Should the Prime Minister of a country not follow diplomatic protocols? According to Helle Lyng, a Norwegian journalist working for Dagsavisen newspaper, the answer is ‘no.’ On PM Modi’s recent visit to Norway, Lyng shouted a question at the Prime Minister after a Press Conference, which was, per her, ‘without a Q&A session.’ Yet, she broke the protocol and it seems she is very proud of it.
The question that she shouted was: ‘Why don’t you take some questions from the freest press in the world?.’ Lyng did so as she is of the view that a press conference without a Q&A session is ‘not how it works in Norway.’ That’s fine, but what she failed to consider was that diplomatic protocols don’t work this way. When state visits happen, everything is pre-planned. Questions such as: ‘When will the head of state arrive in the host country?’; ‘What time would it be?’; ‘The place’; ‘Where will he be staying and for how long?’; ‘Who will he be meeting and vice versa?’ are carefully drafted in advance. And this includes what type of press interactions will be done and for how much time. It is to ensure that there is no wastage of time and no scope for misinterpretations.
But it appears that Lyng’s goal was not to understand but to charge against PM Modi. Something that gets reflected from her tweet after the incident, in which she wrote: ‘In Norway, when foreign leaders visit. The press usually will get to ask questions. Not many, but a few. That was not the case today with Modi, and will not be tomorrow either.’ I fail to understand when there is a protocol, why all this theatrics in the name of journalism?
To me, there can be only two reasons for this: either Lyng wanted to stage a drama and portray herself as a fearless journalist without doing anything of such sort or she was asked to do all this by someone. The latter is harder for me to confirm as of now, but the former is for everyone to see. People have reported that after this stunt, her followers have gone up from around 800 followers to 43k and soon, in my opinion, she’ll reach the 100k mark.
The problem with this is not her popularity, but it is the misinformation she will spread in the name of journalism now. For example, she believes: ‘Journalism is sometimes confrontational. If any interview subject, especially with power, do not answer what I asked, I will try to interrupt and get a more focused response. That is my job & duty. I want answers and not just talking points.’
First, when, in her own words, the event in which she was a press conference. How did PM Modi become his ‘interview subject’? Second, a journalist can only interrupt when they are allowed to interview someone and even to publish the interview requires the interviewee’s permission. Journalism works on ethics, not activism. A person who doesn’t even understand the basic terminology used in journalism is about to inspire many people. And to be honest, I can smell the fire among my journalist friends. May the Lord save us.
That Lyng was offered the opportunity by the Indian Embassy itself to come and ask questions. However, while the MEA Secretary Sibi George (West) was answering her questions, she chose to leave the room. Though she came back afterwards. Proof of this can be referred here.
The point remains. When she was not allowed to question, she did and when she was given an answer, she didn’t care to listen. There’s clearly something that Lyng doesn’t understand about journalism which is nothing but journalism.
