The End of Iceland's Innocence: The Image of Iceland in the Foreign Media during the Financial Crisis

Violence—Icelanders’ Anger

– 185 – VIOLENCE ICELANDERS’ANGER ‘Iceland “like Chernobyl” as meltdown shows anger can boil over.’ Bloomberg, December 23, 20081 As foreign journalists reported on the first troubles and subsequent violence that shook the Icelandic capital, they expressed bafflement, amusement, sometimes even glee, but rarely did they convey any sense of concern. They generally saw the anger as a healthy outburst, albeit unexpected in such a tranquil and peace-loving country. In addition , the Icelandic spirit of compromise attracted the international media, which often referred to the good-natured atmosphere of the demonstrations, as reported by Yahoo News: ‘Demonstrations have been largely peaceful—some protesters were reportedly invited in for coffee when they showed up at President Ólafur Grímsson’s home earlier this month.’2 However, when the police did intervene, their actions were criticized; it became more obvious that there really was a revolt going on and that it was being repressed. Foreign media coverage of the violence can be summarized quite simply, since it was uniform from one newspaper to the next. The protests were said to be the expression of natural anger, on the part of ordinary people, aimed at three entities: the government, the Central Bank, and the financiers. 1 Ben Holland, ‘Iceland “like Chernobyl” as meltdown shows anger can boil over’, Bloomberg, December 23, 2008. 2 Valur Gunnarsson [Associated Press], ‘Icelandic TV program featuring PM forced off air’, Yahoo News, December 31, 2008. – 186 – To explain the underlying issues, BBC News gave the example of a typical worker: ‘Asta is one of Iceland’s many unlikely protesters: people who were never politically active but who now find themselves moved to act in the wake of this country’s worst economic crisis in generations.’3 This observation was echoed in a quote from one of the protesters: ‘Jonsson said: “And I want to tell you that the people gathered here are not ‘activists’ or ‘militants’, he added, “they are just ordinary adults of all ages”.’4 The primary target of their animosity was, naturally, the government . The Glasgow Herald reported that ‘the Icelandic government now faces an angry backlash from the public, who are furious over their economic prospects’.5 The Huffington Post went further, quoting a protester who declared: ‘We are calling on the world to help us get rid of this corrupt government’. 6 Now there was talk of ‘corruption’ and ‘incompetence’, words very rarely used in political reporting on Scandinavia. Resentment was also targeted at the Governor of the Central Bank, Davið Oddsson, former prime minister and initiator of the bank reforms that were a part of the country´s downfall. And finally the new Vikings, entrepreneurs hungry for foreign conquests, stoked the ire of ordinary citizens who were forced to pay for their errors and who were, as reported by the Sunday Times, ‘embarrassed by the gluttony and ineptitude of their own businessmen’.7 In a departure from its usual tone, the Economist quoted a schoolteacher who had 3 Ray Furlong, ‘Unlikely activists fight Iceland woes’, BBC News, December 19, 2008 (italics added). 4 Sturla Jónsson, quoted by Íris Erlingsdóttir, ‘Iceland is burning’, Huffington Post, January 20, 2009 (italics added). 5 Torcuil Crichton, ‘Chancellor pledges £2.2bn to UK depositors in Iceland bank’, Herald (Glasgow), November 21, 2008. 6 Sturla Jónsson, quoted by Íris Erlingsdóttir, ‘Iceland is burning’, Huffington Post, January 20, 2009. 7 A.A. Gill, ‘Iceland: frozen assets’, Sunday Times, December 14, 2008. – 187 – this crude comment: ‘If I met a banker ... I’d kick his ass so hard, my shoes would be stuck inside’8 . Their anger was reflected in an incident, worthy of the sagas, in which protesters threw snowballs at one of the most famous new Vikings, Jón Ásgeir Jóhannesson, as he was fleeing to London. His escape in the middle of the night was reminiscent of the departure of the criminals of old, condemned to exile and the worst punishment meted out to an Islander—banishment from the island. The event attracted ample media coverage: One of Iceland’s most prominent financiers became the target—literally—of people’s anger over the collapse of Iceland’s banks Glitnir and Landsbanki when he was hit in the face with a snowball, the DV newspaper reported Thursday. The paper said that prominent businessman and financier Jonsgeir Johannesson [Jón Ásgeir Jóhannesson], 40, was emerging from a joint supervisory board meeting...