Archive for the ‘Media’ Category

Revenge is a dish best served half naked

Media, National: June 17th, 2009 by PO

The daughter of one of Sweden’s most feared criminals has posed for a popular men’s magazine in a bid to bring shame on her father and give him “a taste of his own medicine”.

In an interview with lad mag Slitz, Jackie Ferm explained that she wanted her father, Lars-Inge Svartenbrandt, to feel ashamed in the same way she felt ashamed all the way through school.

It’s not surprising that young Jackie had a hard time of it. Svartenbrandt is one of Sweden’s most notorious criminals and has spent more than forty years in jail for a string of robberies and violent crimes. He was last arrested as recently as April.

But Jackie admits that she did have a way of responding to the kids who taunted her which involved judicious use of her father’s reputation.

“I told them he’d come and murder them if they didn’t watch out,” said Ferm.

Sweden’s ’socialist nightmare’ on The Daily Show

Media, Swedish Life: April 23rd, 2009 by PO

Sweden is often demonised in some quarters stateside as a socialist nightmare where suicide is a national sport and abject misery is the norm. The Daily Show investigates, with hilarious consequences:

Part 1…

… and Part 2

Sweden on the brink of Eurovision war

Media, Music, National, Opinion, Politics, Swedish Life: March 18th, 2009 by PO

Everybody panic! The Local has inadvertently sparked what the Swedish press is referring to as the ‘Tingeling Crisis’.

Now as crises go, it’s hardly Cuba or the Berlin Blockade. But in a land such as Sweden, gripped with Eurovision fever, revelations that the Russians were less than pleased with an interval song and dance number at the Melodifestivalen final have quickly spread far and wide.

It started innocently enough: communist whores with red stars on their panties, rampant Russian gangsters, wild Cossack dancers and a bear on a chain… what could possibly go wrong?

“We do not react to eccentricity by some lunatics whose Russophobia should place them in an asylum rather than on Globen’s stage,” the embassy told The Local on Monday morning.

Oh, that.

Regional tabloid giant Aftonbladet led the charge with a front page splash and the rest of the Swedish papers soon followed.

Like political voting patterns at the Eurovision, the situation soon spiraled out of control:

State broadcaster SVT sent a bouquet of flowers to the Russian embassy as a gesture of goodwill. The embassy responded that, as far as it was concerned, the danger had passed and Euro-harmony could prevail.

Expressen said SVT was foolish to have apologised.

The state broadcaster said it never really had apologised and the retraction was retracted.

The comedian behind the skit said he might have to rethink a planned Trans-Siberian railroad trip this summer .

The Social Democrats’ foreign policy spokesman said the Swedish foreign ministry should stand up for freedom of expression.

Even Vladimir Lenin was dusted off and dragged into the debate.

Furthermore, the finer points of Russian sensibilities and Swedish humour have been discussed at length on television and radio talk shows.

The upshot: Nuclear war has been averted for now. But never again must we allow such a frightening array of outdated clichés to threaten our peace and security.

—

In case you missed it, here’s the clip that almost pushed us to the brink:

Your neighbour’s income is none of your business

Media: February 11th, 2009 by PO

The Local’s Managing Editor James Savage has just had an article published on Swedish opinion website Newsmill. “Your neighbour’s income is none of your business“, he argues.

At the bottom of every Newsmill article, readers are asked for their opinion. In this case, the question up for “milling” is: How do you feel about publication of income details? Angry, bored, curious or happy [Arg, Uttråkad, Nyfiken, Glad].

For those of you who speak Swedish, we recommend you have a read and have your say.

The article will also be published in English on The Local next week. But even if you don’t speak Swedish, here’s the central argument if you want to pop over to Newsmill and give your view:

The purpose of the principle public access to official documents is for citizens to hold the state to account, in the public interest. The way politicians and state employees use their power and the public’s money should, of course, be open to public scrutiny. Finding out other people’s incomes might be interesting to the public, but that does not mean that it is in the public interest.

See also - Newspaper rich lists: public service or invasion of privacy?

