Reykjavík Grapevine - 25.08.2006, Side 6

market analysts predicted, which was between -101 and
-328 million ISK for the first half of the year.
365, publisher of daily newspaper Fréttablaðið
among others, is now hatching plans to cut costs for
their local and foreign press. Ari Edwald, the company’s
director, told Fréttablaðið that thus far the company
had no plans to downsize the size or frequency of any
of their papers, as was done with tabloid DV earlier this
year.
While sales of the company’s stock have increased
by 188 percent in the first half of the year, from 13.2
billion ISK to 20.2 billion ISK, the company’s losses,
according to Viðskiptablaðið, were spurred by many fac-
tors, including inf lation, new and raised taxes, and the
introduction of new investors in the market.
Gunnar Smári Egilsson, director of Dagsbrún, said
in a recent company press release that returns for the
company should be greater than what the current num-
bers show, since projects in the second half of the year
will work to make up lost profits.
Earlier this year, Dagsbrún founded 365 Media
Scandinavia in Denmark with plans to publish Nyhed-
savisen, a free daily newspaper scheduled to be distrib-
uted to every house in the country starting in the fall.
According to a story published in Danish online news
service Børsen last week, Dagsbrún is having second
thoughts about the publication of the paper, as they an-
nounced recently the founding of a separate investment
fund, of which the company would be a minor partner,
with a 600 million ISK investment.
Former director of Føroya banka in Denmark, Jørn
Astrup Hansen, says that the company’s decision to cre-
ate the fund separate from the publication bears witness
to the fact that the company is being cautious about
their involvement in the Danish free-paper market in
light of increasing competition.
When two new free newspapers enter the Dan-
ish market in the fall, Mads Dahl Andersen, editor of
Søndagsavisen, predicts a “media war”.
Andersen says that in the case of such a “war”, pub-
lishers JP/Politiken, Berlinske and Dagsbrún will incur
severe financial losses.
Teenagers continue to drink at annual Culture Night
spectacle
Reykjavík’s annual Culture Night festival, Menningar-
nótt, took place last Saturday, featuring a curious amal-
gam of the city’s finest cultural offerings juxtaposed
with cotton-candy stalls, advertising and often heavily
drunk attendees.
The festival has been steadily growing since its in-
ception 11 years ago and now consistently draws crowds
of up to 100,000 to the small city centre.
Those partaking in the festival could experience
various events in and around the city centre, with con-
certs, art shows or theatrics taking place on nearly every
street corner.
Culture Night was opened with an 11 a.m. speech
by Reykjavík Mayor Vilhjálmur Þ. Vilhjálmsson.
Cultural fun continued throughout the day, with a
reportedly disappointing fireworks display at 10:30 p.m.
marking the end of official events.
Recent incarnations of Menningarnótt have been
heavily criticised for ultimately turning into drunken
spectacles and this year’s festival certainly wasn’t any
different in that respect, with a reported 15-20 thousand
attendees partying well after the conclusion of official
events, according to the Reykjavík police.
A post-Menningarnótt statement confirmed that
levels of drunkenness had indeed steadily increased as
the night went on, followed by various bouts of fight-
ing and other cultural activities. It went on to say that
several gallons of alcohol had been confiscated and that
20 underage teenagers in varying states of intoxication
had been escorted to a youth shelter.
In an interview with Morgunblaðið, Reykjavík
Police Chief Geirjón Þórisson speculated that in light
of the teen drinking, it might be viable to move Culture
Night from Saturday to Sunday.
Fifty-thousand celebrate Gay Pride downtown
Reykjavík’s annual Gay Pride festivities culminated
on Saturday, August 12, when an estimated 50,000
marched down Laugavegur, celebrating the gay lifestyle
and reminding Icelanders that there is still a long way
to go to secure fair and equal treatment of all civilians
regardless of their sexual orientation. The parade’s final
destination was Lækjargata, where a rally featuring vari-
ous speeches and musical performances went ahead.
The day of the march, an unnamed coalition of
Icelandic Christian sects published a full-page ad in
Morgunblaðið encouraging homosexuals to “seek out a
cure for their disease.”
A heavy debate followed, with Icelandic health of-
ficials publicly condemning such rehabilitation attempts
and the Lutheran state church making sure to distance
itself from the coalition.
Immigration in the spotlight
Immigration concerns have been in the Icelandic media
spotlight these past few days, spurred by Morgunblaðið’s
reports last Sunday that six female immigrants from
outside of the EEA zone were seeking legal assistance
for work- and residency-related matters after abandon-
ing their Icelandic husbands.
According to the Morgunblaðið piece, the six
women – one of whom has already been deported – were
all subject to violence by their husbands.
The discussion has seen a growing critique of the
Icelandic government’s decision to grant EEA citizens
priority over others when it comes to handing out work
permits, with many claiming that the policy serves as a
weapon in the hands of abusive husbands.
“They can indicate that if their wives don’t follow
their will, they can get them kicked out of the country,”
one Morgunblaðið correspondent was quoted as saying.
In a statement issued on Monday, the Coalition
of Women of Foreign Descent heavily protested the
deportation of foreign women “whose only crime was to
f lee violent husbands that draw their power from unjust
laws and a brutal bureaucracy. These acts of deporta-
tion send out the message to abusive husbands and their
wives that they are free to subordinate them; otherwise
they’ll simply be denied a work permit and thrown out
of the country. No woman should have to dwell a single
minute with a man who uses violence against her, and
it’s not the government’s job to hand those men such
oppressive tools. It is a matter of justice that the laws
take into consideration the situation of foreigners from
outside the EEA zone who suffer the hardship of having
a violent mate.
“The foreign women’s association demands that
Alþingi accepts law changes that will stop this abuse
and make it safe for women to f lee domestic violence,
regardless of their origin.”
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