Last night the newsmedia was filled with stories of violent activity by Saving Iceland members at the Ministry of Industry. Most of the headlines revolved around police being attacked with pipes and a policeman being kicked in the head.
Then this morning we get this video and a strong protest by Saving Iceland which states that the police is lying and there is no evidence of such violence. On the contrary, the police was the brutal party in the exchange.
But why did the media report from the incident in that way. Perhaps the answer lies here in this video where former Prime Minister Geir Haarde throws a fit when asked difficult questions from reporter G Petur Matthiasson who later apologized to the nation for not having shown this on the news when it happened.
Icelandic journalists are underpaid, overworked and always on deadline so they catch an issue, go and find someone who is an authority on the issue, hand them the microphone and allow them to make statements. If they cannot find a countering statement then they just leave it be.
That is how Geir Haarde, David Oddson and other politicians were able to bully the media for such a long time and that is why arguments countering the “Icelandic economic miracle” were so few and far between.
The reporting from yesterday’s skirmish is yet another shameful example of this. When you look at the video over an over again, you cannot help but wonder whether the woman will press charges for sexual assault.
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August 8th, 2009 → 2:52 pm @ Dadi
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