Riding out the recession, IKEA style

Business, Design, Economics, Media, National, Society, Sweden abroad: November 20th, 2008 by JS

There’s an old joke about a couple from Småland, a province in southern Sweden, who win a million kronor on the lottery. “What shall we do with all the begging letters,” asks the wife. “Keep on sending them,” her husband replies.

Perhaps, though, the Smålänningar (as the region’s allegedly tight-fisted inhabitants are known) will have the last laugh as the rest of the world braces for a bumpy economic ride.

The world’s most famous Smålänning, Ingvar Kamprad, appears to have braced IKEA for the downturn by living up to the stereotype. Instead of taking advantage of cheap credit, IKEA borrowed little. Instead of selling boom-time luxuries, Kamprad has always behaved as though every one of his customers was a stereotypical stingy Smålänning.

The words of current CEO Anders Dahlvig in this Time interview are perhaps testament to the virtues of living frugally:

This is a really good time for us. The way we’ve set up our business, we’re planning for a climate like this all the time. We have a very conservative policy when it comes to borrowing money. We basically only use our retained earnings and don’t borrow very much. We also have a very conservative policy when it comes to how we place our cash and our liquidity. We don’t place anything in equities, so we haven’t lost a dime so far. And the way we position our brand is as good value for the money. People know when they have less money what Ikea stands for.

Swedish sexy ad ban faces sceptics in Europe

Media, Offbeat, Politics, Sweden abroad: September 8th, 2008 by JS

Britain, we were led to believe at the weekend, is outraged at dastardly foreign attempts to banish busty beauties from the nation’s billboards. The root of their anger was Swedish politicians who, having failed to get sexist ads banned on the home front, scored a win in Brussels.

The Daily Mail, an organ never to miss an opportunity for a bit of Euro-bashing (or, indeed, dredge up images from old Wonderbra ads), was breathless with indignation after a committee of Euro-MPs demanded that EU countries put a stop to any ads that reinforce gender stereotypes. The person behind this controversial plan is none other than Eva-Britt Svensson, a Swedish Left Party MEP and vice chairperson of the European Parliament’s women’s rights committee. The author of the report seems to have swallowed an undergraduate gender studies textbook:

‘Gender stereotyping in advertising straitjackets women, men, girls and boys by restricting individuals to predetermined and artificial roles that are often degrading, humiliating and dumbed down for both sexes.’

So it’s ‘Goobye Boys’ from Wonderbra, but also from yummy Diet Coke builders, Calvin Klein-clad footballers and the rest.

Actually, the chances of any country being forced to ban anything is close to nil (no law has been passed – the European Parliament’s women’s rights committee has just recommended a course of action that governments are free to ignore, as they no doubt will, despite the parliament voting to adopt the report), but if you’ve been in Sweden for the past few years, the proposal had a familiar ring.

The Swedish Council against Sexual Discrimination in Advertising (ERK) has long waged a battle against ads depicting scantily-clad models, as we have reported here and here .

ERK’s rulings have led to accusations that it was trying to act as the ‘thought police’. They have also raised a number of questions: is sexy advertising always sexist? Why should advertisers be expected to be more politically correct than the consumers they target? Whatever happened to free speech? And besides, surely the whole business should be self-regulating: consumers won’t buy products if the ads are offensive? The controversial nature of ERK’s work also has the self-defeating side-effect that the ads it censures are guaranteed lots of free publicity in the tabloids.

ERK’s rulings don’t have the force of law, but earlier this year an official committee proposed going one step further and banning all material “with a commercial aim” that could be “construed as offensive to women or men.”

Equality minister Nyamko Sabuni refused to adopt the report’s findings, saying: “I don’t want to infringe on fundamental human freedoms and rights for a law the efficacy of which I question. This is not the way to win the fight for gender equity.” Defeated on home soil, it looks like Svensson is seeing whether the battle can be won elsewhere. She probably shouldn’t hold her breath – in the UK, at least, even the left-wing papers are subjecting the idea to ridicule.

