By Britt
Bartenbach
Copyright:
NPInews, Copenhagen
(The content of this
article may not be used or published in any form without
the express permission from NPInews)
Who would have thought that the 'Champion for Free
Speech and Free Press', the Danish Prime Minister Mr.
Anders Fogh Rasmussen, was in total control of the
Danish press and holding the press in an iron grip?
As it happens the PM is also Minister for the Press, and
during the Fogh Government Denmark has experienced a
bloody massacre on free speech. This is particularly
notable in the former wide variety of local grassroot
and talk radios across the country. After seven years
with the Fogh control freak Government only a handful of
these radios are still alive, and of those just two or
three dare to practise Fogh's motto: Freedom of Speech -
the rest are playing it safe and broadcasting 'ass-licking'
local government and Mayor announcements and non-stop
music.
Critical Voices
Not the PM's Cup of Tea
Critical or dissident voices in the local media are not
the PM's and Press Minister Fogh's cup of tea, and he
makes sure that his state controlled institution The
Press Committee, headed by a Supreme Court judge, clamps
down on those local radio stations which are not willing
to be gagged by the Central State Control.
If the measures to subdue the local radio station, or to
stop a specific news item or a controversial story
revealing unpleasant facts, are not working, then the
method is to get loyal henchmen - or socalled 'willing
idiots' - acting in the shape of violated citizens, to
shower the State's Press Committee with fake and
provocated complaints.
In order to control the non-commercial local talk radios
the Fogh Government has introduced legislation that
makes it possible to withdraw the broadcasting licence
to a 'sinful' local radio station who has received
repeated complaints about its journalism which the Press
Committee has found valid.
Harsh State Measures Control
Local Radio and Television
With this weapon in hand the state controlled Radio and
Television Board makes good use of the fake complaints
which means that they can withdraw all state subsidies
to the misbehaving local radio station. The state
subsidy is barely covering the actual costs of running a
radio station and does not cover wages to the people
manning the station who are unpaid for the time and the
effort they put in, and the State have introduced
outrageous control measures, not only as concerns the
monies but also warns it will control all programmes and
their content at the end of a full year.
Complaints to the Minister of the Press, the PM Fogh
Rasmussen, are redistributed to the Minister for Culture
and Sport, the neo-conservative sports enthusiast Brian
Mikkelsen, who is in charge of the broadcasting licences
and state subsidies, and this minister says he is unable
to interfere with a final administrative decision from
the Radio and Television Board - a decision which is in
breach with the national legislation but also with the
UN's and the European Human Rights Conventions on
Freedom of the Press and Freedom of Expression.
Prescription to
Kill a Radio Station
The only option remaining for the targetet local radio
station is to take out legal proceedings and have the
case dealt with in court. However, this quickly proves to
be a dead end as the radio station has exhausted its
monetary funding, the leading persons of the radio
station are penniless after having spent their last
financial resources on the continued running of the
station, and no Danish lawyer would venture to take on such
a case against the State and the PM Mr. Fogh Rasmussen.
The prescription to 'kill a radio station' has been made
an example with the silencing of the long-running and
popular talk radio Copenhagen Radio Frederiksberg
Journal who was shut down by state censorship in 2007
after seventeen years on air and after having been known
for its breaking news and pioneering journalistic focus
on all the shadowy ills in the Danish society.
Many attempts had been made through the years to
threaten or to lure the fiercely independent and
politically neutral Radio Frederiksberg Journal to
either choose a less honest and direct journalistic style,
and the station had even a few years ago been
quaranteened for a few months which caused a storm of
protests from the listeners until the station was on air
again.
Free Speech Under
Boot of Big Brother
The last couple of years, however, such protests have
almost vanished since the Danes have become more subdued
and are reluctant to give their names to anything which
may put them in danger of being seen as dissidents by
Big Brother, and many fear that any criticism could
result in the withdrawal of social benefits or other state
or council related benefits available to the citizens in
the Welfare State. Or they simply worry that the State
may target their children or grandchildren for forcible
removal from their homes. After all, 14,000 children are
permanently living outside their homes in Denmark either
at institutions or in foster care families.
