down into six actionable tips:
- Authenticity is your selling point in an AI world
- If 719 news items per month is the peak, 719 news items is the benchmark
- The sound of trust is…sound
- Sound treads a tonal tightrope
- Flex sound for different platforms and attention spans
- Sound provides flexibility without complexity
1. Authenticity is your selling point in an AI world
The tech world encourages AI disruption, but frontline publishers are justifiably cautious. This isn’t old-fashioned — it’s strategic. Bonnier News’ team places emphasis on trust. As Sophie Kleist, head of the video & picture desk at Bonnier-owned Expressen, puts it: “Authenticity is our only USP in this world.”
Kleist’s sentiment reflects the industry’s wider “experimentation” approach, despite the headlines one may read suggesting that AI has replaced everyone and everything.
A recent McKinsey report found that while many companies are piloting AI, only 39% noted any enterprise-level EBIT impact, with most of that being less than 5%. ROI isn’t gained here by replacing expert journalists and editors. Rather, the value lies in supporting them.
“There are lots of situations where AI can help us,” Kleist confirms. “We’re continuously exploring how AI can help us in terms of tools and processes.”
Your skepticism is your strength. As Swedish Radio told the Reuters Institute: “These are terrific tools, but they are tools to assist journalism, and doing human-based journalism has never been more important.”
2. If 719 news items per month is the peak, 719 news items is the benchmark
The scale of content required for an enterprise like Bonnier News is staggering. At Bonnier News Local’s peak month in 2025, 719 items were edited and published by the newsroom alone.
“The difficult thing is keeping up, because we don’t get more people just because we have more platforms to cover,” explains Sofia Nahringbauer, video editor at Bonnier News. “Then you have to either drop something or move the focus somewhere else. We like being quick to adopt new platforms, [...] but you must also let something go. It’s impossible to be fast everywhere at the same time.”
This content explosion isn’t exclusive to Bonnier News. Sprout Social claims that over 500 hours of video are uploaded to YouTube every minute. When facing this eye-watering level of competition, any workflow friction can be huge. The primary goal then becomes removing obstacles.
Your team’s peak output is the benchmark. Any tools and workflows, AI or otherwise, must be designed to handle the peak, not the average.
3. The sound of trust is…sound
We’ve already discussed how trust is at an all-time low. In this environment, how does one signal real quality? Bonnier News uses sound.
“Most often, [sound] is about conveying a feeling, and creating immersion,” says Patricio Samuelsson, sound designer at Bonnier News. “But we also use music for other things, like masking poor sound in an interview, or to add more drive and engagement.”
Great sound isn’t just an afterthought. Research from Pew shows that 23% of podcast-news consumers trust news from podcasts more than other sources — audio is a high-trust medium.
Elin Bergvik Junger, live broadcast producer and editor at Bonnier News Local, links sound directly to brand perception. “Sound quality is a major factor, though maybe less so in quick, viral clips,” she says. “When the subject is a spontaneous, immediate event, sound quality is not as critical.
“However, for the tone in more serious work, sound is essential,” she continues. “When creating documentary-style content, you need [to signal] value with good, serious sound. I mean both the main audio and the background audio – it must feel well thought out.”
4. Sound treads a tonal tightrope
Sound design and sonic branding help shape the sound of a business, creator, or piece of content. For journalistic outlets like Bonnier News, music presents a dilemma.
The story needs sound to make it feel alive, but the content or reporting shouldn’t feel biased. In sensitive contexts, the safest move is sometimes to remove any extra music or sound effects. Bergvik Junger explains that music selection should always preserve objectivity and journalistic integrity: “It becomes very clear how music can prime what you should feel.”
Don’t search for music — search for the scene. Bonnier News’ editors use music as an operational tool, separating stems to remove overtly dramatic elements, or cutting loops to “exist” in the background.
5. Flex sound for different platforms and attention spans
Bergvik Junger touched on the difference between short-form and long-form content earlier, but it goes deeper than the quality of the sound. Short-form video operates on a completely different level to traditional long-form content — the rules are flipped. Immersion is out and attention is everything.
“Young audiences don’t go directly to our site,” says Tesso Häger, web editor at Bonnier-owned Expressen. “They discover us on TikTok, so we need to be present and meet them there.”
Industry data shows the average human attention span is now just eight seconds. With sound-first, short-form platforms like TikTok ruling the roost, the first few seconds are crucial.
Johannes Cederblad, video editor at Bonnier News, finds that sound effects make content more engaging. “We are making an investment in a young target group, and [...] we want to work much tighter and have more sound effects,” he says.
Anecdotally, mouse-clicks and pings help keep things dynamic — these sounds’ tactile, “active” nature makes them appealing.
Long-form and short-form content have different sonic requirements. Long-form content needs to immerse the viewer, wrapping everything up in a consistent, believable sonic identity. Short-form content thrives when using sound effects and quick-fire cuts, keeping the pace high and stopping the user from scrolling.
Bonnier News always starts with the story. From there, teams can agree upon an appropriate platform, audience, and length. “We’re looking at the material first, to determine what to make of it,” confirms Häger.
6. Sound provides flexibility without complexity
Busy editorial teams like Bonnier News have to juggle all of the above while delivering high-quality, relevant content.
A unified music platform helps them do this. That’s why Bonnier News chose Epidemic Sound.
“The fact that we can narrow down searches using the different categories and moods makes us more efficient,” Bergvik Junger says of Epidemic Sound’s search and filter options. “You immediately sense if you are moving toward the wrong type of feeling, then you can remove that filter and simply go in another direction. We could not work with such refinement before. Instead, it was more like shooting in the dark and hoping to find something good.”
Epidemic Sound’s catalog of 50,000 world-class tracks and 200,000 Hollywood-grade sound effects is just the start, though. Beyond the creative tools, Bonnier News enjoys legal peace of mind.
“The licensing is super important, as it makes it easy for large teams to access music that’s safe to publish across platforms,” says Stina Abenius, project manager for editorial development at Bonnier News.
The Epidemic Sound Enterprise plan lets Bonnier News’ team flex the way they need to, when they need to. There’s no complexity — it’s a centralized, user-friendly catalog with clear usage rights.
Creatives at Bonnier News spend less time searching and more time doing. The same goes for Rare Beauty, who now spend less than seven minutes finding the perfect track; and Jungle Creations, who’ve cut music-sourcing time by 33%. Learn more about our customers’ success stories below.
Investing in sound is investing in trust. Don’t leave the future of your business uncertain — build sound into your brand’s strategy from day one. If you need help with sonic branding, music licensing, or soundtracking, an Epidemic Sound license is the perfect solution.
The Enterprise plan offers everything a brand needs to soundtrack their work, plus licensing safety for influencers or third parties with whom you collaborate. Use the same intuitive tools and features as Bonnier News to select, edit, and distribute your soundtracked content.
Our dedicated digital rights management team works tirelessly to make sure our licensed users don’t encounter issues when publishing content online. We’ll walk you through the licensing process, providing you and your team with the tools you need to use music safely.
Regardless of platform and media switch-ups in the future, your content is safe. What you publish during an active subscription is licensed forever, even if you choose to leave Epidemic Sound.
Everyone from Levi’s to Warner Bros. Discovery, BuzzFeed to the Miami Dolphins, trusts Epidemic Sound to be their soundtracking platform.
Don’t risk your business with a risky license. Enjoy full coverage and soundtrack your brand, your way.
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