Oskar Westerlin (24) is known as one of the country’s biggest Norwegian profiles on TikTok and from VGTV productions such as “Spårtsklubben” and “Oskar og Jølle”. He creates the podcast “The Office with Oskar Westerlin” together with his partner Snorre Klanderud (27), and it is this podcast that was published by VG by mistake. In one of the episodes, the VGTV profile is on the nachspiel on the Kiel ferry together with an employee of the Staten pensionskasse who was at a seminar as a trustee. He is clearly under the influence of alcohol, and he gets several beers in his hands. The recording was also filmed and posted on YouTube. “Kontoret is not a VGTV podcast, but a podcast Oskar Westerlin runs himself”, wrote VGTV director Thomas Manus Hønningstad in an e-mail to director of communications at the State Pension Fund, Jeanette Christensen. She contacted VG when they discovered the podcast episode with their employee. news has been given access to the entire correspondence between VG and the State Pension Fund, which shows how VG initially rejects responsibility, so that the editor-in-chief comes in and apologizes. “Does not have editorial responsibility” Christensen replies that it is “not easy to see that Kontoret is not a VGTV podcast” and that “the episode I am referring to is also on VG’s website.” For almost a month, the episode was published on vg.no in an overview together with VG’s own podcasts. It was in this overview of podcasts from VG that the podcast “The Office with Oskar Westerlin” was also included for a period. (Screenshot taken 16.11.22) Photo: Screenshot from VG The VGTV director was not aware of this: “It must probably be a mistake. The podcast is not part of VG’s or VGTV’s podcast portfolio, nor do we have editorial responsibility for it.” The communications director of the Norwegian Pension Fund reacts to this response and replies in a new e-mail that the podcast “spreads factual errors which MUST be corrected immediately”. There are several things she reacts to: Among other things, that the interviewee is not media-savvy, that he is exposed in a podcast of over three hours, is visibly under the influence of alcohol and that he embarrasses both himself and the State Pension Fund. In addition, Westerlin is said to have said in a subsequent podcast episode that they picked up their employee “at 2 in the morning at Kielferga, and that he was a piece of shit”. It must also have been presented that he was “head of the State Pension Fund”. According to the communications director, he has no managerial responsibilities. She also reacts to the fact that the VGTV director believes that VG does not have editorial responsibility for the mispublished podcast, and that it is Westerlin who must answer her questions. In the next e-mail, VGTV director Thomas Manus Hønningstad repeated this: “It is neither produced by us, bought in by us nor to be published on VG, but published by Oskar Westerlin himself”. Hønningstad also explains that the podcast was incorrectly published due to a technical error in the Schibsted system. It happened when they were going to test whether they could sell ads in Westerlin’s podcast. He further points out that the content of this episode would not have been in line with VG’s ethical guidelines. In the correspondence, he apologizes for the technical error, but writes: “Since we do not have the editorship, it is Oskar Westerlin who must answer for it”. news has tried to arrange an interview with Westerlin, but he has only wanted to answer news’s questions by e-mail. He writes that in retrospect he sees that this episode was “a bit much”. Read his answer further down in the case. Westerlin’s podcast was removed from VG’s website less than an hour after the State Pension Fund made them aware that it was there. “I had expected an apology” Christensen in the State Pension Fund wrote in one of the e-mails to VG that they appreciated that they corrected the error and removed the podcast. “But we also have to say that we had expected an apology from VG – both in front of us [namnet på han som blei intervjua] and us.” “We believe that you have an editorial responsibility, even if you have made a technical error”, she writes further. Director of Communications at the State Pension Fund, Jeanette Christensen, contacted VG when they noticed that the podcast was being promoted on vg.no. Photo: Statens pensjonskasse This email also goes to VG’s editor-in-chief, Gard Steiro. He calls Christensen and apologizes. Christensen thanks for this in an e-mail afterwards: “We are very grateful for how you quickly helped to clear up a case we found to be very unpleasant.” news has been in contact with Steiro, but he refers further to the editor at VGTV, Rolf Sønstelie. – This episode, which was not a VGTV production, was not in accordance with our ethical guidelines at all, says Sønstelie to news. Rolf Sønstelie is an editor at VGTV. Photo: Naina Helén Jåma / VG Contrary to what the VGTV director wrote in the e-mail correspondence, VGTV editor Sønstelie confirms that they are responsible for everything they publish: – Whether there has been an error or not, we have editorial responsibility for everything which is published on VG, he says. news has also asked director Thomas Manus Hønningstad in VGTV about what happened when he was made aware that the podcast was out. – Then and there I did not think that an accidental listing on a