Each year, the tax rolls are released, and journalists and editors take delight in revealing peoples’ income and fortunes. There is a certain element of immorality, and also of envy, in good numbers. To the media, this is an accepted kind of social pornography. Basically, Resett is sceptical towards this way of sneaking around in the private economy of others; evidently it has, however, its good sides, too.
Each year, Norwegian newspapers suck out more than 300 million Nkr in press subsidy money that could have been spent on the sick, the elderly, new schools and kindergartens, the police and the defence forces; the list is virtually endless for all good purposes. The money are for the most part shuffled into already well-to-do media houses, like Amedia and Polaris, that if one puts together all the small newspapers they own enjoy the support. They withdraw profits and high wages and live in a fool’s paradise on the community’s means.
Having looked through the wages of the editors that are subsidised by the government, it is timely to ask whether these «media profiteers» are entitled to their sky high wages.
Why should editors surviving on government subsidies get paid more than a member of the Stortinget? Or, why more than a nurse? The way the transfers work, journalists and editors are for all practical purposes on «governmental stipend». They are at work in a De jobber in en sheltered business.
Below, we list the wages of some of those editors receiving government subsidy. Of course, the leader of NRK, Thor Gjermund Eriksen towers on top. He has an annual income of more than three million Nkr. The other directors in NRK earn 1.5 million Nkr. NRK is in fact in the lead regarding wages of the leaders in the business and from the license payers, NRK gets staggering six billion annually. NRK is hundred per cent state-run.
List showing other editors and wages in 2017
Braanen, Klassekampen 651.000 Nkr 40 million
Alf Gjøsund, Vårt Land 1.264.000 Nkr 39 million
Erik Hoff Lysholm, Dagsavisen 1.591.000 Nkr 35 Million
Sigvald Svein Bjørnsson, Bergensavisen 1.202.000 Nkr 27 Million
Nationen NOT GIVEN Nkr 22 Million
Christer Skoge, Dagen 1.847.000 Nkr 15 Million
Stig Jakobsen, iTROMSØ 1.079.000 Nkr 7 Million
Maj-Bente Juvik Vonheim, Fiskeribladet 1.553.000 Nkr 7 Million
Comparable wages
The Prime Minister: Nkr 1.631.000
Cabinet Minister: Nkr 1.325.000
Member of the Stortinget: Nkr 956.000
Nurse: Nkr 523.00 (after 10 years)
Receiver of minimum pension: maximum Nkr 187.000
Shameless
The only one of the editors mentioned above ho has behaved himself decently is Bjørgulf Braanen in Klassekampen. A wage of 650.000 Nkr for the leader of the newspaper is nothing to object to. The rest, however, get million wages, which is totally unnecessary. It is hardly an argument in favour of press subsidy that the editors should get such high wages. So-called «welfare profiteers» have had their strong pressure, but here we are talking about media profiteers.
As for the TV leader, it is nothing short of scandalous that he gets more than twice the wage of the Prime Minister. This is something that the government should address immediately through the Minister of
Culture Trine Skei Grande; she is the General Assembly of NRK.
Next year, Stortinget should, in Resett’s opinion, see to it that newspapers paying their editors higher wages than that of a member of the Stortinget, that is 965.000 Nkr annually automatically loses the possibility to receive government press subsidy. It is not the duty of the tax payers to fill the pockets of greedy editors at the expense of the community. The cofounder of Resett, the investor Øystein Stray Spetalen, has talked about «benefitting people» and it is exactly these millions of benefit to which Resett is critical.
Surely, it cannot be either right or just that million wages are paid from the community’s funds to editors who are incapable of making a product that people are willing to pay for?
Take on responsibility, Eriksen
Thor Gjermund Eriksen can make the first move himself. I 2008, the leader of the broadcasting, Hans Tore Bjerkaas, asked to reduce his wages from 2.3 to 1.9 million Nkr.
– It was no idealism, but a sober evaluation of what is right, Bjerkaas thence told Verdens Gang.
There is no reason for Eriksen not to follow suit. He can begin by proposing a cut in his own wages from 3 to 2 million Nkr, and then Skei Grande can bring him further down to match her own wages, which is 1.325.000 Nkr.
Even that is more than he deserves.
Translated to English by Lars Hoem