In the wake of the general media crisis and the Covid-19 crisis in spring 2020, job security was not guaranteed, and journalists lost their jobs. Such uncertainties are greater in commercial media than in public broadcasting.
Journalists have a high level of education and professional skills, but many do not have enough direct experience, for example, of (local) politics. Journalism professionalism is being challenged as well by increased working pressure and decreased resources, for example, for investigations.
Detailed information on the ownership structure and decision-making processes of private commercial media organisations is not available. Only listed companies must meet minimum transparency requirements.
For the leading media, pressure from external interest groups is part of their daily business. But regional and local media also have to cope with this challenge.
There is no external “control of the controllers”; at most there is individual ethical self-control in newsrooms. The judgements of the Press Council in this regard on the basis of the Code of Ethics are generally without consequence at both the corporate and editorial levels. Media criticism and media journalism barely take place anymore.
News media in Iceland lack resources to conduct quality in-depth reporting, and analysis on their daily reporting and investigative reporting is seriously hampered for lack of time and finance.
There are not many higher education opportunities in Iceland for journalists, and course attendance is low.
The watchdog function of media in Iceland has grown significantly in recent years, and some outlets and programmes have investigative journalism as their brand. Investigative journalism is, however, expensive, and media outlets are grappling with resource constraints.
Public information is accessible by law, but not always in reality. Journalists often must spend time and effort to get access.
Economic pressures mean that many experienced journalists have been laid off. Job security is low and short-term contracts common.
The Media for Democracy Monitor (MDM) is a research project from The Euromedia Research Group. This is a network of researchers that collects and exchanges information that help to describe and analyse developments in media structure and policy in Europe.
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