Iceland review - 2007, Qupperneq 52

58 ICELAND REVIEW
Maríanna crams another handful of microwave pop­
corn into her mouth and taps away at her laptop
slick with snack grease. It’s probably the only susten­
ance she’s had for the last 12 hours – the wrap p ers of
past meals surrounding her desk like coconuts around a castaway.
Her tiny island of television production f loats in a second­f loor
office space above a tractor and backhoe showroom in the sprawling
industrial park of Grandi, an outlying peninsula of Reykjavík. Last
night was the first broadcast of a new television network, ÍNN­
Íslands Nýjasta Nýtt (Iceland’s Newest of the New), and it was a
complete bust, replete with a severely pixilated image and tin­can
sound. “There are always these kinks to work out when a new
station starts,” she says, wiping her hands unconsciously on her homely,
wool cardigan. Her mouth says: don’t worry, but her crum pled posture,
slept­on hair, and glazed­over eyes tell a different story. The net­
work will eventually get its broadcast up and runn ing, but once it
does, the hard part still lies ahead: getting people to watch.

As the world moves towards global Internet television and transcontinental simulcasts, one
Icelandic network steps out of the loop in an attempt to localize the small screen. But what does
the nation see when it gazes into the high-definition looking glass?
Brave New Broadcast
By JonaS Moody PhotoS By Páll StefánSSon