Patterns in the Coverage of the Norwegian Truth and Reconciliation Commission

And the final day at IAMCR 2024 starts for me with a session on journalism research. The first presenter is the wonderful Eli Skogerbø, whose focus here is on the media coverage of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission on the injustices perpetrated against the indigenous Sámi people in Norway. This work emerges from the Trucom research project, which importantly also involved Sámi researchers.

The Truth and Reconciliation Commission in Norway operated from 2018 to 2023, and investigated the ‘Norwegianisation’ policies towards the indigenous Sámi people as well as the minority Kvens (or Norwegian Finns) and Forest Finns. Its explicit aim was to rewrite Norwegian history and thereby establish grounds for reconciliation. This took place in the context of a well-established democratic system, and the research project also sought especially to explore the news coverage of the Commission.

How did the TRC itself communicate with the news media, and what kind of media reportage did this generate, then? The project interviewed TRC staff and analysed news media coverage in 2023; it found that the TRC did not prioritise the involvement of journalism in its work, which was somewhat of a strange choice, but instead focussed on working with local communities and maintained strong confidentiality (including some closed meetings). It did not disclose any of its findings before the final report, and produced few information subsidies for journalists or the general public.

Media coverage of the TRC was strong at the start of the Commission in 2017, with 300 articles, and then declined in subsequent years; in 2023, however, as the Commission concluded, there were some 1,000 articles, concentrated strongly on a few days in July. Coverage was largely in regional and minority media, with a mixture of news and opinion articles.

Key discourses in this highlighted the need to respond to the national shame exposed by the Commission’s report with recognition and repairs; the need for authorities and institutions to take political responsibility; for regions to take responsibility; and to realise that Norwegianisation is still continuing and needs to be addressed. These findings are not unexpected – and now Norway needs to work out what to do about them.