In Iceland media isn’t censored by force but by incompetence and crony capitalism; with a hefty splash of self-censorship. Frankly my colleagues – with very few but notable exemptions – have relentlessly disappointed.
Home of the brave
On the face of it Iceland has the freest media in the world. Yet my colleagues are afraid – constantly afraid – but not enough to push back. Unlike other pessimistic dystopian novels of influence – such as 1984 – Huxley’s Brave New World does not foresee the rise of universal bourgeois banality as the result of brute force. Conformity is bred; not enforced. It is hard to imagine a more accurate description of Iceland’s journalistic tradesmen. We are not violently censored but bought or fired to silence. As tradesmen we are bred to follow the market. Give people what they want.
The downfall
According to Reporters without borders, freedom of information has declined last two years. What happened? The crony capitalistic Independence party and its laughable – but mostly disturbingly authoritarian – little sister, The Progressive party, are back in power. Armed with ‘new’ leaders stemming from the same old political DNA.
A Progressive wrecking ball
Tasteless as ever, the new government and parliamentary minions have made it a priority to undermine anyone that dares to express even the slightest hint of distaste. It aligns perfectly with Icelandic reaction to Danish warnings pre the collapse of our banking system. In Iceland, you are not either with us or against us. You are either with us or too envious to understand our greatness.
Tighter and tighter
State broadcaster (RUV) is now under constant budget cuts. When not too busy bleeding RUV dry MPs call for advertisers to pull ads from private media. This they have done to Kvennablaðið (The Female post) and Reykjavík Weekly, both small and independent outputs. Their efforts are focused on cultivating a narrative of leftist bias in the media. Most – if not all – Icelandic media is free market-oriented. Even our state broadcaster is ad-based, unlike its Nordic counterparts. The idea that right-wingers have a harder time than anyone when facing the media is ludicrous. This brings us to how the media is censored in Iceland. Through the soothing hymn of capitalism. Essentially; will it clickbait? That state assets are being sold behind closed doors to family members of finance minister Bjarni Benediktsson might seem important to cover. It is just that Johnny Depp is trending.
The push back
Some are pushing back. Kjarninn is a local independent media startup. It will not shy away from challenges. It recently asked readers to help out and pay a small fee. If not for Kjarninn there would probably be no coverage of Bjarnason’s family buying state assets. Media owned by Iceland’s elite, such as Morgunblaðið or 365’s Visir and Fréttablaðið, don’t have to follow the rules of market ideology. Their loans are written off or the assets are sold in an ad-hoc manner to yet another off the shelf company owned by the same group.
Stundin, is another startup stemming from the outlaws of DV, a paper just bought and silenced last year by money and political elites. Stundin has seen unprecedented and record-breaking crowdfunding success. The hype around Stundin suggests readers just might have had it with the status quo. There is significance in Kjarninn and Stundin’s push back against the idea that readers should play no role in financing news. Ultimately that is the big story here. Bankers and elites love ‘free-to-reader media’ – they are cheap to own, stifle competition and totally reliant on ads.
Hanging on
365 owns papers, radio, online and TV outputs along with a telecom. 365 monopolies the market. Owned by the wife of Jón Ásgeir Jóhannannesson. During the boom, he bought banks, media and retail all over. After the bust, he kept his media by ‘selling’ it to his wife; while losing other assets. 365 owns Fréttablaðið, a free-to-reader paper distributed to almost every home. Until 2013 journalists at any 365 outlets underwent the company’s journalistic ethos of keeping profitability in mind before running a story. Former Fréttablaðið journalist Maria Lilja Þrastardóttir, recently revealed that when working there she was not allowed to publish a piece on junk mail. Since Fréttablaðið classifies as one.
Jóhannesson has a history of firing editors and journalists, not to his liking. Last year, 365 underwent a major reconstruction. Now at the helm is Kristín Þorsteinsdóttir, editor in chief of 365 as a whole. She is one of Jóhannesson spin-doctors and has wasted no time. 365 media now relentlessly attacks those prosecuting Jóhannesson for his involvement in bringing down Iceland’s economy.
Exception to the rule
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Nothing to see here!
DV’s new owner Bjorn Ingi Hrafnsson is a former city councillor for the Progressives, forced to step down after mixing his shady business dealings with his shady political dealings. While pretending to watchdog big business he is known for accepting their ‘loans’ Amazingly, this is all public, as are his bankruptcies. He now owns DV, Pressan and Eyjan and due to his ties with Johannesson, has a weekly slot on politics on 365 media outlets. Publicly Hrafnsson claims to have no links to the government whatsoever.
Your money where my mouth is
Once castrated his liking Hrafnsson needed a spin doctor fit to run DV. That man is Eggert Skulason. Hired gun of corrupted politicians, Hrafnsson being one of them, gambling footballers and Barry Russell hedge fund. Your money is where his mouth is.
Within hours of taking charge, Skulason announced to DV journalists that quality reporting like that which lead to the recent resignation of the interior minister would not be tolerated. Publicly he proudly announced he had struggled to understand what was the big deal and why DV covered it with such furore.
TL;DR
My final work for DV was a report on the Progressive party’s fascist tendencies. The reportage reviewed the etymology and ideology of fascism. The party is authoritarian and populist definitely – but not totalitarian. After publication, the article was re-categorised as “weird”. Other items in the category include singing policemen and grannies smoking cannabis. When asked why Skulason essentially responded with a ‘TL;DR’. I have never seen a member of the writing classes so proud of his inability to read. Even more astounding is his public admission, a few years back, to manufacturing news as a young journalist.
What an example of Icelandic meritocracy this guy!
Please not Iceland
In his morbid sense of humour Huxley made Iceland the place where non-conformists are sent. What horrid crimes I must have committed to ending up as a journalist in this perpetuated readings of The triumph of bullshit.
Originally published in The Murmur, February 2015