DistantNews
Support us
Criticizes Coverage of the King’s Death: “A Cult of Personality”
🇳🇴 Norway /Culture & Society

Criticizes Coverage of the King’s Death: “A Cult of Personality”

From Aftenposten · () Norwegian

Translated from Norwegian and summarized by DistantNews. Read the original for the full story.

At a glance

Analysis Named sources Context piece
  • A media critic argues that Norwegian coverage of King Harald’s death shapes how the public is expected to grieve.
  • Norwegian outlets highlighted the king’s national role, including VG’s description of him as “the day all of Norway’s grandfather passed away.”
  • A researcher said the intense reaction was a natural “kind of state of exception.”

Coverage of King Harald’s death has come under criticism for not only reporting grief, but also showing the public what grief should look like.

A media critic says the coverage reflects a “cult of personality,” while a researcher considers the unusually intense response a natural “kind of state of exception.”

A cult of personality

— Media criticThe phrase summarizes the critic’s objection to how Norwegian media covered King Harald’s death.

Norwegian media cleared space for the king’s death after he died on Friday morning. VG described the moment as “the day all of Norway’s grandfather passed away,” while Dagbladet published an explanation from a grief expert about why so many people were affected.

A kind of state of exception

— ResearcherThe researcher’s description of the intense public reaction to the king’s death.
About this summary

Originally published by Aftenposten in Norwegian. Translated, summarized, and contextualized automatically by DistantNews, with a note on how the source frames the story. Not individually reviewed before publishing. How this works.

More Stories

From Our Blog