Lolland mayor’s cancellation of newspaper subscription after critical article to be investigated

Denmark’s parliamentary ombudsman has asked Lolland Municipality to explain why mayor Marie-Louise Brehm Nielsen and other local politicians cancelled their subscriptions to the Lolland-Falsters Folketidende newspaper following a critical report about the municipal administration, TV2 Øst reports.

The ombudsman’s office has sent a letter to the municipality requesting details on how many subscriptions were terminated and the reasoning behind the decision. The letter also asks what “further steps” the municipality has considered, according to the broadcaster.

The cancellations followed an April article in Lolland-Falsters Folketidende that included anonymous sources criticising the municipality’s administration. Several politicians, including Brehm Nielsen of the local party Din Stemme, subsequently ended their publicly funded subscriptions, citing dissatisfaction with the reporting.

“I think they have published some very annoying articles. It’s problematic that they rely exclusively on anonymous sources when others interviewed have different views,” Brehm Nielsen told TV2 Øst.

Former Lolland mayor Holger Schou Rasmussen (Social Democrats) had proposed that the municipality cancel all subscriptions and withdraw its advertising from the paper.

Two administrative law professors, Frederik Waage and Michael Gøtze, told trade publication Fagbladet Journalisten that the cancellations could violate the law if they were not based on “objective” grounds but instead represented “pure punishment.” Gøtze noted that the ombudsman could ultimately issue criticism against the municipality.

Lolland Municipality has until 8 June to submit its response to the ombudsman.