Charlie Brooker in the Guardian wonders what effects non-sexist ads might have:

I can scarcely picture what kind of patronising hell we’d be creating for ourselves there. And what if it worked? What if all our ads were suddenly filled with ladylike men eating chocolates and butch ladettes swigging beer, and these images proved so influential that everyone started behaving that way in real life, until these brave new anti-stereotypes had become stale old actual stereotypes, so we had to start all over again by subverting our old subversions?

Equally cutting is an article by Claire Beale, editor of ad-industry magazine Campaign. Calling the report “fatuous bureaucratic meddling,” she describes it as “the legislative equivalent of one of those We Love the 70s programmes, a real trip down time warp lane.”
Ads are never going to be subtle, she continues:

Does advertising deal in stereotypes? Of course. When you’ve only got 30 seconds or a glance to make an impact on a broad group of people you don’t have time to invent a new language. You tap into common themes, ideas and images to create an instant connection.

Svensson’s poorly-presented arguments might leave an open goal for her opponents, but the failure to pass a similar law in Stockholm must beg the question: if rules like this haven’t worked in politically correct Sweden, how on earth could they be made to work elsewhere?

There is some good news for those who think advertising is sexist, though – things have improved over the past 50 years, as these ads show.

Join The Local’s readers’ panel

Media: September 2nd, 2008 by PO

Would you like to be a member of our readers’ panel?

The Local is looking for eight people — four foreigners living in Sweden and four native Swedes — to answer a few short questions a month about life in Sweden.

We’re not looking for Nobel prize winners in literature, just people with a genuine interest in Swedish news and society and who are willing to share their experiences of living here

The only people who need not apply are the anonymous and the camera shy: we will want to publish your name, photo and some brief personal details.

If you are interested in being a member of our readers’ panel, please drop me a line at paul.omahony@thelocal.se.

I look forward to welcoming you to The Panel.

Paul O’Mahony
Editor

Sweden provides US viewers with Earth Day inspiration

Climate, Media, National, Politics, Society, Sweden abroad: April 22nd, 2008 by DL

People like to complain that American news outlets never spend any time covering foreign news. In contrast to Swedish broadcasters, which spend ample time covering international affairs, US national news programs rarely devote much air time to other countries (save those with which the US may be at war).

Thus, imagine our surprise upon seeing that NBC News, one of the traditional ‘Big 3′ television news networks in the US, devoted a precious 3 minutes and change (more than 10 percent!) of Monday evening’s broadcast to Sweden and it’s penchant for green living.

The King is eloquent as usual, but the mayor of Växjö left us puzzled with his talk of ‘whips and carrots’. See for yourself:

Now the question is whether SVT would ever bother to find a topic where the US can teach Swedes a thing or two, and dedicate an equal amount of air time to it.

What would you suggest?

Polly Toynbee gets her Swedish facts wrong

Media, Opinion, Politics, Sweden abroad: April 8th, 2008 by JS

For Polly Toynbee, doyenne of the column pages of the Guardian, Sweden has long been the promised land. For her, it was the one place that prioritised welfare over tax cuts, took redistribution of wealth seriously and gave the state a sufficiently big role in the lives of its citizens. She has vehemently expressed her displeasure with the Swedish electorate for voting out the Social Democrats in 2006. So far, fair enough.

Problem is, to judge by her latest article, she doesn’t really know an awful lot about Sweden. Despite frequent trips over here, the article is riddled with misunderstandings and embarrassing factual errors – as contributors to our discussion forum have pointed out.

It’s tempting to leave Polly be, given that we’re bound to be accused of grinding political axes, but the readers of her article deserve to be given an accurate account of the facts. Here is what she got wrong:

Toynbee’s version:

What has Reinfeldt done? A lot more than voters bargained for. Welfare reform has been radical: benefits are cut and so are taxes. Everyone in work gets new tax credits: in Britain tax credits are benefits aimed at the poorest, in Sweden they are tax cuts for all.

