The comment sections of Dagbladet and VG are overflowing with joy and schadenfreude after Graham’s death, where several wish the same for Trump.

At the same time, editor-in-chief Gunnar Stavrum demands that the threats against Alexander Sørloth be investigated and punished. They should be.

But why is it acceptable to wish death upon American politicians, but not upon Norwegian football players?

Dagbladet does not answer

Several Norwegian media outlets published articles about Senator Lindsey Graham’s passing on Facebook.

Most of the comments are filled with jubilation and joy over the senator’s unexpected death.
Some even express wishes that the same should happen to President Donald Trump.
I have only checked Dagbladet and VG, and we shall look more closely at some of them below.

It is only a week since I contacted Dagbladet with questions about the comment section that was filled with wishes for fatwa and death upon Trump. They have still not answered me.

Ønsketenkning om død og fatwa mot Trump i Dagbladets kommentarfelt

I will also contact Norwegian tabloids Dagbladet and VG in this matter and ask why they chose to leave problematic comment sections open, when they often close them in connection with controversial and heated cases.

It appears to be a pattern where comment sections are closed, but only in connection with scandals involving Norwegian politicians, or other cases where the media worry about what readers will express.

For example, there were many closed comment sections in Norway in connection with posts about the Epstein scandal.

And while we are talking about the Epstein scandal, that one has completely disappeared from the Norwegian media. But that is a story we shall return to.

I also direct a question to editor-in-chief Gunnar Stavrum, who today wrote a leader in which he demanded that the threats against Alexander Sørloth must be investigated and punished. I am in complete agreement with this.

We are not a football nation like Colombia, which defends that Andrés Escobar was murdered in 1994 after scoring an own goal in the World Cup.

Nevertheless we now see a disturbing savagery and harassment also in Norway when a player makes a mistake on the pitch.

But why does Stavrum think it is acceptable to leave a comment section open with death wishes and threats against American politicians?

Graham’s death is a good plaster on the wound

As I wrote in connection with the Dagbladet case, I have stopped deleting names when I write about comment sections.

There are several examples of media that have written about Document’s comment section and published the posts with full names and pictures.

Here are some examples of the comments. Most are of the same type. Nevertheless VG leaves the comment sections wide open.

I left Norway many years ago. Even though I have seen that the country has changed, I am still surprised when I see ordinary Norwegians celebrate a person’s death with open joy and schadenfreude.
To disagree with politicians’ views is completely fine. But to rejoice over someone dying feels deeply alien and un-Norwegian.

Especially now when the world during the World Cup has hailed Norway and Norwegians as some of the kindest, nicest and most decent peoples that exist. The contrast is almost painful to take in.

Darius from Lithuania is among the few who demand that the comment sections be closed, and what Odd writes now appears less and less conspiratorial.

What about the warmongers in Norway?

Norwegian media have good enough editorial judgement to close comment sections when cases become too heated. Nevertheless they left them wide open after Lindsey Graham’s death.

It therefore does not appear to be a slip, but rather a deliberate action that permits and promotes jubilation and death wishes.

Nettavisen also contributes to the rhetoric. I have not gone through their comment section, but the ingress on the Facebook post reads: – One of the loudest hawks on Trump’s team.

The article is about how Graham’s death is being celebrated in Russia.

Many call the senator a warmonger. The same voices appear to forget that the peace nation Norway has been involved in eight major wars since the 2000s, many based on lies.

It is hypocritical. Norway participated in bombing Libya to pieces under the Stoltenberg government with Gahr Støre and Barth Eide on the team. Afterwards Norwegian authorities left the Libyan people to themselves.

Just imagine if it had been a Norwegian politician who was central to the Libya war who died. Then the media would have shown respect and conveyed grief and dignified words of remembrance.

Dagbladet’s freedom of expression is hypocrisy

As mentioned above, editor-in-chief Gunnar Stavrum demands in Dagbladet that threats and gross harassment against Alexander Sørloth be investigated and punished.

But the editor-in-chief has no problem with comments such as the following in his own newspaper:

Then it is suddenly not a matter of investigating and punishing, but of letting the hatred flow freely. Stavrum writes among other things:

Dagbladet is normally liberal on questions of freedom of expression, and even football players must tolerate strong criticism from sofa experts and other wise-after-the-event types. That is the cost of engaging in an engaging sport.

But threats and incitement to commit suicide or harm oneself are far beyond what can be accepted, Stavrum believes. – The police should open an investigation and punish direct threats and incitement to violence.

The media know exactly what they are doing. When it suits their own narrative, they choose to leave the comment sections open, even if they contain gross and hateful expressions.

Should I receive feedback from Dagbladet, Gunnar Stavrum or VG, I will update the case. But do not hold your breath in the meantime.