Controversial Documentary Removed and News Chief Fired

DR has now decided to remove the criticized documentary ‘Greenland’s White Gold’ and simultaneously fire the responsible chief.

The program has received massive criticism from several sides for containing incorrect figures. However, up until now, this did not prompt DR to take action. But today, at 12:15, something happened that changed everything:

“At 12:15 today, I became aware of a matter in the making of the documentary ‘Greenland’s White Gold’ that has led me to the decision that the documentary will no longer be available on DRTV. This matter, along with the total amount of problems that have been acknowledged and regretted in recent days, is the reason why I have now made this decision. I would like to apologize for publishing a documentary that does not meet the expectations that Danes rightly must have of us, as well as our handling in recent days,” DR’s news director Sandy French stated in a press release from DR.

Specifically, it concerns a graph that appeared as a central element in an earlier version of the documentary. The graph displayed the price for the total accumulated sales of cryolite over the years converted to present-day kroner with the BFI index and minus the Danish state’s expenses in Greenland. The point of the graph was to show that Greenland was a huge profit source for Denmark for many years, which presented a new picture of the relationship between Denmark and Greenland. In January, the graph was removed from the documentary after it was pointed out that it was not accurate.

However, interviews with Mute B. Egede and Lars-Emil Johansen had been conducted before the graph was removed from the program. Therefore, their reactions in the interview were based in part on information in a graph that did not appear in the finished documentary. The sources were subsequently contacted by the editorial team and approved that their reactions to the information in the graph could still be used.

Regarding this matter, Sandy French said:

“It may seem like a minor issue compared to the larger debate about the documentary, but this new discovery is crucial to me because one should be able to trust that the presentation is accurate, regardless of whether the sources agreed that we could continue using the clips after the graph no longer appeared in the documentary.”

Responsible Chief Fired

DR pointed out in the press release that DR News’ editor-in-chief, Thomas Falbe, is resigning from his position with immediate effect. Thomas Falbe had editorial responsibility for the documentary internally at DR.Translate