Last week the Nya Lidköpings newspaper (NLT) published a crossword where the answer to the question “dark-skinned person” was the N-word.
The crossword has in turn been purchased from the supplier Europa Press.
“We have been informed that this situation has arisen and are of course horrified and dismayed by what has happened,” writes Europa Press in an email to TV4 Nyheterna.
The NLT writes in one article on their site that the newspaper distanced itself from the crossword that was published last week, and that the newspaper reacted strongly when some readers got in touch.
NLT belongs to the media group NWT Media, which in turn has an agreement with the cruise supplier Europa Press.
Mikael Rothsten, media manager for NWT Media, regrets that the crossword was published.
– Of course it’s not good, this is an outdated word that is both derogatory and offensive, which should not be in a crossword puzzle.
– We have contacted our supplier and pointed this out, he says.
The crossword has now been removed from NLT’s e-newspaper, and according to Mikael Rothsten, they are investigating whether it was also published in other newspapers within the group.
Will you check the crossword after this?
– It’s difficult when you buy so many crosswords, we can’t sit and solve them all first. We have to trust that our suppliers have high quality and here it is quite obvious that they have failed.
TV4 Nyheterna has been in contact with Europa Press, which confirms in an email that they have been informed about the situation and that they are “horrified and appalled by what happened.”, and that they “distance themselves from all types of racism.”
They also write that they did not deliver the crossword themselves, but act as an agent for the author whom they contacted. In turn, he has explained that the crossword is from 1999, and that he missed sorting it out.
“As an agent, we naturally have to take part of the responsibility in this situation,” writes Europa Press further.