THE PRESS’S PROFESSIONAL COMMITTEE (PFU) STATES: In June 2023, news published a TV production of the “Oslo Grand Prix”, Norway’s largest trotting race. The program was created at Maverix Studios and financed by the Norwegian National Statistics Agency. Complainant: The gambling company Kindred Group believed that news violated several points in Chapter 2 of the Vær Varsom poster (VVP). news did not state that the program was produced by the communications company Maverix and financed by Norsk Rikstoto, the complainant stated. Nor did news state that the guests in the programme, Kjetil Jansrud and Märtha Louise, have commercial agreements with the Norwegian National Statistics Office. Complaints also responded that editorial staff in the broadcast work on a daily basis for Rikstoto’s TV channel, Rikstoto Direkte. It did not appear in the programme, on the contrary, they were presented in “news garb”, and it appeared as if news was behind the production, argued the complainant. news has allowed Norsk Rikstoto to have direct influence on the editorial work and product, Kindred Group believed. The media: news admitted that it should have emerged that the broadcast was produced by Maverix Studios on behalf of Norsk Rikstoto. It should also have come to light that Kjetil Jansrud and Märtha Louise have ties to the Norwegian National Assembly, news acknowledged. However, the broadcast was journalistically motivated and editorially assessed by news. According to the media house, it was not a sponsored programme. news has a long tradition of broadcasting the annual Oslo Grand Prix race, and it is part of news’s mission to cover Norwegian sports widely, emphasized the media house. Furthermore, news argued that the editorial staff are not employed by Norsk Rikstoto, but by Maverix Studios, which is also not a communications house, but a production company for editorial content. The agreement between Maverix and Norsk Rikstoto is to create editorial content in line with the Vær Varsom poster, news maintained. PFU’s assessment: The Press’ Professional Committee (PFU) points out that good advertising value in itself does not constitute a breach of good press practice. The decisive thing is that the media follow the Vær Varsom poster’s provisions on independence and integrity, and that the editorial is separated from the commercial. The PFU notes that the complained-of publication is a TV broadcast of a trotting race, with studio commentary, pre-produced reportage segments, and reporters doing interviews. The committee finds that the program appears to be editorial, and bases it on news’s information that the publication was editorially justified and assessed by news. Financing should have been disclosed if the PFU further notes that the broadcast was financed by Norsk Rikstoto, which sells gambling on horses, including the relevant trotting race. It is the production company Maverix Studios, which is behind the production, commissioned by Norsk Rikstoto. In principle, there is nothing in the way of a commercial actor financing a sports broadcast, but if this is done, it must be obvious to the public, cf. VVP 2.8. In this case, the program appeared as an news production, with the news logo on the laptop in the studio and on the reporters’ microphones, and the committee finds it objectionable that it was not stated anywhere that the broadcast was financed by an external commercial actor. The committee also points out that direct expenses for journalistic activity should only exceptionally be paid by others than the editors themselves, and that this should then be clearly disclosed. On the other hand, based on what has been submitted, PFU can see no basis for Norsk Rikstoto having had influence on the editorial content of the broadcast, which would have been a further press ethics problem against VVP 2.8. PFU assumes that Maverix Studios and news have made their own editorial assessments in the production. Independence of journalists PFU notes that several editorial staff in the broadcast are employed by Maverix Studios, where they work on a daily basis to produce content for Rikstoto Direkte, which is the Norwegian Rikstoto’s TV channel. Two of the employees appear in front of the camera as presenter and journalist in the complained of broadcast, roles they also have at Rikstoto Direkte. In the complained of broadcast, the two journalists appear as news employees. When the same journalists also appear on Rikstoto’s TV channel, it may appear that they are associated with a commercial gambling operator to the public who have seen them there. On the other hand, PFU has no reason to doubt what news states: that Maverix has an agreement to produce editorial content for Rikstoto Direkte according to press ethical principles. PFU emphasizes that editorial staff “must protect their independence, integrity and credibility”, and avoid “dual roles, positions, assignments or ties that could create conflicts of interest or lead to speculation about incompetence”, cf. VVP 2.2. PFU questions whether the employees’ production for Rikstoto Direkte could be a double role that weakens their integrity and credibility in violation of VVP 2.2. Even if the editors have done an independent job, it can be ethically problematic if there are dual roles that weaken credibility with the public. At the same time, PFU assumes that the reports do not have a formal connection to the Norwegian Rikstoto, even though the production of Rikstoto Direkte is financed by the Norwegian Rikstoto. Under strong doubt, the PFU therefore states that they have not acted in a dual role that is in breach of VVP 2.2. The guests’ ties The PFU further notes that two of the guests in the program have commercial agreements with the Norwegian Rikstoto: Märtha Louise and Kjetil Jansrud. PFU emphasizes that the media must be able to use sources that have ties without necessarily breaching good press etiquette. However, it is good press practice to show “transparency about underlying circumstances that may be relevant to the public’s perception of the journalistic content”, cf. VVP 2.3. The committee concludes that it was relevant for the public to know about the sources’ commercial ties to the Norsk Rikstoto, when the sources commented on the horse race and talked about their commitment to the sport of trotting. The PFU notes that Jansrud himself, in a short accompanying sentence, mentioned that he has “collaboration with the Norwegian National Security Agency”, but the committee finds that it was not sufficiently informative. news has broken good press practice on 2.3 and 2.8 of the Vær Varsom poster. Oslo, 29 November 2023 Anne Weider Aasen, Eivind Ljøstad, Nina Fjeldheim, Gunnar Kagge, Ingrid Rosendorf Joys, Øyvind Kvalnes, Ellen Ophaug
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news broke good press practice in trot broadcasting – news Norway – Overview of news from different parts of the country
