Tuesday was the opening of the Folketing. The Prime Minister gave a speech, and a new Speaker of the Folketing was elected. However, it was an article in Jyllands-Posten that stole all the headlines.
The article, written by journalists Anders Redder and Cathrine Bloch, was about the outgoing Speaker of the Folketing, Søren Gade of the party Venstre.
Using thirteen anonymous sources, not a common practice in Danish journalism, it dragged Gade’s reputation through the mud. He was called “lazy”, “vain”, and “disloyal”.
Gade’s rise to the top
The article begins by taking the reader through Gade’s rise to the top of Danish politics, from his early backbench career to becoming Minister of Defence in 2004.
It then chronicles his straightforward communication style in that post, as well as his personable approach when speaking to soldiers and his touching manner of personally writing eulogies for the fallen.
The article then takes a turn, suggesting that this early success went to his head and fed his ego. He started “humblebragging” about personal election results while becoming central to several scandals.
Nasty comments and outbursts
In the article, readers are confronted with Gade’s proclivity for outbursts, including when given sandwiches (which he hates) or when staffers print his briefings double-sided.
Sometimes he gets over these episodes fairly quickly; other times he holds grudges for a long time.
A source describes him as a rhinoceros who charges straight ahead, knocking anyone who gets in his way out of the path.
He is also known for having made some nasty comments to colleagues. One that stands out in the piece is a comment about then-Venstre colleague Inger Støjberg’s weight, calling her “the fat far-right wife”.
Made Speaker of the Folketing
The article also suggests that Gade was given the job of Speaker of the Folketing to get him out of the way of the rest of Venstre.
He was described as “lazy” in the article, suggesting that his ego and his effort did not match, and that he has therefore never risen to become leader of Venstre.
At the end of the article, it is suggested that he is likely disappointed with his career, having hoped to achieve a higher post than those he has held.
Critique of the article
Throughout the day, many politicians from other parties, as well as political commentators, criticised the article and the anonymous sources in it.
Many politicians from across the political spectrum took to social media to complain about the journalistic practice of relying entirely on anonymous sources, as the article does.
Political commentators were quick to note that this article was the product of Venstre being in absolute collapse, with party leader Troels Lund Poulsen losing his grip on the party.
Søren Gade did not respond with a comment to the article. However, in a brief comment to B.T., he wrote, “I cannot and will not address anonymous criticism and anonymous sources, but I have to note that I have powerful enemies in Venstre.”
Defence of anonymity
In the article, the journalists present an argument for why they believe it was necessary to use entirely anonymous sources.
They wrote, “Søren Gade has, as a long-time senior politician, group chairman in Venstre, former minister and Speaker of the Folketing, held a central and high-ranking position in Danish politics. He has gone from being popular with the public to being involved in a series of critical stories.
“To paint a more nuanced picture of the politician who has now stepped down as Speaker of the Folketing, Jyllands-Posten interviewed 13 sources who have known Søren Gade personally and through politics for a number of years.
“Out of regard for their professional work, Jyllands-Posten accommodated their wish to appear anonymously, as the descriptions could not be obtained in any other way.”
Change of course
However, the pushback against the article seems to have been too much for the newspaper.
Later in the day, the article was edited on the website, with the following statement attached to the new version: “The first version of the portrait of Søren Gade was not sufficiently balanced.
“We have therefore updated the article with more descriptions of Søren Gade, for example of how he is as a friend and of his work for Danish soldiers.”
