Published: Less than 40 min ago
Svenska Dagbladet’s lead writer Peter Wennblad called on politicians in a tweet to be more disrespectful towards journalists.
Now the newspaper is being shaken by an internal dispute – crisis meetings are being held in the editorial office this afternoon.
– The outrage here is great, says Thomas Berglund, chairman of the journalist union at SvD.
Peter Wennblad is editorial writer and deputy director of Svenska Dagbladet’s editorial page. His response to SD leader Linus Bylund’s statement about “journalist rugby, that you push journalists”, has not impressed its own editors.
“More politicians should be a little more disrespectful towards journalists. “Journalist rugby” is not a threat to democracy, it is a jab at a professional group with an inflated self-image”, tweeted Peter Wennblad on Tuesday evening.
At Svenska Dagbladet, the outrage must be great.
– Many have experienced the tweet he sent out as completely unacceptable. From what I understand, it is widely discussed in the editorial management, says Thomas Berglund, chairman of the journalists’ club at SvD.
He continues:
– I naturally think that an explanation must be given.
“Journalists are enemies of the nation”
An employee at the newspaper states that the tweet caused great anger on the floor.
– There are a lot of people who are upset at the newsroom and expect that the management will deal with this, says the employee, who wishes to remain anonymous.
The journalist club at SvD will have a board meeting on Wednesday afternoon where the matter will be discussed. During the afternoon, a large meeting will also be held where the tweet will be discussed.
According to Svenska Dagbladet’s editor-in-chief Anna Careborg, there is a careful division between news and opinion journalism at the newspaper, which has a political editor-in-chief.
“It would be completely foreign to me to go in and gag an individual editorial writer and what the person in question expresses on Twitter, as long as it stays within the framework of what is legal. That in itself would be a direct threat to free speech, regardless of what feelings or reactions the opinion-forming tweet arouses,” writes Anna Careborg in a comment.
“Wider context”
When Linus Bylund spoke about “journalist rugby” on Tuesday, it was not the first time he focused on the professional group.
He has called journalists “enemies of the nation” and has wanted to see punishment against journalists he perceived as biased.
– You also have to see that statements about journalistic rugby take place in a larger context. When also representatives of the same party express themselves positively about the development of media and democracy in Hungary, I think it is reasonable to react strongly, says Ulrika Hyllert of the Journalists’ Association.
Photo: Twitter
– It is a real problem that journalists choose to leave the profession because of threats to themselves or their family. With this as a background, it is important to remember that very coarse jargon and irresponsible statements contribute to legitimizing those who write hate and threats, says Ulrika Hyllert, president of the Journalist Association.
Don’t dare report to the police
One investigation from the University of Gothenburg in 2019 showed that just under 30 percent of Swedish journalists were exposed to threats and around 70 percent to derogatory comments in the past year.
Another survey from Lund University in 2021 showed that 4 out of 10 journalists avoid reporting on certain topics for fear of threats and hatred towards themselves or their family. Only 12 percent chose to report to the police even though they felt that they had been exposed to something criminal.
Footnote: Aftonbladet has unsuccessfully searched for Peter Wennblad and Tove Lifvendahl, political editor-in-chief.