Ester Kristoffersen lodged an official complaint against the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation (NRK) for misrepresenting her views and several aspects of events she led to highlight the effects of terrorism. Read more about this here, here, and here, but the bottom line is that NRK a) misled Kristoffersen about the intentions behind their report; b) guided her response during the taping; and b) aired a report that selectively used quotes, facts, and other pieces of information to give viewers an inaccurate impression of what was actually said.
Well, the organization Kristoffersen complained to what can be loosely translated to the Select Committee on Journalistic Standards (Pressens Faglige Utvalg), and this group couldn't find anything wrong with what NRK had done. In other words, Norwegian journalistic standards allow a reporter to:
- Be misleading and deceitful about the purpose of an interview in order to get one
- Lead people being interviewed in order to obtain words on tape that can subsequently be used in ways that the words weren't intended
- Edit footage, include music and visual effects, to create an impression that has no basis in the actual facts
- Promote conclusions that are far less likely than more benign explanations
As long as there is no actual falsehood in the individual statements. It's worth noting that the report in question was intended to be a news report, not a polemic. The purpose -as it turns out - was to "prove" that pro-Israel activism in Norway is coordinated by people who prefer to remain anonymous. Using, as a case example, a campaign that had as its sole purpose to highlight the effects of terrorism on innocent bystanders.
With this decision, the council has lowered Norwegian journalistic standards to levels that make the idea of an independent press as a fourth estate a quaint ideal and nothing more.
Expressions of outrage should be directed to members of the committee (not all have e-mail addresses I could find):
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