Many other methods of the more 'subtle' kind had been
used in the years prior to the final closure had been
used to curb the Radio Frederiksberg Journal such as an
unprecedented smear campaign on the internet and damage
control against the radio station are just some of the
remedies used by the authorities who have not stopped at
inventing false accusations against the leading figures
of the radio station.
The Radio Frederiksberg Journal was known for its investigative
and pioneering journalism free of political or religious
bias and for their exposure of delicate matters hidden
in the shadows from the time of the Nazi occupation of
Denmark during WW2 when the Danish police top
collaborated with the Gestapo and Danish politicians saw
their advantage in working hand-in-hand with Nazi
Germany.
In the land of the 'Free Speech and Freedom of the Press'
the Danish mainstream media have been busy playing along
with the fabricated damage control, but the 'free press'
never wrote a line or mentioned a word about the state
closure of the journalistic local talk radio - methods
which sends shivers down one's spine in reminders of the
former police state DDR on the eastern side of the old
Berlin Wall. That is the picture of State Control in the
Free and Democratic Denmark, and it is not the same
picture which is reflected in the media, neither in
Denmark nor in the international media.
Danes Said No
To Remote EC Control
In the 1990's it was the question of the increasing
powers of the Bureaucrats in the European Union which
divided the people of Denmark. And when the Danes spited
their political and industrial leaders by voting 'No'
to Bigger Brother EC's treaties, and later on even dared
to reject the Euro in favour of the Danish national
Krone, the small Scandinavian Kingdom became a symbol of
'David who dared to confront Goliath'.
The Danes' No to Remote Control Government from Brussels
made headlines all over the world, and the populations
of the other European States looked with envy on the
Danes who were among the very few of the EC population
who were given the opportunity to cast their vote and
decide the future of their nation in a referendum.
For decades after the end of World War 2 Denmark had the
reputation of being a progressive nation - a model of
the almost perfect Welfare State and always in the front
when it came to humanitarian world issues and universal
human rights.
Glory Box
Starting to Fade
In 2006, and again in 2008, Denmark's glory box is
starting to fade and the icing of the cake is melting.
Again Denmark is on everybody's lips, and again the
Danes are divided. This time the headlines are not
reflecting admiration, nor are the reactions throughout
the world full of praise.
The cartoons illustrating the Prophet Muhammed, which
were printed by the neo-conservative newspaper
Jyllands-Posten, were meant as a provocation, and -
according to some analysts - were created to test the
reaction in the Muslim community in Denmark.
Perhaps noone expected the provocation to backfire with
such verocity and that this would be echoed the world
over.
Little known is the fact, which was uncovered in a brief
news flash two years ago on Danish State Radio but was quickly
buried by the State censorship, that the father-in-law
of the man behind the idea, Cultural Editor Flemming
Rose, is a retired high-ranking Russian KGB officer.
Did intelligence sources with an unknown agenda whisper
ideas into the ear of the editor with the intent to let
the already Muslim hostile Danish nation be the testing
ground for the anticipated clash of culture and
religion, between East and West, the Christian World and
the Muslim World?
We may never know what lies behind this experiment which
was said to put the Freedom of Speech to the test, not
only in Denmark, but worldwide. However, there is no
doubt that there was a greater and a hidden agenda
behind the test, and to believe that Flemming Rose got
the 'bright' idea himself is ludicrous.
In a recent interview Flemming Rose said that the
cartoons and the accompanying text from the start was a
'political project with the purpose of removing the legislation
covering defamatory and slanderous expressions', and in
lieu of the present political climate in Denmark that
project seems to be overriding concern of the Danish
parliamentarians and the press, and noone seems to
realise that the cost of this project will be so high
that it is totally out of proportion to the importance
of the project.
