This is how the clear message from the festival management hits the local newspaper. The background is that the music festival believes Drammens Tidende (DT) is deprioritizing culture – especially Eiker Rock. This is even though the festival is one of Norway’s longest-running. Organizer of Eiker Rock, Tor Erik Fredheim, provides additional grounds. – The general manner and angle DT has towards cultural life is a sign that they do not know what kind of responsibility they have. Fredheim says they are using the anniversary to mark this position in the hope of getting a wider debate about what role the local newspapers should have. Do you think the local newspapers do a good enough job in covering cultural events? God’s wonder! – write the newspapers about culture?! Yes, I think the newspapers smoke this work brilliantly. No, and I think that is uncultured in journalism. Culture is being de-prioritised. Show result – Haven’t written a single word about us! “For us and other similar actors, the answer from Drammens Tidende has consistently been that advance review is out of the question – it is seen as advertising, and then we have to buy ads. I see the point. But it stops for us when Drammens Tidende shows up at the same events, mostly to produce “see who was at” articles, because it generates clicks. And that costs Drammens Tidende money!”, write the festival management in this post where they go at the local newspaper’s throat. – Fredheim, don’t they make this worse by excluding DT completely? – We discussed any consequences, but for us it doesn’t mean much. If you search for “Eiker Rock” on DT’s website, you will get zero hits. They haven’t written a single word about us anyway! replies the festival manager. Daily tenant in Eiker Rock, Tor Erik Fredheim, does not want Drammens Tidende at his festival. The boycott is explained by “Drammens Tidende not taking responsibility”. Photo: Eiker Rock Meiner it’s a PR stunt Espen Sandli is responsible editor at Drammens Tidende. He reacts like this: – I think the whole scene is comical. To the criticism that DT is deprioritizing cultural coverage, he replies that the newspaper’s general cultural coverage has been significantly better and is read by “quite a lot” after they had a clean-up in terms of what hits the readers. – Otherwise, I see this mostly as a PR stunt. news picks up the gauntlet, and then they have succeeded. Espen Sandli is editor in charge of Drammens Tidende. He thinks the festival management is acting comically and calls it a PR stunt. Photo: Azad Razaei / news Sandli believes that if Eiker Rock had wanted a proper debate, they would have contacted DT and said what is not working. – What they wanted is to have advance notice so that they sell tickets. Quite old-fashioned, and it won’t be read. It is not our job to be a marketing agency for Eiker Rock, the editor points out. I think the festival needs to be updated – Fredheim, is this a PR stunt? – No, it is not. And to answer, I have been in dialogue with them about matters. This year the festival will be headlined by CC Cowboys. We are launching Eiker Rock YOUNG with young, local musicians, but were told that “this is not interesting”. Dirty Deeds from Mjøndalen is an AC/DC tribute band that has often played on home soil. Photo: Eiker Rock Sandli nevertheless admits that they should have produced good journalism at Eiker Rock, but add that none of them are fired with the fact that things are being prepared that are not read. – Eiker Rock needs an approach that is slightly up-to-date on how they reach us, reads the advice to Sandli, who adds: – When it comes to how we solve the journalistic task, I think I’m quite good at finding the best the angles to get the cases well read. Because cultural matters are read, he asserts. Music, lager and boycott – They have the wrong approach. Do you buy it? – It could very well happen that one of us should have gone out and talked about the bad times in a pub on a Saturday night to get our face in the newspaper… the festival director answers with a little sting. He adds that with this year’s focus on young bands and musicians from the local community, he hoped it would have been interesting for the largest local newspaper in the region to cover the festival. – But we were met with an attitude that there is nothing to write home about. Then I was a bit nervous. This year, approximately 130 musicians, divided into 24 bands and artists, will be on stage, write the festival, which opens next weekend. New this year is Eiker Rock YOUNG, a focus on young, local artists. Photo: Eiker Rock Both parties nevertheless agree that the dialogue between them could be better and more constructive. So, reconciliation, handshakes and peace pipes? Will it be a bit like Gorbachev and Reagan in Reykjavík in 1986? Finally, we ask the man with the soothing and sane name: – Fredheim. Is DT still undesirable? – Sandli is welcome to come and listen to good music and have a beer. But it is actually the case that if a journalist from Drammens Tidende comes, then there is a stop at the door. Eiker Rock starts on Friday 2 June – of course without the local newspaper present.
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Eiker Rock turns 30 years old
