The Jeremiad Over Journalism

part of the clickety-clack pressroom machinery of the Times since Harrison Otis's day - would
be silenced forever." 300
These American innovations subsequently made their way to Europe, either through American
export or European media employees going on study tours or conferences in the United States, as
well as in Europe. One example of a European who brought technological knowledge back from a
visit to the United States was the Swedish managing director of Dagens Nyheter, Carl-Adam
Nycop, who was invited to Denmark in 1969 to talk about what the future might hold for Danish
journalism. Nycop in his interview with Journalisten listed the latest inventions in Sweden based on
data technology and then, with a few qualifications, went on to predict future developments through
the use of satellites and electronic distribution of newspapers through video.
―The American technician who predicts the following [use of video], has never previously
been wrong: When that time comes, people will have watchband watch-radios, through which
they can contact the entire world and get information.‖ 301
Gaining inspiration from the United States through an intermediary like Nycop, is a phenomenon,
as noted in chapter 2, described by van Elteren as ―secondary appropriation.‖ Schröter warns
however that one should not take the concept of ―secondary appropriation‖ too far, but in the case
of Nycop, travelling to the United States and then shortly upon his return sharing his new-found
knowledge in a different country, the use of the concept seems warranted. 302
In the realm of technology, Sweden and Norway served as important reference points, and
important collaborators, for Danish media employees. Yet, as is apparent from Nycop‘s experience,
even when Swedish or Norwegian experts or Scandinavian-produced technology was brought to
300 Dennis McDougal, Priviledged Son: Otis Chandler and the Rise and Fall of the L.A. Times Dynasty (Massachusetts:
Perseus Publishing, 2001). Page 231. As a slight aside, the transnational flow of knowledge between the United States
and Europe is underlined by the fact that it was a German immigrant Ottmar Mergenthaler who invented the Linotype
typesetting machine in America in the 1880s.
301 "Nycop Om Pressen Til År 2000, En Udvikling I Tre Trin Med Data, Satelitter Og Video [Nycop About the Press
Untill 2000, a Development in Three Steps with Data, Satellites and Video]," Journalisten, no. 7-8 (1969). Page 1-4.
My translation. Original text reads, ―I disse måneerobringstider må det være aktuelt også med fremtidsvisioner om
pressens vilkår indtil år 2000.‖ Also ‖Den amerikanske tekniker, som spår om følgende, har aldrig tidligere spået
forkert: Til den tid vil mennesker have armbåndsur-radioer, ad hvilke de kan kontakte hele verden og få information.‖
302 Schröter, Americanization of the European Economy: A Compact Survey of American Economic Influence in Europe
since the 1880's. Page 4. ―If a principle is taken over and re-worked, I suggest calling the process modernization rather
than Americanization. Otherwise the concept of Americanization becomes quite useless, since nearly all American
principles—cultural and economic—can be derived in the end from Western or European civilization.‖
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