Ministermordet - RIB Bibliotek

The news bulletin was regarded by
journalists, who were not allowed to
ask questions, as difficult to understand.
Many members of the media set great
store by the formulation, stating that
the foreign minister's condition had
just improved somewhat... in their
reports. The medical language was in
short not understood, whereupon news
about the minister's improved condition
was disseminated on TV throughout
the morning. So the public did not
realise the true situation as the state
leadership did - that her injuries were
very severe.
Better advice on communication to
the authors of the news bulletin might
have reduced this problem.
Thirdly, the time interval from her
being pronounced dead to a public
announcement was discussed at one
point. Could the period of time between
news of the husband's return home and
the hospital issuing the bulletin have
been reduced through co-ordination
between the parties and preparation of
the bulletin in the early hours of the
morning
It is possible to take two approaches
to the restricted information about
Anna Lindh's injuries and the delayed
news of her death. On the one hand it
can be maintained that the family's
interests and wishes must be decisive
for the information given out and that
there was no "irrefutable public interest"
requiring fast notification of her death.
On the other hand it can be maintained
that the murder of a foreign minister
is a matter of central national concern,
– indeed even international concern,
which must take precedence over the
needs of individuals and families. The
question is thus what principles are to
be considered appropriate in the present
case: the chosen approach with consideration
for relatives or a requirement
for fast information to the public. Even
if consideration for the family was
deemed the essential issue, it is still a
moot point whether it would have
been possible to bring about better
dissemination of information as regards
both content and the timing. A question
can further be raised for the future as
to whether there is a need for clearer
guidelines at government level about
how communication should be handled
in critical situations concerned with
violence and accidents involving ministers
and other central public figures.
Police management
of the crisis and
communication
Crisis management within the various
parts of the judicial system can be
considered to have been characterised
by mutual understanding and a wellfunctioning
relationship. In contrast
with the murder of Olof Palme, the
police force were prepared for an event
of this type being liable to occur in
Sweden through individual and
organised training within the police
service based largely on the experiences
of the Palme investigation.
english summary | 127