(THIS ARTICLE IS MACHINE TRANSLATED by Google from Norwegian)
It started exactly ten years ago, in Ny Tid number 31, 1991. Editor Gunnar Ringheim opened his first relaunched edition with color pages, several pages and many new columnists, including Dag Seierstad about the EU – or EF, as it was called at the time.
The split came about because both Ringheim and Seierstad saw the need for good old-fashioned public information about this union that offered us a B-membership with the cover name of the EEA. So Seierstad was just as happy for the first time with four pages under the title "Who loses the most to EF", next to a picture from Akersgata in Oslo. Four color pages, well and brand. Ringheim's optimistic budget could not hold. Tightening scared away both the color pages and most columnists. Besides one: Dag Seierstad. For periods he has almost written free of charge for the newspaper, and the texts have always been punctual. Rumor has it that he has readers out there who cut out his slits and neatly bring them into the binders.
- Well, it was perhaps most of this before the EU referendum in 1994, and then I think it was mostly people who needed the information in various campaign contexts, says Dag Seierstad, who for the occasion has hidden away in the youth in No to the EU premises in the old Labor community.
- They get up so late anyway.
From the EU to the world
Physicist-educated Dag Seierstad currently sits on the central board of SV, is an investigator in No to the EU, and in addition to his job at Ny Tid, has had a number of engagements in other organizations. He helped start Attac in Norway, and today does his fragile part of the work in Network against market power. Dag Seierstad can not get up late. Perhaps that is one of the reasons why he has been out so early with topics concerning Norway's political future. In 1998, Seierstad split his column in two. One still goes by the name EU-current, the other was dubbed Counterforces. This was a good while before the world institutions were met by committed young people in Seattle.
- From 1986 to 1996, we moved in a political vacuum that only became heavier and heavier to breathe in. In 1998, I felt that something was going on, without being able to fully put it into words, and thus chose to expand the substance area from the EU. to more general global themes. The distinction also gradually became artificial. But in the same way as with the EU column, I was keen to point to examples that it is actually useful to work actively against the negative aspects of the free market. What has happened since then politically, also in Norway, is a small revolution, says Seierstad.
- In Norway, we did not manage to discuss Attac without withdrawing from the EU. Are there opportunities for political revolt in Norway outside the EU case? Some historians have said that the '68 uprising first came to Norway in 1972, during the first union referendum.
- I think that's wrong. 1968 was the content, 1972 was the form. 1968 had more to say for women's liberation than 1972, so to speak. The same I think is the case today. The EU discussion about the founding of Attac in Norway is becoming somewhat Norwegian, and does not shake the fact that the WTO, the World Bank, the IMF, and so on, today can not arrange a single meeting without hundreds of thousands of committed people showing their protest, either by attending or by using the web. If the World Bank issues a press release, it will not be many hours before the alternative public has intercepted it, given its comments and shown how dissatisfied they are – if it is in place. Not many years ago, one had to write an article or a book, which it may have taken several years before like-minded support in other countries. Yes, it is a small revolution, says Dag Seierstad.
Campaign Journalism?
In the next issue of Ny Tid, ie ten years ago, Dag Seierstad is in place as we have known him throughout the 1990s; one page, logo with image of the author and title of the column. At the time, Seierstad's weekly information project was called EF Background.
On the whole, there is something very old-fashioned about Seierstad and his journalism. Not only is it very unusual for an organization person like Seierstad, with so many balls of interest in the air, to have their own gap, but just as unusual is the content that is a mixture of campaign and information.
- Before 1994, it was clear that the column went into a major campaign to keep Norway out of the EU, but that was not hidden either. There is still no reason to hide my attitude towards the EU, but as the fight against globalization is far more confusing, it is possible that the gap today is perceived as more ambiguous. In any case, the most important thing for me has been to be accountable, that what I write is true. In a newspaper like Ny Tid, journalism is not without attitudes.
- But why did you not give up in 1994?
- Since we got the EEA agreement, you can almost say that the gap has been more important after the vote. The EU discussion was about principled aspects of the union, while the EEA is continuous decisions that have consequences for our everyday lives. They are constantly changing. You have to remember that when I started writing the column ten years ago, the level of knowledge about the EU in this country was very low, and there were almost no other newspapers that touched the subject. The same can be said about globalization. It is only recently that major newspapers have sporadically visited the drug, and then usually in connection with riots or other riots. At least that's the feedback I get from readers; the need for proper and regular information is great.
- Why do you not just go on to name the whole column Counterforces, since you yourself suggest that the distinction has become something artificial?
- I look at it all quite practically. You get to decide, says Seierstad.
And if Ny Tid decides, Dag Seierstad will probably remain in our columns as long as the newspaper keeps its head above water. Dag Seierstad is an institution many of Ny Tid's readers cannot live without. The substance areas covered by Dag Seierstad cannot be found elsewhere. Well, besides in the four books he has published, much of the material is taken from the columns in Ny Tid. The last book came in 1994 and was called "Across the EU". For ten years, Dag Seierstad has moved across the EU. In 1998, he felt the need to expand the combat zone, and today it can be said that he moves just as much across globalization.
- So… how long do you last?
- At the moment I think it is very fun, the fighting spirit is greater than in a long time. We have passed a watershed, and I would like to continue to help counteract the powerlessness. But I do not plan far into the future. I take one number at a time.
- Fortunately, we have a contract, so readers do not have to be surprised by a blank page…
- No we have not. But maybe it's time to make one?
