Iceland review - 2016, Page 77

ICELAND REVIEW 75
nation against a member of a minority
group and brought up on the grounds of
defamation or the hate speech clause in
the Penal Code. This is a tedious legal
process but commentators know they can
be held accountable for their comments
in this way.
What challenges are posed for jour-
nalists working in Iceland as a result of
the Icelandic population being so small?
Conditions in Iceland are in many ways
similar to those we have in larger soci-
eties. But we sometimes have to deal
with what is referred to as the “close-
ness-problem”, because it’s likely a jour-
nalist has some ties or connections to
the person or persons he/she is writing
about. This is a well-known thing with
local and regional media in larger socie-
ties. But by-and-large the same prin-
ciples apply and we face in many ways
similar problems. Thus, one can say that
Iceland is like a bonsai society, or a test
tube example of bigger media markets.
There is however an important differ-
ence, and that is the language issue. To
have all the communication in the media
in a language that only [a few hundred
thousand] people speak, is difficult.
What impact have budget cuts since
the crash had on journalism in Iceland?
The impact has mainly been felt in the
public broadcasting sector. RÚV had to
cut down and rationalize its operation,
but this did not damage journalism, as
such. To be sure there have been some
cuts in staff, but the cuts have been as
severe, or even more so, in the private
market in the years following the crash.
Many journalists lost their jobs and many
of those who were laid off were senior
ones with the higher salaries. Therefore,
a lot of experience was lost out of the
profession and media outlets are oper-
ating on fewer people, so coverage has
tended to be more superficial and of
lower quality.
What impact has the tourism boom
and a general increase in interest in
Iceland had on reporting on and in the
country?
I think that as a result of Iceland becom-
ing more visible in the global news, not
just through tourism, Icelandic media
and Icelanders have become more cos-
mopolitan than they were just a few
years, or a decade, ago. The financial
crash, the Eyjafjallajökull volcanic erup-
tion, the music scene, handball, and now
soccer, are all things that call for interna-
tional attention. International attention
is still news in Iceland, as in most coun-
tries, but I think that gradually that will
change and Icelanders and Icelandic suc-
cess stories will be less newsworthy. But
increased communication in English will
be necessary and that brings us back to
the language issue and the need to keep
Icelandic alive in a highly commercial
media system. Secondly, and hopefully,
the international attention is likely to
foster a national characteristic, which
is that Icelanders hardly ever define
themselves as a micro nation. Therefore,
they will demand a media system that
is comparable to that of the neighbor-
ing countries; just as they now expect
Icelandic classical and pop music, soccer,
the welfare system or handball to be
comparable to that—or better than—in
neighboring countries. u
M E D I A