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During the call Whose is SR? writes to current and former Swedish Radio employees about experiences of racism at work. According to the undersigned, it’s as much about the work environment, the rendering, and how it affects which perspectives are highlighted in the report.
“I have worked at P3 for seven years and it has almost always looked like this,” says Palmira Koukkari Mbenga.
She is one of the initiators of the call. The fact that he is coming now is largely due to the movement of black life matter, which once again swept the world during the summer.
– We did not experience that it was perceived as a big or important issue. Outside of work, that was all my friends and I talked about, and we did it in a Swedish context. At work, Swedish racism was not as acute as, for example, the metoo movement, says Palmira Koukkari Mbenga.
Affects the rating of the news
It is also about how the Swedish radio newsrooms define an event that affects Sweden and the Swedes.
– When something happens in a country that has a large diaspora in Sweden, it is generally considered foreign news, not something that worries the population here, says Palmira Koukkari Mbenga.
Of the 39 employees who have signed the call, 21 are anonymous.
– People who do not have a secure job fear that this will affect their chances of staying with the company. And get other jobs in the industry in the future. It’s also about the fear of being exposed to hatred and threats, says Palmira Koukkari Mbenga.
Cilla Benkö: Discussions are taking place
The signatories of the appeal put a series of demands on the management of Sveriges Radio. Among other things, they want to see a selection of the number of employees with foreign and non-European backgrounds, a salary audit to see unreasonable differences and a more diversified management of the company. According to Koukkari Mbenga, the management has not yet given a concrete response to the demands.
Sveriges Radio CEO Cilla Benkö writes in an email to Kulturnyheterna that she takes the content of the appeal very seriously, but does not share the image “that Sveriges Radio is a racist company with racist employees.” During the day, Benkö has met with the initiators of the appeal.
“There have also been discussions and conversations in the newsrooms and in the groups where they work (signed editor’s note). The discussions I heard have been constructive and good, ”he writes.
