TV 2 was named “Media House of the Year” on Wednesday at the Nordic Media Days in Bergen.

But the problem with the festive scenes in Grieghallen is that this is an internal process controlled by the industry itself.

It is the Norwegian Media Businesses’ Association (MBL) that stands behind the awards, and the prizes function as Media Norway’s own internal examination, where colleagues assess and lavish praise on each other’s work.

To make the whole thing even more absurd, if one wishes to be considered in the most prestigious category, one must personally submit a comprehensive application of up to ten pages. In these documents, the companies must explain in detail everything from journalistic breakthroughs to technical innovation and financial results.

This is therefore not a random award based on public taste, but a methodical assessment of how the media house itself feels it has fulfilled its social mission and secured its finances.

The jury consists of selected professionals from the media industry, which means that in practice it is editors and executives handing out prizes to themselves. In its justification for awarding the prize to TV 2, the jury highlighted the channel’s ability to function as a “modern campfire” for the Norwegian people. They pointed out that the channel had succeeded in combining broad entertainment with heavy and agenda-setting journalism that shifts power.

We recently received an example of just how “heavy” TV 2’s journalism is, when they got an adviser from the Progress Party (FrP) drunk and induced him to say what they wanted him to say.

A title such as “Media House of the Year” is of course actively used in marketing towards advertisers. It will hardly come as a surprise to anyone that neither the public nor external critics have any insight into the jury’s work itself. It remains – almost naturally – a closed process within the MBL system.

TV 2 was therefore the media company that walked away with the most prestigious awards this year. Other major winners included VG, which took home the prize for “Revelation of the Year”, and Aftenposten’s Per Kristian Aale, who received “The Great Journalism Prize” for his coverage of the war in Ukraine and the situation in Russia.

So the major media actors in Norway can once again beat their chests and tell everyone in Norway that they are the best at everything.

But the truth is that in terms of engagement on Facebook, Document was number 2, only narrowly beaten by VG, and far ahead of actors such as NRK and not least TV 2.

Document is therefore outperforming the “Media House of the Year” on social media. One wonders whether that is good news for you at TV 2?