The Correspondent’s New Clothes

I found this commentary by journalist Samuel Rachlin a Danish Jew of Russian descent. Samuel Rachlin, Danish journalism's anchor of classical virtues, cuts to pieces the scandalous biased program on Denmark, aired by 60 Minutes anchor: Bob Simon, “The State of Denmark”.

Samuel Rachlin is a Danish TV Correspondent and writer based in Washington DC. He is a graduate of Copenhagen University and the Graduate School of Journalism at Columbia University and Nieman Fellow at Harvard University. He has worked as a Moscow Bureau Chief and Washington Bureau Chief for DR1 and TV2 - the two national networks in Denmark. He joined the World Bank in 1995 as a media advisor.

The Correspondent’s New Clothes

By Samuel Rachlin

WASHINGTON The picture of Denmark presented by CBS and its 60 Minutes magazine on American TV as a country of aggrandizing, arrogant bigots, blond models and happy-go-lucky fools out of tune and touch with the real world has nothing in common with the country I call home. Moreover, it is home for immigrants from all over the world of all faiths and cultures who have found happiness and a safe haven for themselves and their families taking full advantage of what Denmark has to offer. They are doing much better than one would think after having watched Bob Simon’s story The State of Denmark on 60 Minutes.

This kind of journalism does not have much in common with the tradition of Ed R. Murrow or what his associate, Fred Friendly, taught me at the Graduate School of Journalism at Columbia University when I took my degree there in the late 70ies. The snide asides and sarcasm that permeated the narrative do not mix with the high quality journalism I have learned to expect from 60 Minutes. What we got was a presentation so biased, distorted and corrupted by so many inaccuracies and innuendos that it was impossible to recognize Denmark. I am sorry to say it, but it is shameful for the profession that both Bob Simon and I belong to.

Contrary to what we were told, Jyllandsposten, the Danish paper that published the cartoons, has actually printed cartoons of Jesus Christ too, and yes, they have also rejected some. Contrary to what was said, Danish Muslims have graveyards all over the country. They have been offered a plot for a cemetery, but have not been able to agree among themselves or to raise the funds to operate it.

Contrary to Simon’s story, there are many mosques, but the 19 Muslim communities in the country have not been able to agree on building a new mosque or raise the necessary capital. Many in these communities operate their own schools with 75 percent of their budgets covered by public funds.

Both national and international polls, as documented in a 1999 survey by the European Values Study of 31 European countries, show that Danes have some of the least xenophobic attitudes among European countries. A poll by the analysis bureau, Catinét Research, showed that more than 66 percent of immigrants feel well integrated into the Danish society. More immigrants than ever are seeking entry to Denmark.

Like the U.S. and all other countries in Europe, we have had our share of problems with minorities and integration. No surprises here, but we are learning and accommodating and understand that it takes time. We are looking at what others have done and are trying to avoid their mistakes. We know, too, that Mr. Simon’s own country has had its own share of problems with immigration and integration. We witnessed with sadness how the legacy of these problems spilled over in the wake of Katrina. But no Danish journalist I know walked around in New Orleans pointing fingers or taunting Americans for what they had wrought.

The editor of Politiken, Toger Seidenfaden, who was presented by Bob Simon as a defender of Jyllandsposten has, in fact, been one of the fiercest critics of the paper, a competing paper. Seidenfaden is an adamant campaigner against the government. He is now being charged with having launched a vendetta against the government, and his paper has lately been busy with publishing numerous corrections of major errors in its coverage of the cartoon scandal. In the TV story, he gets away with saying “They (Jyllandsposten) explained on their front page that they were doing this, and I quote, “To teach religious Muslims in Denmark that in our society, they must accept to be scorned, mocked and ridiculed.” He is committing one of journalism’s worst sins, misquoting a source.

This is what Jyllandsposten wrote on its front page: “The modern, secular society is being rejected by some Muslims. They demand an exceptional position when they insist on special consideration for their religious feelings. This is incompatible with a secular democracy and freedom of expression where one must be ready to take scorn, mockery and ridicule.” One may agree or disagrees with that view, but it definitely is not what Seidenfaden said.

Viewers were told that Flemming Rose, the editor who published the cartoons and spent some time in the US when Simon was in Copenhagen, was staying at a five star hotel in DC. My goodness, what difference does it make if he stayed in Econo Lodge or in a private home? Such a cheap shot is worthy of the supermarket tabloids.

From speaking to colleagues at Jyllandsposten, I understand that the message from the 60 Minutes producers was that they should line up for the interviews or else… The tone and attitude were intimidating. This is 60 Minutes and we are not accustomed to be turned down. Well, we saw what “or else” means in Bob Simon’s school of journalism. It means pay back time in primetime and dressing down not only the editors but the entire country with its blurry “lines between fantasy and reality”

Too bad that Bob Simon’s own view of reality was so blurry that he lost sight not only of the freedom of speech at the core of this entire problem, but also of what Denmark is about. He set out with a preconceived view to tell a story about the weak and the strong, the good and the bad and he painted a picture of a divided society with fearful, victimized immigrants among paranoid Danes in fairy tale land.

Despite the references to H.C. Andersen, the correspondent seems to have missed the point of The Emperor’s New Clothes, one of my favourite stories. It reflects something crucial about Danes and their mentality: we don’t care much about “The Authority” and speak our mind when we are faced with dogma, fakery or doctrinaire thinking whether we deal with royalty, governments or some other hierarchies.

We have this disrespectful streak which sometimes gets us into trouble. But quite frankly, we don’t give a damn and, like the little boy in the fairy tale, we will tell anyone that they are naked, if that’s what they are. We don’t care if it is an emperor, an editor - or a correspondent.