A Nordic Nation Establishing its Unique Identity
Sveinbjörn Pálsson
Q: Tell me a little bit about yourself. Name/age/occupation/where you are currently living. How long have you been/were you in Iceland?
A: Sveinbjörn/39/Art Director/Reykjavík
Q: Are you a native Icelander? If not, why were you in Iceland? What years were you there?
A: Yes
Q: How do most people get their news/information in Iceland? Who controls the media?
A: That’s a very open question. The biggest single entity on the market is state radio/tv – RÚV – with two radio stations, a tv channel and a website, all of which are popular.
Until recently, the second conglomerate – 365 – ran most of the private radio stations, the other TV station with a newsroom (stöð 2), the biggest newspaper (Fréttablaðið) and the second largest news website (vísir). The assets were sold off to Vodafone, to be merged with their cable tv offering, except for the newspaper.
The third player on the market is Morgunblaðið. The oldest newspaper in iceland, it was salvaged from bankrupcy after the 2008 crash by owners of a couple of the fisheries - the biggest business in iceland. It runs mbl.is, the
biggest website in iceland. It has a wilful right-wing bias.
RÚV is a state entity, as such it’s thought to be a bit lefty, and a bit urban.
365 was owned by a major business tycoon, who was on trial for business dealings related to the 2008 collapse. They are sometimes slightly lefty, more often a bit more right wing, depends on which channel. They all avoided talking about the owner.
Q: What social media is used most there? News outlet? How commonly do people use RUV?
A: Facebook. For news, RÚV rules tv, mbl.is rules online.
Q: How do you think people from other countries view Icelanders based on what they see in the media?
A: They usually know one thing from somewhere. It’s always something super exaggerated. I try not to think about it.
Q: Is the use of media increasing or decreasing? How can you tell?
A: It’s diffusing, more on offer, less money for each medium.
Q: What kind of television do you watch? Streaming services?
A: Netflix, mostly.
Q: What kind of music do you listen to? (Please share specific songs - especially if they are in Icelandic!)
A: I’m a DJ, I play pretty eclectic stuff, I can’t really do this question, it’d fill a page and eat my evening.
Q: What kind of food do you typically eat/ cook (what is your favorite meal/ what is most popular)?
A: Dominos pizza / oat meal. I’m a bachelor. (fav: Pad Thai / most popular: no idea)
Q: To what degree is media education practiced in this country?
A: There’s media studies at the university, and I did some as a teenager too, as an elective. Most journalists have no such education, it’s a low paying job here.
Q: How happy do you think Icelanders generally are? What is the cause of this?
A: Apparently the happiest. Because we lie to pollsters?
Q: How healthy do you think Icelanders are?
A: Pretty obese.
Q: Are there any important cultural, economic, racial, or political rifts/tensions within the country? (These could be based on money, race, language, religion, ethnicity, gender, age, etc.)
A: Same as US. Rich/poor, city/country, liberal/conservative, feminist/patriarchal. Religion is barely a rift. There’s a wing that’s critical of the state church, but barely an opposition to that voice. t4.