The Jeremiad Over Journalism

a string of good propaganda results home in the context of a very favorable environment of public
opinion towards the United States, and a low point placed in the late 1960‘s and early 1970‘s, when
Osvald and Toftkjær Jensen wrote very critically of the United States and there were
demonstrations almost every year at Rebild against the United States. 618
Americanization of Danish journalism then reached a high point again around 1973 and 1974 with
Tom Wolfe‘s book on New Journalism and more importantly Woodward and Bernstein‘s
publication of All the President’s Men and then, judging from Journalisten, a slight decrease in the
mid-1980‘s where Danish journalists displayed a great deal of international solidarity by writing as
much about third-world countries and the Soviet Union as they did about the United States. 619 It
would then be fair to say that Americanization reached a new high in the 1990‘s after the fall of the
Berlin wall. The Danish branch of ―Investigative Reporters and Editors Inc.‖ (FUJ) as well as a
more formalized connection between the Poynter Institute and DJE which led to annual courses
being taught by American journalists and scholars in Denmark were two tangible examples of a
closer connection to the United States by Danish journalists.
618 A concrete example of the lack of enthusiasm for American society and politics among Danish journalists in the late
1960s can be found in April 1968 in Journalisten. Journalisten‘s editor Per Sabroe enthusiastically wrote an article
where he encouraged Danish journalists to cover the American presidential election between Hubert H. Humphrey and
Richard Nixon. The initiative had not previously been seen in Danish journalism, so it was a special opportunity
presented to the journalists.―The presidential election in the United States appears to be extraordinarily exciting, as
exciting as the Olympic Games. Concerning sport the press has in several instances cooperated to send a team as a
package trip. The same initiative has – not yet – been taken regarding larger foreign policy events, known well ahead of
time and the editor of Journalisten has therefore sought to have an itinerary outlined for a trip to the election in the
United States for journalists. Yet a few months later, Sabroe had to concede, that his initiative had not been met with the
enthusiasm he hoped and cancelled the tour. Per Sabroe, "USA-Rejsen [The USA Trip]," Journalisten, April 1968. Page
22. My translation. Original text reads, ―Præsidentvalget i USA tegner til at blive usædvanlig spændende – lige så
spændende som en olympiade. Når det drejer sig om sport har dagbladene i flere tilfælde samarbejdet om at sende
journalisthold af sted til charterpris. Der er – endnu ikke – samme initiativ omkring større udenrigspolitiske
begivenheder, som man kender i god tid, og Journalistens redaktør har derfor søgt at få opstillet et rejseprogram fo en
tur til valget i USA for journalister (…)‖
619 The editorial line in Journalisten during the 1980‘s seems to have been focused on a great sense of solidaritywith
countries and journalists less well off. Journaliten had regular campaigns of ―write your colleague free,‖ where Danish
journalists were encouraged to write to regimes that lacked press freedom to raise awareness of imprisoned colleagues.
Journalisten also described the establishment of of a Danish Third world press agency and had articles from Kenya,
South Africa, Pakistan, China and India as well as offering annual DJE courses on the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe
to name some examples. See for instance, Flemming Ytzen, "Journalistik Fra Den Tredje Verden Til Salg [Journalism
from the Third World for Sale]," Journalisten, September 14, 1983. Page 12-13. Or concerning the socialist views of
former Journalisten-editor Frede Jakobsen see Anette Claudi, "Provokation Hans Metode [Provocation His Method],"
Journalisten, March 28, 1990. Page 2.
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