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Swedish TV: No Independent Foreign Analysts for Decades

The ducks are being fed the psychotic pabulum of Carl Bildt. By Johan Croneman.


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Was I alone in feeling a bit of respect for Reinfeldt's attempt to introduce a bit of nuance into the discussion of Ukraine? For this territory full of land mines - for this issue, for this week - there's only one version that counts.

Fredrik Reinfeldt had to get up early on Monday and rush to the TV studio for 'Good Morning Sweden' where he had to try a bit of a retraction, for his statement on state radio the weekend before, that he could understand the 'Russian point of view' and the Russian concern for their citizens in Crimea, had been brutally attacked. And on Sunday's 'Agenda' TV show he was browbeaten by foreign minister Carl Bildt. For there is no cause for any Russian concern, said Bildt.

Was I alone in feeling a bit of respect for Reinfeldt's attempt to introduce a bit of nuance into the discussion? Maybe he was even trying to make the issue more complex? For he said that to solve the impasse, one had to look at all aspects of the issue - I sort of infer he meant even those parts that are not fully 'politically correct'. I know this is a territory full of land mines, and for this issue, for this week, there is only one version that counts.

Swedish state television coverage of Ukraine basically follows Carl Bildt, it's one-sided, it's monotone, and it's anti-Russian both in form and content. Their correspondents on location have time and again tried to introduce a bit of nuance, but in the TV studio back home, they try instead to dumb it all down, make it 'comprehensible', simple enough so 'commoners' can follow along. In the Rapport news transmission on Sunday, they tried to explain the mood amongst the Russians, but asking ludicrous questions and continuing with them throughout the programme. It was cringeworthy.

And their supposed 'analysis' was sub-standard, with not a single original thought or idea, but instead regurgitating one self-evident cliché after another. They had absolutely nothing new to come with. Swedish state television haven't had a single independent and courageous foreign analyst in several decades - they gobble up the news wires, they read a few papers, and they spew out dusty old factoids.

This is unbelievably embarrassing. This is painful. This is serious.

They had Carl Bildt on as guest on 'Agenda', and the host couldn't get anywhere either, despite several brave attempts. It was all either one-sided or Carl Bildt's rather evident arrogance and hostility towards anyone who'd question his official 'truths' and policy line.

What did Carl Bildt say about the right-wing extremists and anti-semitic elements? He just denied there was anything like that! And he just moved on. The show tanked after that.

Jewish organisations in Ukraine have voiced more and more apprehension at the anti-semitic climate growing in the country - but Carl Bildt says he and the EU have the situation under control! 'I've been in the area several times and I've spoken to the people there', he assures us.

A synagogue was bombed last week. But Carl Bildt hasn't seen anything at all of concern in the chaotic opposition - or the fact that Swedish Nazis are now organising trips for volunteers to Ukraine? Nope, he hasn't heard anything about that either. Those Swedish 'patriots' are on their way to Ukraine to help with the construction of a tidy nationalistic state to be a model for the political right throughout Europe.

Swedish state television must extend coverage, must admit further voices, must even talk to Russians! And they must analyse the massive support given Putin back home. They can't just parrot Carl Bildt all the time.

See Also
Our Foolhardy Carl Bildt
Carl Bildt: Secrets & Lies
What Carl Bildt Did for Iraq
Carl Bildt's in Carter's Cables
Carl Bildt: The Seeds of Betrayal
Unbelievably Awkward, Carl Bildt!
Carl Bildt's User-Friendly Memory
'Bildt Treats Us with Scorn and Arrogance'

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