nordnerd
Wednesday, January 18th, 2006, 01:17 AM
The editors of Icelandic tabloid DV have resigned in shame after a man comitted suicide because their paper outed him.
The paper's "name and shame" policy produced a front-page news story based on two teenage boys' charges that a man raped them. Although local police had initiated an investigation against the middle-aged man from the small northwest town of Isafjordur, no charges had been pressed against him. This did not stop DV from printing the man's name and basically indicting him before police even finished their investigation. Once the man saw his name on the front page with the screaming headline, "One-Armed Teacher Said to Have Raped Boys," he hung himself. In his suicide note, the man denied the charges but said he could not face the pressure put upon him by the nationally-distributed tabloid.
The dead man's brother went public with blaming the DV editors for his brother's suicide, promting outrage across the nation. Selling points for the daily were taken down from Iceland's largest store chains in protest. An online petition calling for the owners of DV to take action against the editors gained more than 15,000 signatures within the first 12 hours, with members of all the political parties in Iceland adding their signatures. "DV went over the line and not only committed a character murder, but murder in the actual meaning of the word," wrote Hjalmar Arnason, Chairman of the Progressive Party, on his personal website.
Sigurdur Kari Kristjansson (right), an MP for the conservative Independence Party, which is in coalition with the centrist Progressive Party, put together a bill strengthening individual's rights by increasing damages in libel cases. Political commentator Egill Helgason wrote on his webiste that DV went too far and must either "change policies" or fold.
Arna Schram (left), Chair of the Icelandic Journalists' Union, vowed a detailed examination of work methods and ethics rules in Icelandic journalism. The Advertisers' Union in Iceland advised all advertisers to not place ads in DV until the tabloid's ethical code was modified to be in line with code of the Journalists Union in Iceland.
The editors of DV stood by their "name and shame" policy, noting that other publications have also done the same thing, and their tabloid was being singled out. DV editor Jonas Kristjansson (right) told TV news magazine Kastljosid that DV had written fairly about the case, with total respect for the paper's policy that "truth must be told." He also said that the views and feelings of those who had made accusations against the man or were about to do so, should also be taken into account. Jonas speculated that if the general public were more conscious of the feelings of the victims, their opinion in the matter would change.
However, the accusers said on the very same show that while they did not want people to forget who had been the victims in this case, they did not support DV's reporting. One of the men stated that he had repeatedly tried to ask the paper to not publish the story.
Then, last Saturday, in a surprise move, editors Jonas Kristjansson and Mikael Torfason resigned in disgrace. New editors Pall Baldvin Baldvinsson and Bjorgvin Gudmundsson have sworn that DV will scrap its "name and shame" policy and from now on follow the guidelines of journalistic ethics outlined by the Icelandic Journalists Union.
But that does not necessarily end the story. Millionaire entrepreneurs Bjorgolfur Gudmundsson and his son Bjorgolfur Thor Bjorgolfsson, who own a small share in Dagsbrun, the mother company of media-giant 365, which runs DV and other Icelandic media, have already twice tried to buy DV with the sole intention of stopping its publication. This is not only because the tabloid published photos of Bjorgolfur Thor's infant son and wrote some articles about a previous marriage of his mother, Bjorgolfur Gudmundsson's wife, and other reports about his family which could harm his image, but also the family condemns the whole DV editorial policy. It is believed that by many that now DV's days are numbered.
Anti-Racist Losers (http://antiracistlosers.blogspot.com/2006/01/suicide-after-media-outing.html)
The paper's "name and shame" policy produced a front-page news story based on two teenage boys' charges that a man raped them. Although local police had initiated an investigation against the middle-aged man from the small northwest town of Isafjordur, no charges had been pressed against him. This did not stop DV from printing the man's name and basically indicting him before police even finished their investigation. Once the man saw his name on the front page with the screaming headline, "One-Armed Teacher Said to Have Raped Boys," he hung himself. In his suicide note, the man denied the charges but said he could not face the pressure put upon him by the nationally-distributed tabloid.
The dead man's brother went public with blaming the DV editors for his brother's suicide, promting outrage across the nation. Selling points for the daily were taken down from Iceland's largest store chains in protest. An online petition calling for the owners of DV to take action against the editors gained more than 15,000 signatures within the first 12 hours, with members of all the political parties in Iceland adding their signatures. "DV went over the line and not only committed a character murder, but murder in the actual meaning of the word," wrote Hjalmar Arnason, Chairman of the Progressive Party, on his personal website.
Sigurdur Kari Kristjansson (right), an MP for the conservative Independence Party, which is in coalition with the centrist Progressive Party, put together a bill strengthening individual's rights by increasing damages in libel cases. Political commentator Egill Helgason wrote on his webiste that DV went too far and must either "change policies" or fold.
Arna Schram (left), Chair of the Icelandic Journalists' Union, vowed a detailed examination of work methods and ethics rules in Icelandic journalism. The Advertisers' Union in Iceland advised all advertisers to not place ads in DV until the tabloid's ethical code was modified to be in line with code of the Journalists Union in Iceland.
The editors of DV stood by their "name and shame" policy, noting that other publications have also done the same thing, and their tabloid was being singled out. DV editor Jonas Kristjansson (right) told TV news magazine Kastljosid that DV had written fairly about the case, with total respect for the paper's policy that "truth must be told." He also said that the views and feelings of those who had made accusations against the man or were about to do so, should also be taken into account. Jonas speculated that if the general public were more conscious of the feelings of the victims, their opinion in the matter would change.
However, the accusers said on the very same show that while they did not want people to forget who had been the victims in this case, they did not support DV's reporting. One of the men stated that he had repeatedly tried to ask the paper to not publish the story.
Then, last Saturday, in a surprise move, editors Jonas Kristjansson and Mikael Torfason resigned in disgrace. New editors Pall Baldvin Baldvinsson and Bjorgvin Gudmundsson have sworn that DV will scrap its "name and shame" policy and from now on follow the guidelines of journalistic ethics outlined by the Icelandic Journalists Union.
But that does not necessarily end the story. Millionaire entrepreneurs Bjorgolfur Gudmundsson and his son Bjorgolfur Thor Bjorgolfsson, who own a small share in Dagsbrun, the mother company of media-giant 365, which runs DV and other Icelandic media, have already twice tried to buy DV with the sole intention of stopping its publication. This is not only because the tabloid published photos of Bjorgolfur Thor's infant son and wrote some articles about a previous marriage of his mother, Bjorgolfur Gudmundsson's wife, and other reports about his family which could harm his image, but also the family condemns the whole DV editorial policy. It is believed that by many that now DV's days are numbered.
Anti-Racist Losers (http://antiracistlosers.blogspot.com/2006/01/suicide-after-media-outing.html)