– We have learned that it is not possible to be an influencer and an news contractor at the same time. We made a mistake when we entered into such an agreement, says broadcasting manager Vibeke Fürst Haugen. The Broadcasting Council has received over 4,600 complaints related to the collaboration with influencer Sofie Steen Isachsen, better known as Sophie Elise. Together with her friend Fetisha Williams, she ran the weekly podcast Sophie & Fetisha. On Thursday a week ago, the two influencers broke off their collaboration with news. Today, the Broadcasting Council is dealing with the matter of news’s collaboration with the well-known influencer. – We will accept the consequences of this and we will not enter into such an agreement again, says Fürst Haugen. END: Last week, Sophie Elise and Fetisha broke off their collaboration with news. Photo: Henriette Dæhli / news Role model debate Many of the complaints to news and the debate surrounding Isachsen have been about her being a bad role model for young girls. The broadcaster reiterates that there must be room for Isachsen’s voice, also in news. She also points out that the debate has been characterized by a clear gender dimension. – We do not require our male profiles to be role models. I feel that there is a gender dimension in this debate, says Fürst Haugen. Several council members raise the same issue, including Trude Drevland. It was she who first requested that the council deal with the matter. – I have listened to men’s podcasts on news, and they are not good at times, she says. – Stealth commercialization But even if most of the council members agree that the debate has been characterized by a gender dimension, several point out that the main problem is the untidiness around the commercial challenges of the collaboration. – The problem with ties to the commercial sector is becoming very problematic, says council member Jan Bøhler. The Broadcasting Council met today to deal with the matter of news’s collaboration with influencer Sophie Elise. Photo: Ida Yasin Andersen / news Deputy chairman of the council and media expert, Vilde Schanke Sundet, agrees. – This is about stealth commercialization. For many, it is about news as a last chance. It was supposed to be our free time and sanctuary where we could trust that there were no underlying commercial ties, she says. Sundet continues to criticize news’s handling of the case after the debate began. – This is also about news’s handling. The statements should have come sooner. That would take the sting out of many of the complaints in this discussion, she says. The Instagram post was not decisive for the breakup The debate surrounding the collaboration flared up after Isachsen posted a picture together with a friend holding a small bag with something white in it. Fürst Haugen nevertheless denies that it was the Instagram post that was decisive for the collaboration to be concluded. – It is not the first or last time someone connected to news makes a mistake. For many years, as a manager at news, I have had conversations with employees who have made a fool of themselves and regretted it. As an employer, we have a responsibility to correct, forgive and give a second chance, she says. – But we should have been clearer in the communication around the image, says Fürst Haugen and continues: – We could have said right away that we have zero tolerance for drugs. And it must be absolutely clear: news distances itself from all forms of drugs. – Demanding Christina Rezk Resar, acting editor at news Entertainment, explained that it has been challenging to navigate the case. – As a manager, it has been challenging, because for the first time we have had a person whose privacy we have to respect, while at the same time they make a living from sharing their privacy. I have never experienced that as a leader before. See the Broadcasting Council’s handling of the matter. Council member Stine Håheim also points out that there has been a gap between how the podcast was sold and what it actually ended up being. – We get the impression that this should be a community podcast, but that is not the impression we are left with now. At least that’s not what I’m left with. There probably lies some of the core of the criticism, she says. – news has double-communicated Council leader Snorre Valen is largely in agreement with this. – I do agree that news has double-communicated a bit. All profiles on news cannot be good role models, it would be terribly boring. But news has marketed them as big sisters. At the same time that we live in a time with strong pressure on young girls, says Valen to news Nyheter. Both Resar and Fürst Haugen admit that news has not succeeded in communicating which part of the social mission the podcast fulfilled. – We did not quite succeed in clearly communicating what we wanted with the content and what place it had in the public broadcaster’s mission. We have learned and will do better next time, says Resar. Sofie Steen Isachsen was associated with news through the podcast “Sophie og Fetisha”. Her client was news Entertainment. news Nyheter works journalistically independently with this case.
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