What Do You Earn Yourself, Sir Editor-in-Chief?
Newspapers have been all over DR, Denmark’s state-sponsored TV channel for the high salaries of their journalists and executives but Danish newspaper editors are remarkably reticent about their own salaries.
Here’s Reimer Bo, in flying form:
Here’s Bo Reimer’s brilliant speech:
Welcome to a new episode of:
“What do you earn yourself, Sir Editor-in-chief?”
I am here outside Politikens Hus, note that I am standing outside because there’s nobody inside this great powerhouse of a newspaper who will talk to me.
I invited Poul Madsen, editor-in-chief of Ekstra Bladet to do an interview with me; he has his office window right here. He didn’t want to, he said that he has said what he wants to say to Ekstra Bladet.
I offered Christian Jensen, editor-in-chief of Politiken, an opportunity to do an interview. He did not respond to my offer.
I invited Stig Ørsgård, the boss of them all, CEO of Jyllands Posten/Politiken to participate in an interview but he answered that no, he’d already just made a statement to Ekstra Bladet and the trade union paper Journalisten so “I have nothing more to add” .
That’s a real shame because we are talking broadsheet, a real pity because Stig Ørsted would be really great on TV. Another time, perhaps.
But let’s not whine. We’ll do what Ekstra Bladet does — if they shut the door in the face of one journalist, we just put one more on the job. That’s why I am absolutely delighted to announce that the editorial department has expanded. Lone Kühlmann has today joined “What do you earn yourself, Sir Editor-in-chief?”
Lone participated in an internet meeting this morning and I can assure you she is full of energy and she is sure to push her way in those places that I cannot.The house behind me receives 52 MDKK, about $8.4M, in direct media support, that’s money from you and from me. In addition, they have a stake in “Zero Value-Added Tax” where they can deduct VAT but don’t charge it to the newspaper price. For the entire Danish press, that adds up to 477MDKK, about $77M. We don’t know exactly how much of that goes to the newspaper house behind us, but if we estimate that they get about 150MDKK ($24M) in financial support from public funds, that yields a ball-park figure.
And now breaking news…
Paul Madsen made a statement today to Ekstra Bladet that he would give us a hint: his salary was at the same level as that of the prime minister of Denmark.
Since the prime minister earns 1.8MDKK ($290K) per year, this means that Paul Madsen earns a very paltry sum compared to other editor-in-chiefs in this country.
When this broadcast draws to a close, I promise you, we will hold a minute’s silence here in Copenhagen Town Hall Square in sympathy and support for Paul Madsen who apparently is paid significantly less than what simple provincial newspapers pay their editors-in-chief.
Now we know that you get the same salary when you are in charge of 5.8 million people having a revenue of a thousand billion kroner and when you are in charge of a newspaper whose subscriptions are nosediving. The only thing that is ticking over well at Ekstra Bladet is the massage-clinic section.Now let’s ask all the others,
“What do you earn yourself, Sir Editor-in-chief?”
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