Photo: PFU news wrote in January 2023 that a vicar should have asked the bishop in Møre “for a financial parachute” to quit. It was quoted from the bishop’s reply letter to the priest. Reference was also made to the online publication in a short news report in Dagsrevyen and Distriktnyheten Møre og Romsdal. Complainant: The vicar found news’s coverage offensive, and thought it was a personnel matter that had nothing to do with the public. As the complainant sees it, news did not have a good enough insight into the case because the letter referred to was part of a larger case complex. The complainant stated that he had contacted news about errors, but that these were not corrected. The complainant thought there was no cover for writing that he was “now asking for money to quit”. He also reacted to the term “parachute”, and to being referred to as “opponents of women priests”, and stated that news falsely portrayed it as if he had deliberately applied to a congregation with several female priests. One reason why he applied to Giske was, on the contrary, that there was only one other priest there, a man. Incidentally, the complainant questioned the journalist’s competence, as she will have a voluntary service in a congregation in the area. The media: news believed the case was of public interest, and rejected that it dealt with private matters. The letter was not exempt from public disclosure, and it emerged that it was part of a longer correspondence, news stated. Furthermore, news stated that it had submitted a clarification after publication, in order to deal with complaints. However, news found it difficult to get an answer to which specific errors the complaints wanted corrected. The editors only realized on receipt of the PFU complaint that it was wrong that the complainant had applied to a place with female priests. The error was corrected as soon as news became aware of it. news apologized that the error was not caught earlier, but pointed out that the complainant did not bring it up when news asked him several times about specific errors. Furthermore, news stated that the journalist’s occasional and voluntary tasks in another congregation do not involve any position that gives rise to problematic ties. PFU’s assessment: The Press Professional Committee (PFU) notes that the journalist in this case does not hold any office or role that would indicate that she could not cover the case, or that news should have informed about, cf. points 2.2 and 2.3 of the Vær Varsom poster ( VVP). On a general basis, the committee nevertheless reminds that editors and journalists must always be aware of their own role, and what they can participate and get involved in, without compromising the integrity and credibility of journalism. Not a private matter PFU can understand that the complainant dislikes the spotlight on the situation he is in, but points out that it is not unusual for the media to refer to severance packages and other conditions in working life. The committee also cannot see that news has mentioned private matters, and believes that complainants must accept public interest in the position and matters connected to it. Mistakes must be corrected The media must strive for a correct presentation, cf. VVP 3.2, but sometimes mistakes happen. Not all errors are equally serious, but errors must be corrected. In this case, PFU notes that news published an error that the complainant had applied to a congregation with several female priests. The committee understands that the complainant is reacting to this error, given the critical context in which it was included. The PFU further records that there was contact between the parties after publication, but that there must have been some challenges in communication related to what concretely needed to be corrected. PFU notes that the complainant pointed out the error in an SMS to the journalist a few days after publication, while news only corrected the error after the PFU complaint had been received. The committee believes that the correction does not sufficiently compensate for the original overstepping. Opinion without reservation The committee also notes that the complainant believes that news has used a title for which there is no coverage, cf. VVP 4.4. With regard to the characteristic “opponents of women priests”, the PFU believes that the complainant must accept this given his theological position. Furthermore, news must also be able to describe a termination package as a “parachute”. The question is, however, whether news has coverage for the fact that there are complaints asking for money to quit. news’s angle and title are sharp and ascertaining. At the same time, PFU notices that news does not have the full picture of the case; news has quoted from the bishop’s response letter to complaints, but has not had access to all correspondence. As PFU has pointed out previously, it is important to take the necessary precautions when the matter is not sufficiently disclosed. Another point that speaks for reservations is that neither the complainant nor the bishop has wished to comment on the matter, and thus has not contributed with any corrections either. As the committee sees it, it is possible to interpret the quoted extract from the bishop’s reply letter as meaning that the complainant has asked for financial compensation. At the same time, PFU cannot see that this has been documented, and news should therefore take reservations in its presentation. The PFU agrees that news behaved in a reprehensible way on VVP 3.2, about source criticism and information control. news has broken good press etiquette in point 3.2 of the Be Careful poster. Oslo, 26 April 2023 Anne Weider Aasen, Eivind Ljøstad, Nina Hernæs, Ingrid Rosendorf Joy’s Dissent: Although PFU’s minority believes that news could have made more reservations, after an overall assessment it comes to the conclusion that news has sufficient coverage for what was published. In this context, the minority also places some emphasis on the fact that the complainant has not himself contributed to informing the case. Gunnar Kagge, Jonas Stein, Nina Fjeldheim
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