Lögberg-Heimskringla - 04.03.1994, Blaðsíða 4

2 • Lögberg-Heimskringla • Föstudagur 4. mars 1994
EDITORIAL:
Feedback proves useful
On the right hand side of this
page we welcome two res-
ponses to Lögberg-Heim-
skringla’s continuing requests for feed-
back from readers and organizations
in the Icelandic community in North
America. They come from two people
who have been very active and played
important roles in the community.
They are very different in their tone
but they are both encouraging in their
own way.
The note from Helgi Austmann, the
president of the Icelandic National
League, finds much that is good with
the paper, but also helpfully points out
how it could be better. His suggestions
echo the opinions of most of the peo-
ple involved in producing the paper
and we hope to be able to act on them.
The second message, from Robert
Asgeirsson, a former president of the
Icelandic Canadian Club of British
Columbia goes into considerably more
detail, none of it flattering. You can
read for yourself what he has to say
and form your own opinion of it, but
the gist of it is that Lögberg-
Heimskringla today is “ho hum, dull
and boring” and represents only the
“remains” of a once decent newspaper.
He also states that the editor, who at
the moment is me, can’t write or even
think very well, has no news judge-
ment but possesses an oversized ego
and should be fired if he does not have
the decency to resign. I won’t com-
ment on those comments except to say
that I don’t intend to resign but I am
available for firing on short notice.
I would like to comment briefly on
the rest of what Mr. Asgeirsson has to
say because I feel that it is valuable to
receive this kind of criticism and
important to air it publicly so that
those subscribers who agree with him
will be encouraged to say so and
explain why on these pages, and those
who may have other thoughts will also
want to respond.
There are few people more con-
cemed with the quality of the paper
than I am, because I am responsible
for deciding what goes into it. There
are, however, many others involved in
its production, the staff, the printers
and designer, the board of directors,
and I think that in general they can be
proud of the result of their long and
hard work. Because of their efforts,
this is a better paper than it has been
for some time. We hope that it will
continue to get better in the future and
the kind of advice that we receive from
you, as represented in the submissions
of Helgi Austmann and Robert
Asgeirsson, will help that happen. We
may not always agree with your sug-
gestions but we will always listen to
them and consider them carefully as
we look at where we think the paper
should be going.
I talked to Mr. Asgeirsson after I
received his letter. We spoke for some
time and had what I think is often
described as a full and frank discus-
sion. I don’t know if he got anything
out of it or not, but it was very useful
for me in two important ways. First it
helped me to understand better what
his criticisms of the paper are more
specifically and the direction that he
thinks it should be going. Our views
are not so far apart as one might sur-
mise from reading this page, although
we still disagree — perhaps the phrase
agree to disagree more accurately
describes the amicable tone on which
the discussion ended.
The second useful result was that he
has agreed to serve as a contributor to
Lögberg-Heimskringla from British
Columbia. He brings a wealth of expe-
Please stop sending me Lögberg-
Heimskringla. Now that my
subscription has died a natural
death, I do not wish to prolong view-
ing the remains of a once decent
newspaper.
Your version of L-H baffles me.
You as a “professional” should realize
that chatty and poorly written editori-
als do not belong on the front page of
any publication calling itself a news-
paper. Your ego really shows here.
As the little woman impatiently
asks in the TV ad, “Where’s the
beef?”... I ask, “Where’s the news?”
Instead, I see numerous reprints from
“News From Iceland” (a great little
newspaper to which I already sub-
scribe). Other marginally interesting
retrospective items seem to constitute
the remainder of your current version
of L-H.
Ho hum, dull & boring is the cur-
rent state of your weekly.
There are many remedies to your
current state of stagnation. Get off
your duff, get creative and get con-
nected to the North American scene.
Consider getting journalism students
to work in some sort of practicum
fashion. Recruit, recruit, recruit...
Expand your contacts and use the
telephone. Hulda did.
I have taken the time to write
down the reasons for my cancellation
because I care about L-H and its
future. And believe me, I am not
alone in these observations.
rience and some strong ideas to that
roie and the paper should be the better
for it. His first contribution appears on
page 3 of this issue.
That is the kind of results that can
come from debate and I hope we will
hear from many others offering their
opinions and, perhaps, agreeing to
back them up by contributing to the
paper. We also want to hear what you
think about other issues and organiza-
tions in the North American Icelandic
community. Lögberg-Heimskringla, no
matter who the editor or what his com-
petence, is the natural forum for that
kind of discussion and we hope that
you will use it.
Tom Oleson
(Editoríals reílect the opinion of the editor
and are not necessarily the views of the
newspaper.)
If by some miracle L-H becomes a
true newspaper again, I will consider
subscribing again. Get your act
together now or resign as editor. My
patience just ran out along with my
subscription.
Robert J. Asgeirsson
Former President of The
Icelandic Canadian Club of BC.
A positive offer
The “open door” policy of
Lögberg-Heimskringla as expressed in
the article “You Have The Right” is
indeed commendable. I hope readers
respond to this positive offer, both
with constructive criticism where
content is not appreciated and with
praise where content is pleasing. I’m
sure an editor appreciates knowing
when readers feel the content is good
as well as the opposite.
In my view there have been defi-
nite improvements in the content and
the presentation of L-H over the past
year. The one area I would like to see
more of is articles and reports from all
corners of this continent from Clubs,
Chapters, Societies and any orga-
nized group of people of Icelandic
descent. To me this kind of news is
always of interest.
Helgi Austman
Gimli, Manitoba
President, INL
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