Iceland review - 2004, Page 88

AT ODDS WITH
THE MEDIA
Without a doubt, the controversial
media bill has been dominating the
Icelandic television and newspapers
in the past weeks. Some of the most
passionately discussed topics come
into this story – freedom of the
press, abuse of government power
and corporate monopolies.
In Iceland, the very wealthy tend to stick out
like lead pellets in a Christmas ptarmigan.
Jón Ásgeir, as the head of the Baugur
Group, owns many of the grocery and retail
stores around Iceland and in the United
Kingdom. In addition to this, Baugur owns
Nordurljós, which recently merged with
Frétt. This put most of the radio stations,
the Skífan multi-media retail chain, several
television stations, the most widely-read
newspaper in the country, Fréttabladid, plus
another more plebeian newspaper, called
DV, under Baugur.
Fréttabladid is notoriously critical of the
government and just as notoriously prone
to self-promotion. Their front page proudly
broadcasts their high readership every
morning; though this could have as much to
do with their daily paper being delivered
free to homes all over the country as with
the high quality of journalism practiced in
the paper.
Prime Minister Oddsson introduced a bill to
the parliament during this spring session
concerning the ownership of Icelandic
media companies. According to the new bill,
a radio and television license cannot be
issued to a company that is a market leader
in another business. This only applies to
companies that have a yearly turnover of
two billion krónur. This pertains to both a
parent company and any subsidiaries that
the company might have. There was also a
section in the bill that stated that a compa-
ny may not own both a newspaper and a
television or radio station.
At a first glance, the bill looked reasonable
enough. This, presumably, would keep large
corporations from having a monopoly on
the media. In a time when corporations are
larger than ever and people feel increasing-
ly brainwashed by unmediated advertising,
limiting monopolies sounds somehow right.
But this brings back the fact of Iceland’s
small size and the diminutive market here.
Due to the size of the market, there would
be no competition for the state sponsored
and endorsed media if private investors did-
n’t fund the competition. Often, the differ-
ence between papers like
Morgunbladid and Fréttabladid come down
to left wing vs. right wing politics. In addi-
tion to this, the bill appears to target
Baugur directly, which many see as rather
unfair. The bill was introduced shortly after
the merger mentioned above.
The parliament decided to pass the bill
before closing down for the summer.
Immediately, lobbyists began petitioning
President Ólafur Ragnar Grímsson to veto
the bill. It has often been said that the
position of President is without much
political power in Iceland. However, citing
a gulf between the will of the people and
the currently governing parliament, Ólafur
Ragnar decided not to sign the bill. This
means, effectively, that the bill will be put
to a national vote. This is the first time that
any president has used his power of veto in
the history of Iceland’s republic.
Whether they espouse right, left or centrist
politics, people in Iceland generally agree
that this is an intriguing time for Icelandic
politics. In the coming months, we will see
the end of a debate that has split the nation
and raised questions of the legitimacy of a
government that seems increasingly at odds
with the will of the people. IAM
86 NEWS CLIPPINGS
CLIPPINGS
A review of the nation’s top stories and recentevents.
Compiled by Edward Weinman and Alex MacNeil
MBL/RAX
President Ólafur Ragnar Grímsson announces his controversial decision to veto the government’s media bill.
IR_news_update 16.6.2004 11:20 Page 86