Employee flight forces Greenland broadcaster to cut back on news
Money, they say, isn’t everything. But it is, according to the management of KNR, Greenland’s public broadcaster, the common denominator that has led to a wave of resignations among journalists that has resulted fewer, shorter newscasts, as well as fewer news articles on its website.
Currently, KNR has six openings for Greenlandic-speaking journalists, amounting to 20% of its newsroom. KNR also hires Danish-speaking journalists, but finding candidates for those positions has been less of an issue; 16 people applied for the most recent opening, according to Alice Sørensen, the news editor.
As a result, KNR has eliminated one of what had been five daily radio newscasts and cut two minutes off its flagship noon radio newscast, reducing the length to 12 minutes from 15. It has also cut the length of what had been a 20-minute evening news broadcast.
The wave of resignations amongst Greenlandic-speakers is due to the higher wages offered by private-sector and other public-sector employers to candidates with journalism skills. Many of those departing KNR, according to Ms Sørensen, have moved to communications positions in the public sector, or as ministerial advisors.
Mariia Simonsen, a former journalist and now member of Inatsisartut, the national legislature, suggested that offering higher wages to KNR journalists would prevent resignations, but also called for more funding for the national journalist-training programme. The journalists, she hopes, will follow the money.
Kevin McGwin, Polar Journal
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