The Jeremiad Over Journalism

the years, and the documents that remain for a small country like Denmark at times seem
incomplete making it difficult to follow a case of attempted influence from beginning to end.
Additionally, the Fulbright and DAF sources used in the dissertation must also be assessed
somewhat critically. The evaluations might yield a more positive impressions of their exchange than
private correspondence would have done since these exchange evaluations were also written with
an audience in mind. Whether it is the American government in the shape of the Fulbright
evaluations, the DAF annual report or Journalisten the journalists writing knew that they were
potentially writing for a broader audience. Delving deeper into correspondence by key Danish
journalist‘s actors who have been abroad would seem a fruitful way to support or dispel the notion
that the American exchange programs was such an overwhelmingly positive experience as it is
described in the ―public‖ source-material.
This observation ties into many of the conclusions regarding the section on symbolic
Americanization. While Journalisten is an extremely useful way of gaining an overview of the
debates in the Danish journalistic environment between 1968 and the present, the version of the
journalistic environment in Denmark presented through its pages are obviously edited and at times
obviously edited from a union perspective.
The consequences, for the present study is difficult to ascertain, but it seems logical that greater
focus on the key actors‘ private correspondance, biographies, or statements in interviews with other
news outlets, if not interviews with future researchers, could nuance the timeline and conclusions
concerning Americanization through New Journalism and investigative reporting even further.
Moreover, the importance of formal journalism education from the late 1960‘s and forward in
Denmark has been broached, but the curricula of the Danish School of Journalism have not been
studied. Such an analysis coupled with the the significance of the two new journalism educations
established in 1998 might also add important information about the teaching of American
methodology and practice at Danish institutions. Sørensen and Petersen, for example, have shown
that American English was not awarded equal status to British English until 1971 in Danish high
schools, a testament to the relatively late American influence on Danish educational institutions. 628
628 Petersen and Sørensen, "Ameri-Danes and Pro-American Anti-Americans." Page 125-126. As has been described,
American officials also recognized the need for reaching the Danish high school teachers with the lecture series that
they organized in the 1970‘s and forward. Yet, the question remains of how successful they were in terms of The
Danish School of Journalism. For an example of American interest in Danish high schools see Brooks McClure,
"American Studies Seminar for Teachers of English at Teacher-Training Colleges in Middelfart, May 10-12, 1970.,"
233