– I would like to see the journalist who has not been guilty of a similar mistake, says Pål Berby. He has several years’ experience as a city council representative for Raudt in Porsgrunn. Locally, Berby is perhaps best known as a pub owner and longtime leader of the local rock club. Now he sings out against the media coverage of the sunglasses theft committed by his own party leader. – The witch hunt that the media is conducting against Bjørnar now is far more serious than stealing a pair of sunglasses for NOK 1,200, says Pål Berby. For private reasons, he was prevented from participating in the national board meeting on Monday, where the members were informed about the Raudt leader’s sick leave. – Bjørnar can be a little distracted. Berby has nevertheless been updated by party colleagues and does not hide the fact that he thinks Moxnes has acted clumsily. – What Bjørnar has done is naturally very stupid. Both the theft itself and the way he explained it afterwards. As he knows Bjørnar, he can be a bit distraught, without it being meant as a defense for what he did. – He could quite clearly clean up this case in another way, but that does not take away the responsibility the media has to treat people in an orderly way, says Berby. He emphasizes that he has full confidence in Bjørnar Moxnes as party leader, even after the sunglasses affair. – Let me put it this way; I have 110 percent confidence in Bjørnar as party leader and believe that he must continue as leader of Raudt. Ethics editor Per Arne Kalbak at news does not agree with Berby that the coverage of the case is worse than stealing a pair of sunglasses. SERIOUS: What makes this more serious is that it is a party leader who is guilty of the theft and that he has changed his explanation several times, says ethics editor at news, Per Arne Kalbak. Photo: Håkon Mosvold Larsen – I can agree that the theft itself is not a big deal. What makes this more serious is that it is a party leader who is guilty of the theft and that he has changed his explanation several times, says Kalbak. – Vouching for the coverage He understands that Berby and others may think that the media coverage of the case seems unfair, but the ethics editor believes that one must be able to set strict requirements for a politician’s conduct. – Did news choose to prioritize a large coverage of this case because they knew people would be preoccupied with it? – No, we chose to go for broad coverage before we knew how much involvement there would be in the matter. – We stand behind the coverage, but I can agree that the coverage has been both massive and intense, says Per Arne Kalbak. Secretary General of the Norwegian Press Association, Elin Floberghagen, has also encouraged the media to “think about it”. – The combined pressure from editor-controlled media and social media is great, she says to Medier24. However, Floberghagen does not particularly react to the media choosing to publish the video. She points out that Moxnes himself has wanted openness in the case.
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Raudt-topp blames the media for the witch hunt at Moxnes – news Vestfold and Telemark – Local news, TV and radio
