Sofie Bakkemyr, Lars Joakim Skarvøy



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The former VG reporter returns as a political journalist, Medier24 reports.

Lars Joakim Skarvøy was central to the much-discussed Sofie case for VG in 2019.

The case concerned Sofie Bakkemyr and Trond Giske who danced at Bar Vulkan and ended with VG being fired from PFU, and Skarvøy lost his job at the newspaper.

– We have hired Lars Joakim because he has talent, social understanding and solid experience. We believe it will help strengthen political journalism on TV 2. During your last nine years at VG, you are among Norway’s top political journalists, news editor Karianne Solbrække tells Medier24.

She acknowledges that hiring can generate reactions:

– I understand that the quote may be perceived as controversial. That is why we have also gone many rounds with him. A year and a half have passed since it happened, and the mistakes she made in the Sofie case have not changed what she has previously achieved in her journalistic work, she tells Medier24.

Click the pic to enlarge.  News editor Karianne Solbrække on TV 2 defends the decision to hire Skarvøy.

News editor Karianne Solbrække on TV 2 defends the decision to hire Skarvøy.
Photo: Marit Hommedal (NTB scanpix)

It all started when VG in February 2019 posted a video that Bakkemyr’s friend had taken at the Vulkan Bar in Oslo. The video showed Giske dancing with Bakkemyr. VG quoted her as saying “it was a bit too much” and approached the case as a new indictment against Giske.

In March, Bakkemyr reported on TV 2 that VG had misquoted her.

– When you read the article to me, I made it clear that I had to remove that part of the quote. Then the journalist said that “then it looks strange.” I replied “yes, but then it has to look weird”. He argued against me all the time, although I repeated that the incident did not seem unpleasant, he told TV 2.

Click the pic to enlarge.  VG SPOKEN AGAINST: Sofie Bakkemyr came out on TV 2 and said VG misquoted her.  The battle for the truth became a great burden for the woman, who eventually won both in PFU and in compensation from VG.

VG SPOKEN AGAINST: Sofie Bakkemyr came out on TV 2 and said VG misquoted her. The battle for the truth became a great burden for the woman, who eventually won both in PFU and in compensation from VG.
Photo: Stian Lysberg Solum (NTB scanpix)

For several months after that, the battle for the truth raged. Among other things, VG conducted a separate evaluation report on its own coverage.

The newspaper was also posted for this report at PFU.

When the report was presented, VG journalist Lars Joakim Skarvøy said: “I can’t answer why you tell a different version of what you told me now.” Sofie denied this and said that Skarvøy lied.

Shortly after the report was submitted, Skarvøy said goodbye to VG. Later he left the newspaper.

In November, Bakkemyr and VG reached an agreement. It is unknown how much VG had to pay in compensation to avoid taking the case to court.

On the occasion when she spoke out against a media giant like VG, Sofie Bakkemyr was nominated for the 2019 Name of the Year on Nettavisen:

The jury of the online newspaper wrote about Sofie: “To speak of a media giant like VG in front, requires a lot of courage. For Sofie, without a doubt, it would have been more comfortable to stay behind the scenes of the Giske case. Fortunately for Giske and journalism, Sofie did not want the injustice to continue, and therefore said loud and clear that the newspaper had misquoted her. The Sofie case provoked a self-examination in the media in general and in VG in particular.

Skarvøy was employed for nine years at VG before moving to Schibsted, after the Sofie case, where he would work on focus area-related projects within the media, according to an earlier press release. You are now ready for TV 2.



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