The facts:
All this was in the Alliance’s joint manifesto and was debated ad nauseam in the run-up to the election in endless news programmes and televised debates.

Tax credits for people in work were a central plank of the Alliance’s plan to get more people into the labour market.

The Swedish media are nothing if not thorough when it comes to debating the minutiae of policy, and this proposal was no exception. Other tax cuts included the reform of property tax. In fact, the cuts to this tax have been smaller than initially suggested.

In short, while it can be claimed that the ideas have since lost popularity, Toynbee should not imply that the policies of the government differ from those on which they won the election.

Toynbee’s version:

Cuts have been made to benefits for the long-term unemployed and to people on long periods of sick leave.

The facts:

Again, all in the manifesto.

Also, worth remembering that Swedish unemployment benefits are still pretty generous compared to most other countries. For a start, even now Swedes who are members of the unemployment schemes earning under 23,000 kronor a month (about £23,000 a year) get 80 percent of their former income for the first 80 days of unemployment. The difference is that after 200 days this falls to 70 percent. After 450 days it falls to 65 percent. People whose previous earnings were over 23,000 a month get 680 kronor a day for the whole time.

Toynbee’s version:

National insurance contributions have been raised sharply, with the unplanned effect that nearly half a million of the lowest paid have walked away from the scheme, leaving them nothing if they lose their jobs.

The facts:

What Polly is referring to is premiums to the union-run unemployment insurance (A-Kassa) schemes. The rises have indeed led to lots of people leaving the schemes.

However, those who leave the schemes are not ‘left nothing if they lose their jobs’, contrary to what Toynbee says. Everyone is eligible for council-administered subsistence benefits, even if they are not members of the A-Kassa.

Toynbee’s version:

Since the scheme is administered via the unions, union membership has dropped by the same amount

The facts:

True that union membership has fallen, but wrong to imply that this is simply down to A-Kassa changes. The picture is more complex.

Contrary to what Toynbee appears to believe, although the A-Kassa schemes are run by the unions, membership of the A-Kassa and membership of the union are today completely separate. You don’t have to be a union member to belong to a scheme, nor is there any obligation on members of most unions to belong to a scheme.

In service sector union TCO, for example, many have left the A-Kassa while staying in the union. TCO’s boss, while blaming the increased A-Kassa premiums for a portion of the drop in membership, has admitted that much of the fall is due to the fact that many young people no longer see the point in joining a union. Union membership was already falling before the current government took office.

Toynbee’s version

This wasn’t what the public voted for and polls show Reinfeldt’s government extremely unpopular.

The facts:

The second half of this statement is partially true, to judge by opinion polls (see below). The first half is more debatable – pretty much everything the government has done was in its manifesto.

Toynbee’s version

Meanwhile more of the health service is contracted out, with GPs free to charge for the first time, raising alarms that they are moving out of poor areas to richer places where they can earn more.

The facts:

It is true that healthcare providers in Stockholm have been given more freedom to decide where and how to establish surgeries. It is also true that there are signs that this is leading to clinics leaving poorer areas and moving into middle-class areas. But it is not true that GP’s are ‘free to charge for the first time’. Even under the Social Democrats, Swedes had to pay to use the health service – including paying a fee every time they visited the doctor, had an x-ray, went to the dentist etc. That remains true today, but the current government is not to blame.

Toynbee’s version

State-owned Absolut vodka has been sold to the French, and state-owned liquor stores are about to be sold off too.

The facts:
First part true; second part absolutely made up. Some people in the Moderate Party would love to abolish the Systembolaget liquor stores, but it is light years from being government policy. In fact, the government has made strenuous efforts to defend Systembolaget against challenges to various aspects of the monopoly from the European Commission.

Something Toynbee also seems to have failed to notice is that this is not a Moderate Party government, it is an Alliance government of four parties, three of which are strongly opposed to getting rid of Systembolaget. In fact, the public health minister, responsible for Systembolaget, is a Christian Democrat – and they are if anything even keener than the Social Democrats of keeping booze sales in government hands.