During the height of the Cartoon Crisis in 2006 the face
of the Danish Prime Minister, Anders Fogh Rasmussen,
appeared on all national and international news
programmes, and suddenly Denmark became known even in
the most remote village on Planet Earth.
PM's Front as 'Champion
of Democracy and Liberty'
He stood up as the Champion of Democracy and Liberty and
as the Defender of the Freedom of Speech and Freedom of
the Press, a freedom which is not to be touched or
discussed no matter what. It was as if the entire 'Civilised
and Democratized' world's survival was at stake, and the
newspaper's free choice to print the cartoons, which
insulted the feelings of the world's 1,3 billion Muslim
population, was a lot more important than apologizing
for bad taste and bad manners.
Respect and consideration for other people's feelings
and dignity were not part of the PM's vocabulary as he
raised the banner of Free Speech and Freedom of the
Press as a Mantra which is seen as a 'holy cow' and a
right with which neither he nor the State could under
any circumstances interfere.
Most freedom loving people would applaud and agree that
it is a privilege to live in a country which allows
civil liberties such as Free Speech, and two-thirds of
the world's population would give their lives not to
live in a Police State or in a Dictatorship.
However, the Danish PM forgot to mention that with the
privilege of Free Speech comes responsibility on the
part of the individual as well as on the part of the
press. Denmark even has a specific law which lays down
the rules for these responsibilities. And the law quite
clearly specifies that insults against other people's
race, ethnic or cultural background are a violation of
these people's rights and that such violations are
punishable under the Criminal Code.
Yet the State's institution, the Danish Press Committee
headed by a Supreme Court judge, aquitted the newspaper
and the cartoons, and so did the Danish courts.
Cartoons Diverted
Attention From Domestic Ills
From being a matter of public debate and a legal
question, the cartoon case became a Political Issue, and
the overriding order of the day under the holy banner of
the inviolable Freedom of Speech which may easily leave
the gates wide open for uncontrollable hate and smear
campaigns, out of control damage control and mud
throwing with the only purpose of diverting the focus
away from the real and important issues affecting the
day-to-day lives of all citizens.
The Danish PM made certain to wave the banner and
cleverly took advantage of the situation and the high
emotions in the Danish society by diverting the nation's
attention away from serious flaws in his government's
running of domestic affairs.
All focus in Denmark was on the Cartoon Crisis, the
burning of the Danish flag in the streets of the Muslim
world, the burning of Danish embassies and the boycott
of Danish goods, and in the face of all this hostility
the PM managed to stir up a feeling of national unity,
and an 'Us against Them' kind of logic.
Unlimited Devotion
to George W. Bush
He scored some high points for 'standing up for the
special Danish version of Freedom of Speech',
particularly with the masses who are easy to manipulate
when they are feeling threatened, and with those who
want Freedom of Speech and Freedom of Press to stand
above all other considerations at all times and without
any responsibilities or limitations.
The other part of the Danes, who are embarrased by the
cartoon provocation and who see the issue as a case of
bad behaviour, find it difficult to be heard, and those
who voiced their opinion are ridiculed or blacklisted.
Prime Minister Fogh Rasmussen, who has just aired his
unlimited admiration for the US President George W.
Bush during his visit at Bush's private ranch in
Crawford, Texas, where he unashamedly aired his devotion
to Bush as the 'Champion for the Environment' - in spite
of the fact that the Bush administration for years
refused to sign the Kyoto Protocol - and a great
'Champion for Democracy and Peace', has played his cards
well and stands to be appointed to an elevated position
as either the next Secretary General of NATO or the
first President of the European Community.
Professional Spin
Keeps the PM in Power
At home in the Danish press, Mr. Fogh Rasmussen has very
little problems with criticism since criticism directed
at him and his leadership is so scarce and so easy to
quell that his many successive spin doctors have no
trouble in turning it to Mr. Fogh's and his Government's
advantage. Fogh's public image has become that of the infallible
'Father of the Nation' who makes wise, careful and
rational choices on behalf of his country, and it has
become bad taste in the Danish press and even in the
opposition to question the PM's choices.
