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June 22, 2006
Hey man, I'm a contender!
Time to be a bit self-congratulatory.
Interesting article this one in Dagens Nyheter. It seems that Hill & Knowlton did a study of who wrote the op-eds in the four major newspapers of Stockholm in 2005; couting Svenska Dagbladet, Dagens Nyheter, Expressen and Aftonbladet.
I was flabbergasted!
That the "left won" is not that surprising, after all they have the resources and manpower to keep people writing op-eds, so it is rather a surprise that they won by such a small margin.
What really surprised me was the position of yours truly. Articles written by me personally (not counting the rest of the Eudoxa gang) were Dags för krig mot error (in collaboration with Oscar Swartz), Genmat räddar Afrika, Flumskolan måste försvaras and Gör hela Stockholm trådlöst.
That brings me to the count of four published op-eds. It doesn't sound like much, but when top-names Johan Norberg (formerly of Timbro) and Lars Leijonborg (chairman of the liberal Party Folkpartiet) win at five... it brings it into a new light. According to the study I seem to tie Annika Billström, mayor of Stockholm and beat Prime Minister Göran Persson who only wrote three.
I feel especially proud that this has been accomplished not only by expressing views that are rather far removed from the mainstream (nota bene, in Sweden op-eds are not meant to bring forth new ideas, but mainly to confirm already present ones), but also doing it with issues that are not on the hegemony's agenda.
Before I give myself too many airs, one has to confess that the importance of the op-ed page has diminshed in recent years, so it does not have the same impact on the the public discourse it once had. Since my op-eds have been written someone who is not a part of the annointed political elite they will not be given the same credibility, as arguments are not as strong as names.
But in the end we do live in an age of assymetry. A small dedicated body that manages its resources well can contend with the largest titans. That bodes well for the future.
Posted by Waldemar at June 22, 2006 10:43 PM