Toynbee’s version

Museums that were always free now charge high entry fees – for British visitors a crisp reminder of the Thatcher years.

The facts:

True that museums are now charging entry fees. False that they were ‘always free’. Entry charges were abolished by the Social Democrats in 2005.

Toynbee’s version:

At present, the Swedes look certain to vote out the right: the nation’s history is of social democracy punctuated by brief evictions as wake-up warnings. This time they voted for a wolf in sheep’s clothing and are now appalled at what may be permanent damage to the successful Swedish model of cooperation between unions and industry, with high taxes and a generous welfare state.

The facts:

True that the Alliance has trailed in the polls since being elected, and the Social Democrats look like a reasonably fair bet for 2010, but it is frankly taking it a bit far to suggest that they ‘look certain to vote out the right.’ In a Skop poll two days ago, the opposition was leading the government by about 5 points, Reinfeldt & Co having closed the gap substantially since their nightmare start. If Reinfeldt’s five percent poll deficit is a signal of certain defeat, then Gordon Brown, trailing by 11 points, must be heading for electoral annihilation.

Toynbee’s version:

The Swedish social democrats have a popular new leader in Mona Sahlin.

The facts:

Well, she’s reasonably popular, and certainly more popular than Göran Persson was in the run-up to the last election. Thing is, she’s still less popular than Fredrik Reinfeldt, according to a poll published by Synovate last month. In another poll released by Demoskop last month, Reinfeldt is more popular among both women and men, and beats her in all age categories.

What would Bergman think?

Film, Media, Offbeat, Society, Sweden abroad: February 25th, 2008 by DL

In Be Kind Rewind, a new film starring Jack Black, the zany actor brings a new word to the lexicon of film: to Swede.

According to the film’s website:

Sweding is re-making something from scratch using whatever you can get your hands on.

Hmmm…not sure what to make of that.

For more background, you can also check out this YouTube clip:

The question we have is how Swedes themselves feel about having been made into a verb, and whether or not the act of ‘Sweding’ is at all reflective of Swedes or Swedish culture.

Sweden gets biblical…?

Books, Media, Offbeat, Society: February 15th, 2008 by DL

Back in the day, great novels were sometimes published over several months through installments appearing in popular periodicals. Swedish publisher Förlaget Illuminated has revived the trend with one of the most well-read books of all time.

The Wall Street Journal this week spilled some ink on the company’s serial publication of the Bible. Among other places, glossy, photo-enhanced books of the Bible started appearing last spring in places one usually doesn’t go hunting for spiritual guidance: news stand Pressbyrån.

According to WSJ,

The Swedish-language Bible marries the standard text to glossy magazine-style design. Full-color pages are illustrated with a striking combination of news and dramatized photographs: a homeless child wrapped in a sweater on the streets of Bogotá, Colombia, illustrates the book of Job; a man who drowned trying to enter Europe, for Deuteronomy; and models posing in stylized scenes convey joy or despair. Bible passages are pulled out as captions.

What is one to make of the decision to hawk the Bible along side titles like Cosmopolitan, Elle, and weekly news magazines?

Of course, Sweden has always had a unique relationship with Christianity, even before attaining the status of one of the world’s most secularized countries. After all, the daughter of the great King Gustav II who died fighting for Protestantism in the Thirty Years’ War, Queen Christina, eventually abdicated her post and fled to Rome to convert to Catholicism.

She was the first (only?) Swede–and woman–to get a final resting place among the Popes buried at St. Peter’s.

According a bishop quoted in the piece, Swedes–just like everyone else–apparently still have some of life’s ‘big questions’ left to figure out.

Although Sweden is one of the most secularized countries in the world, we are seeing a growing interest in existential questions across the Western world, of which [Bible Illuminated] is a part,” says Antje Jackelén, the bishop of Lund, in southern Sweden. “As people travel, as they are presented with a growing multiculturalism at home, they are thinking harder about what it means to be from a culture that is formed by Christianity.