Forgotten is the fact that Mr. Fogh Rasmussen was forced
to step down as Minister for Taxation in the
Conservative-Liberal coalition Government back in the
mid 1980's because of fraudulent bookkeeping practices
in his ministry, a practice which had cost Danish
private business owners and fishermen approx. 50 billion
kroner of illegally collected taxes, and a case which
was the Danish State lost in 1994 in the EC court who
condemned. The Danish State was forced to reimburse the
business owners, but the reimbursements were peanuts
compared to the amount collected by the State. By that
time Mr. Fogh Rasmussen's days as Minister for Taxation
had long since come to an abrupt end, but the example
illustrates how quickly the voters forget a
parliamentarian's past trespasses.
PM Managed
to Stage a Come Back
Never the less Mr. Fogh Rasmussen managed to stage a
come back and become the leader of the Liberal Party
which won a landslide election back in 2001 and formed a
coalition government with the Conservative Party. For
the third time in succession, he has recently won another
election and is more strengthened than before with his
neo-conservative support party The People's Party who do
not tolerate any criticism - nor do they tolerate
anything else since they wage a 'Zero Tolerance' war -
and make no attempts to hide their hatred of Islam or
their general fear of the Muslim World.
At least for the time being the Danes' attention has
been directed away from the ills of the Danish state of
affairs, such as the growing gap between rich and poor,
the increase in families living below the poverty line,
rising living costs and high energy taxes, drastic
welfare cuts, a national health system and educational
system in shambles and the Danish Government's unpopular
and costly engagement in the War on Terror in Iraq and
in Afghanistan.
Local Talk Radio Silenced
For Independent Journalism
When the Danish PM spoke on all the television channels,
he forgot to mention that the Danish Freedom of Speech
only applies to those who are in line with his power
elite and the opinions expressed by the mainstream
media. Small and independent media and journalists at
non-commercial local and regional radio stations, which
are not the run-of-the-mill 'juke box radios', are
targeted as never before.
They have felt the whip of "Big Daddy", the nickname of
the PM whispered timidly by journalists who freeze in
awe in the presence of George W. Bush's own buddy, Mr.
Fogh Rasmussen, when he enters the press room at the
Prime Minister's Department to hold his weekly address
to the Nation and to the press.
In the midst of the turmoil of the cartoon crisis the
outcry of the closing of the local radio station, the Radio
Frederiksberg Journal, drowned in the noise.
The final death blow to the Radio Station came in the
form of two manipulated and fake programmes on the State
National Television channel DR2 in the programme "The
Eleventh Hour" in which the television host, Mads
Brügger, played a major role in a well-planned quest to
slander the leading persons from the Radio Frederiksberg
Journal and to scandalize their newly published
non-fiction book about an unsolved postwar murder case which
has sent shock waves through political, police and
intelligence circles in Denmark.
Silenced with
One Day's Notice
In spite of the State withdrawing the regular state
subdidy given to all non-commercial radio stations, the
Radio Frederiksberg Journal managed to run for two years
on voluntary manpower and finansing until it was
silenced with one day's notice by the State censorship
and an administrative decision from the staterun Radio
and Television Committee.
Though the Radio Frederiksberg Journal had ample
documentation and witness accounts to substantiate its
stories, and the Law regulating the press was not
violated, the decision to shut down the radio station
was final and could not be appealed to higher authority.
For the radio station to have the decision dealt with in
a court of law is risky business since it is quite
unusual for the legal system in Denmark to make a
verdict against the authorities and especially against
the State itself. In any case in would be difficult to
raise funding for a court case since the radio station
is bankrupt and thus cannot afford to hire a lawyer to
take out legal proceedings.
In the face of what happened in the case of the Radio
Frederiksberg Journal, many Danes are doubting the
Danish Prime Minister's sincerety in his glorification
of Denmark's uncompromising fight for Freedom of Speech
and for the Freedom of the Press...
END