Fact, fiction and editorial policy
A contribution from SuperSwede in our issue no. 17, “Pippi Longstocking censored…” has created a bit of a discussion in some Swedish expat circles. He was accused of being racist and Nordstjernan of being a racist paper and associated with the Sweden Democrats.
What immediately comes to mind is the storm surrounding an ad in Dagens Nyheter in Sweden in December 2013. The ad was for a book which, according to the authors — professor Karl-Olov Arnstberg and journalist Gunnar Sandelin — ”without blinders discusses Sweden’s problematic immigration policy.” The Swedish daily newspaper was at the time accused of being racist since the ad brought up official statistics that were also listed in the book.
Strangely, and to the best of our knowledge, no one in media wanted to discuss the statistics included in the book ”Invandring och mörkläggning” (Immigration and blackout ~ the suppression of facts). Instead of looking at facts, media and Sweden attacked the act of publishing an ad that promoted a book based on public statistics.
Now, due to Nordstjernan running commentary about the censoring of Astrid Lindgren’s Pippi, it was our turn. Based on these reactions, please allow me to straighten out a few things:
Even suggesting that things may have happened too fast or are creating difficulties when it comes to immigration or immigrants is in Sweden an absolute no. Sweden’s reluctance to talk about facts regarding immigration has opened up a witch-hunt for anything that can be interpreted as hostile to foreigners. It’s almost as if the deepening gaps in Sweden, between city and countryside, educated and uneducated — or wherever the gaps are — are partly created by an active search for controversy by finding what can be perceived as, but doesn’t necessarily have to be, racist.
At the time of the DN controversy Nordstjernan chose to rerun the open letter to Minister of Justice Beatrice Ask from award-winning Swedish novelist and playwright Jonas Hassen Khemiri. Then a reply to Jonas by the immigrant Jasenko Selimović, artistic leader, director and politician (for the Liberal People’s Party) born in Sarajevo, Bosnia. And another reply by Swedish-Italian poet, author, columnist and second-generation immigrant, Marcus Birro. The coverage started a series of reactions from columnists and readers covering a variety of aspects and opinions. That is healthy.
Facts are facts, neither good nor bad, but we would also like to offer you the reader different opinions: various perspectives on the same subject.
Most of us working with or reading Nordstjernan are in one way or another connected to immigration. For us to be xenophobic or opposed to immigration in general would be shooting ourselves in the foot. And, once again — this time in English: We should all be deeply proud of Sweden being a sanctuary for refugees to a much larger extent than most nations in the world. Every nation should be just as humane and willing to open its arms and hearts to people from areas where, through war, famine or other hardships, their lives are constantly at stake. Unfortunately, no one is.
As for Sweden, it's important to make sure newcomers can receive proper care and deal with the societal changes that will surely follow — not just finances and practical set-up but the social platforms for both newcomers and established citizens. After all, this is no longer the land or gold rush years of 19th century America.
Sweden, with a population in 1980 of just over 8 million, has welcomed well over one million asylum seekers during the last 30 years. Often from regions and cultures that are widely separate from the Swedish way of life. It takes transparency from politicians and it takes openness in media to cover the changes in society that will follow.
When looking from the outside, it seems what's happening is the opposite. The Sweden Democrats, clearly a populist party with a well-known questionable background, would never have grown to the extent they have in Sweden unless there was such a widespread unwillingness to openly discuss sensitive matters regarding immigration. The Sweden Democrat party, SD, was founded in 1988 by several organizations with deeply rooted racist and xenophobic views. Among the founders were a number of people with connections to neo Nazi or fascist organizations. The fact that the foundation of the SD party is racist is irrefutable. Nobody can argue this. Yet, they receive more and more support among voters — and clearly not because people are racist but because more people are concerned about Sweden’s present policies regarding immigration. Today, although representing close to 13 percent of Swedish voters they’re not considered part of the democratic establishment and are purposely overlooked by other parties. Sweden’s so-called established parties (which strangely include the other extreme, the communist party) need to wake up. As does media.
People are not stupid. Censoring by suppressing facts will have the opposite effect on Sweden’s political climate. As for myself, I am surrounded by and living among too many immigrants to be comfortable with having the Sweden Democrats alone deal with the subject of immigration.
If immigration is such an important issue for so many people in Sweden, why is there no open dialogue about facts — sensitive or not? Looking in from the outside, the reason seems to be that no one other than the aforementioned SD dares bring it up. Anyone even trying to raise the issue will be outcast as a racist. Anyone and anything that for instance dares openly question the removal of the epithet “negerkung” from the classic Astrid Lindgren book on Pippi is instantly cut down as racist.
The paragraphs above really have little to do with the viewpoints by SuperSwede on the censoring of Pippi Longstocking. SuperSwede feels it is wrong to whitewash books. Others may not. He feels Swedish society is going too far with trying to be politically correct. Others may not. It’s as simple as that.
Does it make him a racist? Consider Mark Twain’s Great American Novel on Huck Finn. The use of words in old books has to be examined according to the author’s intention. Always consider context, time and intended meaning.
But, it’s okay to have a different opinion.
People who are picking apart media for anything that can be labeled racist are proof-texting, which is not conducive to a constructive dialogue. By doing so and putting themselves in a bully pulpit position they become part of the problem rather than the solution.
When it comes to overall editorial policy, Nordstjernan is not about controversy but we also don’t believe there is such a thing as 100 percent objective reporting. Only by letting different voices be heard can we offer you as a reader a way to form your own opinions. Only by seeing an issue from many subjective angles can we each arrive at our own “objective” opinion. This is especially important to remember for us at Nordstjernan. We are the preeminent source of Sweden information for many of our readers and this is a responsibility we take seriously. This is why during the last year we have run so many different voices on, for instance, the subject of immigration to Sweden.
Having said that, please remember that opinions expressed in the viewpoint column are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the staff and management of Nordstjernan or Swedish News, Inc.
And we welcome your opinion. If:
- you feel differently about a subject,
- you feel we should do something differently,
- you want to add something you feel is important for the whole community,
- someone or a group did something that should be shared with a much larger group, share it and contribute: DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT.
Write us at editor@nordstjernan.com or upload your suggestion or contribution at nordstjernan.com or mail to P.O. Box 1710, New Canaan CT 06840
Ulf Barslund Martensson
Editor & Publisher
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The Editor & Publisher
Inte som andra bloggar.... this entry will be sometimes in Swedish, sometimes 'på svenska' - Just så händelsrikt är livet som utgivare av Amerikas äldsta och numera enda Svenska tidskrift.
Här ovan poserar jag “on location” kl 6 på morgonen i Minneapolis St. Paul för två år sedan. Henrik Olund tog bilden som förberedelse för en porträttbild av Vice President Walter Mondale. (Det var en bra intervju med en bra person) Jag skriver sällan med byline i Nordstjernan men jag är alltid ansvarig för innehållet, även om jag inte alltid håller med om allt.
(PS. Intervjun med Mondale hittar ni på nordicreach.com DS.) |