Talking dirty with the Ladies of the Lake

Media: December 17th, 2007 by PR

Residents of Sweden may have seen posters for West End Star, a new reality TV show to find the next star of the Monty Python musical Spamalot. The show is in London but the producers turned to Sweden for the role of The Lady of the Lake.

The Daily Telegraph’s Marc Lee met the ten wannabees.

There’s the show jumper (Viktoria), the opera diva (Petra), the rock chick (Nina), the check-out girl (Karin), the student (Josefine), the waitress (Susannah), the pro (Divina), the mother (Sandra) and the sisters (Linda and Jenny).

Before long, the talk turns to sex.

“Why is it,” demands Viktoria, “that the British think Sweden is full of blonde girls all running around naked?”

Another wonders why we Brits are so uncomfortable discussing sex. (I have no sensible response.) “I remember my first time…” says Jenny with a wistful smile.

“I haven’t done it yet,” claims Nina, mischievously. “And I’ve only done it once,” says Sandra, pointing to the seven-week-old baby she’s cradling in her arms. In a disastrous attempt to change the subject, I inquire about the one word of Swedish included in the publicity material: what exactly is slutcasting? Stony silence: it seems by mispronouncing it so expertly, I have insulted everyone.

Swedish TV presenter vomits during live broadcast

Media, Offbeat: September 24th, 2007 by PR

A truly heroic performance from TV4 presenter Eva Nazemson. Do not watch during lunch.

Another Swede off to Manchester?

Media, Sport: July 9th, 2007 by PR

Could another Swede be about to join Sven-Göran Eriksson at Manchester City? The football rumour mill is certainly grinding a story to that effect and the cereal in question is Toulouse forward Johan Elmander. But the price tag is a tidy €25 million.

Expressen graciously admits error

Media: June 29th, 2007 by PO

On Wednesday, The Local was first in Sweden with fresh details of CIA activity in Sweden at the time of the Vietnam War.

As James Savage has already written in a previous blog post, we were somewhat irritated when Expressen’s website published the story late on Thursday under the headline ‘Expressen reveals…’

But credit where it’s due…

Shortly after trade paper Resumé published an article dealing with Expressen’s blunder, two staff members from Expressen phoned The Local to apologize for the mistake.

Web editor Joakim Svensson and reporter Joel Holm both very graciously admitted that there had been an error of of omission, and Expressen has now changed its engaging series of articles accordingly.

We can’t ask for more than that.

Expressen ‘reveals’ CIA spy story – really?

Media, Newsbites, Politics, Sweden abroad: June 28th, 2007 by JS

Now, I don’t usually think that bashing other media in Sweden, big or small, gets anyone very far, but just for the record I think it’s worth pointing out that Expressen.se is currently leading with a story that The Local was the first to break in Sweden yesterday.

The story, that US spies infiltrated the Swedish anti-Vietnam War movement, was revealed in newly declassified CIA documents. We know Expressen found it through us because Expressen’s reporter contacted our reporter, Paul O’Mahony, after seeing our story, to get a link to the document. Paul gave him the link.

When they published today, not only was there no reference to The Local (bad manners, but we’ll live), but the article was prefaced by the claim that ‘Expressen revealed’ the story. They have done their own interviews and gathered material, but their claim that they ‘revealed’ the story is inaccurate. As we know that they saw it on The Local first, it is more than inaccurate: it’s a deliberate untruth.

Mirroring The Local

Media: June 26th, 2007 by PO

The story of Roger Tullgren, he of heavy metal disability fame, has made the news the world over. Here is The Mirror’s take, with some strangely familiar quotes. For example:

“I think it’s extremely strange. If someone has has a gambling addiction you don’t send them down the racetrack. We try to cure the addiction, not encourage it.”

Melodifestivalen: The Local’s predictions

Media, Miscellaneous: March 5th, 2007 by PR

So the line-up for Saturday’s Melodifestivalen showdown is decided – notwithstanding the pre-requisite bouts of flu, winter vomit disease, lost larynxes and nerves that will lead to tabloid headlines about how at least half of the performers’ appearances are in doubt.

