He has previously hosted, among other things, Kulturnytt on SR P1, but after a couple of posts on X, Mårten Arndtzén has been assigned other duties. The posts are considered to potentially reflect taking sides in controversial issues.
In one of the posts, Arndtzén defended Minister of Culture Parisa Liljestrand (M) against the film industry after criticism for not attending the Gothenburg Film Festival.
“The Minister of Culture’s snub to the Swedish film industry is harsh, stylish, and completely fair. Get your act together,” wrote Arndtzén.
The second post consisted of a link to an editorial on criminal policy by Paulina Neuding in Svenska Dagbladet.
This week, it was announced that Arndtzén had been reassigned:
Now there will be no more Kulturnytt or commentary on cultural policy; instead, going forward, Arndtzén will work as a digital editor, as well as review and report on art.
Double standards
At Sveriges Radio, responsible publisher Peter O Nilsson says they are especially careful during an election year and claims that Mårten Arndtzén’s posts have contained clear political positions.
At the same time, Arndtzén notes that the rules are applied differently in various parts of the company. One example is SR correspondent Cecilia Uddén, who repeatedly receives criticism for letting her personal views affect her reporting. Recently, Uddén had to remove two Facebook posts about migration policy but avoided reassignment.
– But the clearest example is the Gad petition last summer, says Mårten Arndtzén, who has been critical that SR staff could sign Magda Gad’s petition regarding coverage of Gaza without it affecting their assignments.
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