podcast overview on VG could trigger editorial responsibility. I was rather busy explaining that this was Westerlin’s podcast and not a VGTV podcast and that the inquiry about content should therefore go there, says Hønningstad and adds: – I was probably a little too quick to answer, but luckily it was quickly cleaned up. Thought it was a VGTV production The fact that VG published the podcast is not the only thing that made the State Pension Fund believe that this was a VG-run podcast. According to Christensen in the State Pension Fund, the employees who were present during the recording must also have had the impression that the podcast episode was made under the auspices of VGTV. VGTV has followed Westerlin with its own employee who filmed for the VGTV program “Oskar og Jølle”. In this programme, VGTV followed Westerlin as “flying on the wall” in several of his productions outside of VGTV. However, the content that was filmed for VGTV on the Kiel ferry was not relevant for them to use for the series. – It was never relevant. It was so out of the question that it was never even brought up to my table, says editor Sønstelie. Westerlin has been asked whether he told the interviewee who took part in the podcast that they were there for VGTV or VG. – We were there to create content for our own channels, he replies to this. In spite of this, fellow podcaster Snorre Klanderud says in the podcast episode that is published after the episode on the Kiel ferry that: – We said that we are with VGTV and that VGTV was allowed to film, so we went around pretending to be VGTV. In episode after episode on the Kiel ferry, Erik Follestad is a guest. After this clip, they should have talked about the incident with the employee in the State Pension Fund, but this has now been removed. VG has ended the follow-up series VGTV editor Sønstelie says that they have learned from the incident, and that in retrospect they see that it could become unclear for external participants in the podcast “The Office with Oskar Westerlin” what is under the auspices of Oskar Westerlin and what is under the auspices of VGTV. As a result of the incident on the Kiel ferry, they have therefore chosen to end the companion series “Oskar og Jølle”. – If we are to do something again with a similar environment, we must be sure that the premises are very, very clear, he explains. Secretary General of the Norwegian Press Association, Elin Floberghagen, says that it is a principle of press ethics that the premises must be clear in all contact with sources and interviewees. – One must show the necessary care towards those who are the subject of media coverage, she says. Rolf Sønstelie says that they never interfere in what VGTV profiles do when producing their own content that is not connected to VGTV. But as they were drawn into this case, an exception was made this time. – We gave very clear advice to Oskar Westerlin that everything (from the episode on the Kiel ferry) was removed from his channels, which was also what the State Pension Fund wanted, Sønstelie explains. The episode and all clips connected to it have now been deleted from all Westerlin’s platforms. Jeanette Christensen in the State Pension Fund tells news that they are satisfied with how the situation was finally resolved: – Now that the content has been deleted, we will put the matter behind us. The picture is from when Oskar Westerlin was at a podcast brunch with Else Kåss Furuseth. Photo: Elliot Houwing-Endresen Oskar Westerlin wrote in response to news that they only wanted to create funny content for the channels and for their followers. – But occasionally we listen to older and wiser people and chose to unpublish. When asked what judgment was taken regarding the publication of an interview with a person who was under the influence of alcohol, Westerlin replies: – We spoke to him the next day and heard what he thought about yesterday, before we published anything. He thought it had been fat, and would like to participate in more. news has asked Westerlin why he does not want to meet or be interviewed over the phone, when he himself interviews people on audio and video. To this he replies: “I prefer to do interviews in writing so I have control over what you journalists ask :)”. news has presented Westerlin’s comments to the State Pension Fund employee who guested on the episode. He has sent a reply through communications director Christensen: – I have no comment on this. This is something I want to put behind me. Expert: Can damage credibility Associate professor in reporting journalism at Nord University, Karianne Sørgård Olsen, thinks the case sheds light on a fundamental and exciting issue. She believes this incident shows how the boundaries between what is journalism and what is other types of content can become unclear. – For the public, it becomes more difficult to see the dividing lines, and in its extreme consequence, such unclear dividing lines and gray areas can damage the credibility of journalism, she replies to news. She mentions that the fact that media houses must now do “everything”, including producing entertainment, is one of the reasons for this challenge. – There have already been some debates about Sophie Elise as a profile in news, and I predict that we will have even more similar debates.
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VG mispublished celebrity podcasts with “nonsense” publicly added