But assuming everyone shows up, here’s The Local’s quick and dirty stab at punditry.

Winner: The Ark
Irresistable glam rock song, great performance. From the high-voting-propensity teenage girls to the less relevant granny brigade, this is one for all the family. Unstoppable.

Runner up: Sarah Dawn Finer
Perhaps a surprise, but Sweden will be moved by the gospelesque power ballad and Finer’s stunning voice.

3rd: Andreas Johnson
Equalling last year’s third spot, Johnson’s song – another 60s pastiche – will sell well after the dust settles but won’t be going to Helsinki.

4th: Sebastian
The power of Idol – and an inoffensive song – got the Sebster through, but his good looks won’t be enough to take him further.

5th: Måns Zelmerlöw
The power of Idol – and an inoffensive song – got the Månster through, but his good looks won’t be enough to take him further.

6th: Sanna Nielsen
Will pick up the support of a certain core of voters who will always vote for the blonde with the pop-schlager. But nobody else.

7th: Tommy Nilsson
The nostalgia vote and a song of peace and harmony won’t be enough to boost this veteran’s chances.

8th: Sonja Aldén
Has the wind in her sails after a terrific performance in the Second Chance round, but Aldén’s peak is behind her, at least for this year.

9th: Anna Book
Expect tears and gushes of love for the people of Sweden as they close this chapter of Book’s career.

10th: Marie Lindberg
A harsh lesson is lying in wait for the strumming teacher from Gothenburg.

VOTE FOR YOUR FAVOURITE!

Dagens Media: a catalogue of PR errors

Media: February 27th, 2007 by PO

‘Star reporter’ writes about himself in Dagens Media. General hilarity ensues as newspapers nationwide fall over themselves to have a chuckle at the expense of a rival magazine.

How could they have allowed one of their own reporters to write a news item about his own court case?

It was embarrassing, as clear a breach of press ethics as the country has seen in decades. Only a swift apology and admission of error on the editor’s behalf would suffice if the magazine was to salvage anything from the wreckage.

Instead, he unleashed a series of statements that will live long in the collective media memory for all the wrong reasons.

Take it away, Rolf van den Brink:

Niclas was available. He was able to do the job quickly because he knew the issue.

Well, yes, of course he knew the issue. He was the issue.

Naturally we want to test whether we can do something like this and see what kind of reactions we get. That was of course part of it too.

Naturally. Of course.

Our job as the sharpest magazine in the advertising and media sector is not to preserve ancient journalistic attitudes, it is to challenge them and dare to show new approaches.

Ancient journalistic attitudes? Eh, is that a modern way of saying press ethics?

I stand behind the decision to publish. And it’s good that it created a debate, even if I’m not sure it’s such a good one.

It wasn’t a debate so much as a laughathon.

Most people seem to think we are idiots. I’m not sure I understand why.

Would it have been better if somebody else at the magazine had written the article?

Yes, somebody else should have written it. Just make sure the readers know that Niclas Rislund works there.

And why stand behind the decision to publish when everybody is telling you that it was the wrong one? Just take a step back and admit your mistake.

And to conclude today’s lesson, here is what you should not have written in your editorial column shortly before your self-proclaimed ’star reporter’ wrote an article about himself:

There is nothing that journalists like more than being written about. It is understandable. The wettest of dreams. You create news about yourself, you make the news and take the credit and the praise. YOU ARE the news.

Never a truer word spoken.

The Swenska tjej – it’s the grej!

Media, Offbeat: February 2nd, 2007 by PR

For all students of Swenglish, here’s Swedish comedian Henrik Schyffert’s glorious contribution to the tongue, from comedy show Veckans nyheter.

“The Swenska tjej likes the killar to wisa känslor och städa the badrum. They thinks its manligt for Swenska men to be like a tant. But it’s konstigt because then the tjejgänget go to Grekland and then they want to ligga with the…”

Well, you can see the rest here:

Thanks to Charlotte for the tip.