The Jeremiad Over Journalism

series came to signify an important shift towards taking a stance on behalf of the little man against
the injustice of society. 467
"[Knud] Vilby – subsequent editor-in-chief of Information (…) says about the effort: ‘The
housing campaign was incredibly exciting because it gave Ekstra Bladet a new legitimacy –
and because it for better and worse (mostly better) helped develop an investigative
campaigning journalism.‖ 468
Vilby‘s comments may be tainted somewhat by the fact that they are delivered delivered 40 years
after Ekstra Bladet‘s successful housing article series and published in an internally produced
anniversary book, but there is evidence that the newspaper was among the very first in Denmark to
embrace an increasingly adversarial stance towards politicians and corporate interests on behalf of
their ―common man‖ core readers. 469
Vilby‘s remark ―for better and worse,‖ however, also alludes to the fact, that Ekstra Bladet‘s
coverage of the case could have been handled better. When Vilby talks about ―campaigning
journalism,‖ then critics pointed out that Ekstra Bladet‘s coverage at times spilled over towards
character assassination. According to Lasse Ellegaard, who had worked as delivery boy at Ekstra
Bladet before he became a journalist himself, Victor Andreasen lacked the ―profession‘s inherent
467 Gregers Dirckinck-Holmfeldt, Tør - Hvor Andre Tier; Vrisne Victor Og Hans Hvalpe [Dares - Where Others Keep
Silent; Grumpy Victor and His Pups], 2 vols., vol. 2 (Copenhagen: Ekstra Bladets forlag, 2004). Page 81-83 and 277.
Furthermore, the book describes how Ekstra Bladet developed a successful self-image of ―watchdog‖ journalism and
also notes how the newspaper‘s success in the 1960, as initially being inspired by Carl-Adam Nycop and his Swedish
newspaper Expressen. Additionally, Ekstra Bladet‘s ability to write from ―the bottom up,‖ as former employee
described it, as opposed to Politiken‘s ―from above and downwards‖ helped create a successful style for the paper. Bent
Juhl, Bladet Fra Munden [Speak Your Mind] (København: Holkenfeldts forlag, 1990). Page 176.
468 Dirckinck-Holmfeldt, Tør - Hvor Andre Tier; Vrisne Victor Og Hans Hvalpe [Dares - Where Others Keep Silent;
Grumpy Victor and His Pups]. Page 83. My translation. Original text reads, ―[Knud] Vilby - senere chefredaktør på
Information og endnu senere formand for Dansk Forfatterforening - siger om indsatsen: 'Boligkampagnen var utroligt
spændende, fordi den gav Ekstra Bladdet en ny legitimitet - og fordi den på godt og ondt (mest godt) var med til at
udvikle en investigativ kampagnejournalistik‖
469 Among the results of the content analysis described in the in the following chapter was the fact that Ekstra Bladet
was the only of the three newspapers studied who wrote ―watchdog‖ stories, defined as ―cases where the journalist
holds public officials accountable for something in relation to their public function that is in the interest of society in
general for the common good of democracy‖ in 1971. 20 percent of the 20 political articles on the front of Ekstra Bladet
during the 1971 election campaign were categorized as watchdog stories. Ekstra Bladet have also won Cavling Prizes in
1966, 1977, 1981, 1989, 2003 and 2004
152