Comments on: Doddsson sweeps the corners

By: Rik Hardy

Rik Hardy — Mon, 18 Jan 2010 16:48:21 +0000

Well, Sigvaldi, my hope was that Iceland as a whole, including the remaining staff at Mbl. would face those facts. I am not a reader, subscriber or owner of Mbl. either, but my sense of justice is outraged that the country’s major newspaper is heavily influenced by an articulate, but partisan, dishonest and shameless clown. It would at least make more sense to me if the paper were edited/censored by a better-educated and less party-brainwashed clown…

By: Sigvaldi Eggertsson

Sigvaldi Eggertsson — Sat, 16 Jan 2010 13:49:41 +0000

Rik, the owners of the paper obviously think otherwise.
I am neither a reader, subscriber nor one of the owners of the Mbl and thus I do not have to face any of those facts.

By: Rik Hardy

Rik Hardy — Sat, 16 Jan 2010 11:15:51 +0000

Face the fact that experienced staff are an asset.
Oddson laying himself off would also be an asset.

By: Sigvaldi Eggertsson

Sigvaldi Eggertsson — Fri, 15 Jan 2010 19:09:42 +0000

Face what? What do you mean?
The point of keeping the inexperienced staff is that the advertising revenue was only a fraction of what it had been before, the number of subscribers was down (and decreasing) and to lay off a number of people was the only option.
It hardly mattered what opinion Davíð had of her.

By: Rik Hardy

Rik Hardy — Fri, 15 Jan 2010 17:42:48 +0000

“…laying off most of their experienced staff was one of the measures” ?
Excuse me, but what is the point of keeping the INexperienced staff?
Face it, Doddson didn’t like her.

By: kevin o'connor waterford Ireland

kevin o'connor waterford Ireland — Fri, 15 Jan 2010 16:43:59 +0000

I can get the other one to look at frettabladid for free over the net, whats the hold of the morgen whatever over the icelandic populace is it the New York Times or Sydney Morning Herald of Iceland.Newspapers over the world are doing it tough over the internet hence Rupert Murdoch’s spat with google, I myself hardly ever buy a paper just have loads of boomarks. And anyway who needs morgenbladid when you have Alda the most famous icelander after Bjork,Hafdis Huld and your Jóhanna Sigurðardóttir ha ha.

By: Sigvaldi Eggertsson

Sigvaldi Eggertsson — Fri, 15 Jan 2010 15:46:53 +0000

Joerg, it was not meant to be ironic, really.
The paper was trying to reduce production costs as much as possible and laying off most of their experienced staff was one of the measures. Andrew, their circulation has dropped considerably and it would not surprise me if they went bust the minute their current group of owners tire of pouring their money into it.

By: Andrew

Andrew — Fri, 15 Jan 2010 14:15:01 +0000

I wonder how many people read this newspaper. Is the circulation dropping? It wouldn’t be at all surprising if it goes bust! After all, he’s had plenty of practice with a whole country!

By: Joerg

Joerg — Fri, 15 Jan 2010 14:06:35 +0000

“All within the rules.”

I hope this is meant to be ironic. If the head of the journalists’ union and his deputy are fired by a newspaper, this can hardly be considered as a mere coincidence. No matter, which reasons are provided officially, I would consider it as a sanction, having bad effects on the freedom of the press.

By: Tom Harper

Tom Harper — Fri, 15 Jan 2010 11:52:03 +0000

@idunn

I agree that there is a need for more journalistic outlets in Iceland. The ownership of Fréttablaðið and Morgunblaðið are both too tangled with the sectors they might be reporting on to be unbiased. One would have to ask about the stranglehold they have on the media, though. New Iceland it might be but I suspect some of the oligarchy can still pull some strings. Anyone trying to break into the business would likely face more than a few setbacks.

“The Iceland Weather Report” is a perfect example of what the Internet can accomplish, though. And with the Internet penetration in Iceland, it has the potential to be even more effective!