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Making a newspaper is not easy, but sometimes people seem to believe it. In the near future, there are several examples of new newspaper owners who have not only stomped crookedly, but gone completely lost. A few years ago, financier Mats Qviberg bought the free newspaper Metro, but after only a few months and extremely awkward statements, he was forced to sell the company for SEK 1, a loss of SEK 70 million. The buyer was the friend and also the financier Christen Ager-Hanssen. When he took office, new visions were laid out, but the choice of words and approach revealed that journalistic knowledge was also lacking in the new owner. The newspaper had risen from the ashes to the fire. For me, who worked for Metro for ten years, it was a painful day when the editorial part of the newspaper had to shut down completely after only a short period with Ager-Hanssen as owner.
Renowned writers were recruited
The development around the Bulletin initiative is the latest example of ignorant media owners. At the end of last year, word came that the magazine was going to be launched and many well-known writers were recruited. Since then, unfortunately, the focus has not been on creating good content, instead news of bad behavior has been pouring in. The newspaper had barely started when the editor-in-chief resigned. It was later revealed that several texts had been heavily plagiarized and in recent days an open war has been fought between the editorial management and the owners in newspapers and social networks. Among the oddities that have emerged, the most serious is probably the total ignorance of the owners about the responsible publisher.
The responsible editor decides
The newspaper reporter and GP have received an email showing how the CEO and owner tried to get the then editor-in-chief and editor in charge to republish a text (which the CEO should have published on his own initiative). This violates perhaps the most important pillar of Swedish journalism: apart from the responsible editor, no one, not even the owner or the chief executive of the newspaper, can take responsibility or decide what gets published or not published.
This arrangement exists to protect credibility and journalism, readers must be able to trust that outside forces do not affect what is written. With that also comes the legal responsibility that rests entirely with the responsible editor; in the case of Göteborgs-Posten, it’s me. This means that if we post something that is considered defamation, I am the one who is prosecuted and punished. Such an arrangement is not negotiable. That the editorial board of the Boletín now opposes the owners’ attack on an order that has emerged from the 1766 Freedom of the Press Ordinance honors them.
“Make sure you understand the basics”
After many difficult years, the media industry has started to breathe some morning air and the path to a sustainable future in a digital world does not seem too tortuous. At GP we have hired many new journalists in recent years as readers and subscribers grow and it is refreshing to see new investments in other newspapers. That’s why it’s sad to see a media company like Bulletin totally crash like this. Even if the situation changes, for example through a change of ownership, credibility is already at an all-time low. The value of the millions that investors have invested in the company is likely close to zero. I hope this, after all, is a lesson for everyone who wants to own and manage a newspaper – make sure you understand the basics before you start, it will benefit both journalism and your investment.
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