Reykjavík Grapevine - 28.05.2004, Blaðsíða 6

6 the reykjavík grapevine
Picture it: Out of a population of
two hundred and eighty odd thou-
sand souls, living in approximately
one hundred and ten thousand
households - 98% of which have
televisions - a staggering 70% of
these households will be watching
television between six thirty and
seven thirty each evening. The whole
of a nation glued to their sets, and all
for the News.
September 11th and the Death
of Diana every day
This 70% figure needs further ampli-
fication. The percentage is five times
more than the comparative viewing
figures in the United Kingdom and
approaching ten times that of the
United States. In order to attract
similar ratings, these broadcasters
would need September 11th and the
Death of Diana to happen on the
same day, every day. They might
then reach the same proportion of
households, but only just.
It’s not hard to put a finger on where
the nation’s love affair with The
News stems from. RUV, like many
national broadcasters, was created
in the age of radio nearly 75 years
ago - in those times there was one
broadcaster with one channel. In
Great Britain we had the BBC;
in Iceland they had Ríkisútvarpið
- literally, “State Radio”.
RUV and BBC took their roles
seriously as the programmes they
were broadcasting developed almost
universal coverage and appeal,
and with this came the burden of
responsibility and accountability for
broadcasters. In Britain, Lord Reith,
who was responsible for creating the
BBC’s Charter, devised the term In-
form, Educate and Entertain. Tenets
which were adopted by broadcasters
around the world, and nowhere more
so than here in Iceland.
It became clear that the bedrock of
all broadcasting and programming
would be the news. The family was
assembled, a blanket was put over
the parrot’s cage and everyone sat
down to listen. This was a scene that
was replicated in millions of house-
holds throughout the world.
“Narrow” casting replaces
broadcasting
Turn the clock forward nearly
seventy-five years. The radio has
been replaced by television as the
main means of receiving and there
are multiple channels available to
everyone, even in the most isolated
communities. The concept of public
service broadcasting has been stood
on its head; with commercial opera-
tors who have a completely different
set of rules and priorities now com-
peting for viewers, state broadcasters
can no longer take their universal
appeal for granted.
Now the audience has the power
to choose what it wants. In parts of
some European countries the advent
of digital broadcasting is so advanced
that each household can now become
their own television station. Select-
ing only the programming they want
to watch, and only when they want
to watch it.
‘Broad’ casting is fast becoming a
thing of the past - ‘Narrow’ casting
is the way ahead. There has been
a democratising of television that
could never have been envisaged all
those years ago. While television sta-
tions hunt for viewers and compete
for advertisers, ‘Entertain, Entertain,
Entertain’ are becoming the tenets
held by contemporary broadcasters
and Lord Reith is most probably
revolving in his grave.
Digital television is the way ahead
and it will provide viewers with more
choice than is currently imaginable.
At its best, homes will be able to
select the best plays, documentaries,
films, sport, news and debates and
have them beamed into their homes
at whatever time they want. At its
worst, people will be glued to around
the clock pornography, reality shows
and mindless action.
Ambulance chasing for adverts
A by-product of this democratisation
could be the abandonment of Public
Service Broadcasting as we know it
today, and as governments find it
harder to justify license fees, state
broadcasting will become a thing of
the past.
Some will argue that this will be
democracy and free markets working
at their best. Viewers should be able
to watch what they want, when they
want, without a ´nanny’ state inter-
vening. We now have more access
to news outlets than ever before. But
are we getting more reliable news?
Editors have repeatedly claimed their
independence from political and eco-
nomic interests and stated that the
media does not set agendas but only
mirror the opinions of the day. But
global newsgathering is an expensive
business and it is the advertisers who
pay the bills.
Increasingly the competition to get
to the story first and provide the
most attention grabbing pictures
has undermined basic rules of sound
investigative reporting. ‘Ambulance
Chasing’ may seem too strong a
word, but there are times when view-
ing CNN, SKY and FOX it appears
that is what we are watching. If rat-
ings figures begin to drop then there
is commercial pressure on News
editors to find stories or methods of
reporting that will put them back
on track, otherwise advertisers may
loose interest.
Perhaps the price we will pay for
the freedom of choice that the new
digital technology will bring will be
for News to be relegated to just part
of the ´entertainment’ that is offered
to viewers. As viewers we have now
not only to look at the news, but
also look closely at what interests lie
behind the reporting.
THE MEDIA CONTROLS OUR MINDS
by Robert Jackson
A word of advice for anyone visiting Iceland: Don’t phone a
home here between 6.30 and 7.30pm. This is the hour when fami-
lies are clustered around their sets, the time when old folks in their
homes are wheeled into the TV rooms and young babies are propped
up in their prams to make those early steps in what will become a
lifelong obsession. Meanwhile, the telephone exchanges fall silent,
tumbleweed rolls down Laugavegur and life comes to a standstill
- Icelanders are watching… The News.
News Corporation, Rupert Murdoch´s holding company which owns 175
titles in three continents, including the London Times, the Australian and
the New York Post, wholeheartedly supported the War in Iraq. Before the war
started Murdoch gave an interview in one of his titles.
“We can’t back down now, we can’t hand the whole of the Middle East to
Saddam…I think Bush is acting very morally…I think Tony Blair is being
extraordinarily courageous and strong.” He is entitled to his opinion.
What’s sobering is that his opinion was shared by 175 editors responsible
for the 175 newspapers that he owns around the world. 175 well educated,
intelligent journalists, all at the tops of their professions, adopted a pro-war,
pro-Bush/Blair stance. Not one voice against the war.
A specific example in a country which bears many similarities to Iceland was
in Murdoch’s country of birth, Australia. Here 76% of the population were
against the war, and yet the five largest newspapers in the country, all owned
by Murdoch, were in favour of the war and derided anti-war demonstrators.
It is companies like News Corporation who have changed the environment in
which public service broadcasters and Newspapers operate and have created
a wholesale re-evaluation of media in its entirety. The debate has now finally
reached Iceland.
Reporting to “M”
But who should control the media
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Artist gets rid of all earthly
possessions
The artist Saga Ásgeirdót-
tir decided to get rid of all her
earthly possessions by gluing them
together. The finished work is
estimated to be about 10 metres
long. The event is currently taking
place in art workshop Klink og
Bank (see p. 23), and the last items
to be glued to the piece will be the
clothes off her back. She is moving
to Denmark on Monday. She has
already secured a ticket. Flight
details available upon request.
Midwives support use of
condoms
450 midwifes from all over the
Nordic countries celebrated the
85th anniversary of the midwife
association at Hotel Nordica.
Speeches were held and local mid-
wifes suggested that contraceptives
be made available for free. Finally, a
profession that isn´t just working
out of self interest.
No medicine after midnight
There is currently no chemist
open after midnight in Reykjavik,
despite a law which states that
chemists should be open around
the clock. An spokesman for the
health department said that night
service was not necessary, as these
rarely dealt with emergencies, only
people asking for new syringes or
condoms, or girls who had forgot-
ten their birth control pills.
Babies with sexually transmit-
ted diseases
In unrelated news, a report from
the surgeon general has shown
that between 1997 and 2003, 67
children under the age of four
were found to have the venereal
disease Chlamydia. Doctors think
that the children contracted the
disease through their eyes at birth.
Fortunately these were all diag-
nosed early on as the disease, when
contracted by children, can cause
blindness later on if untreated.