NewsVoice är en oberoende nättidning med utgivningsbevis som startade 2011. Syftet är att publicera nyheter, debattartiklar, kommentarer och analyser. 
MEDIA. Julia Caesar tells the story of a former colleague at Today’s News (DN.se) that was convicted of pedophilia. She writes it was a well-kept secret until at the age of 82 he was sentenced to three years in prison for rape and sexual abuse of two of his grandchildren. The incestuous abuses had been going on for many years.
Julia Caesar discloses the name of the perpetrator at DN Debatt in her article “Summer with grandad”. She writes that the journalists often protect each other. The conviction has been in the shadow of the media until Stoppapressarna.se wrote about it as late as this July 2021.
The former debate editor was sentenced in 2018 to three years in prison for raping two of his grandchildren, both little girls under 15, on a total of five occasions, and aggravated sexual abuse of children on six occasions. The indictment also involved serious sexual abuse of a third grandchild, including a little girl, born in 2005. But on that point, he was acquitted, as the testimony came from a small child and could not be substantiated.
The abuse is considered particularly serious because the perpetrator was close to the children (their grandfather), and the crimes constitute incest.
Key player to transform DN.se into a megaphone for the elite
According to Caesar, the former debate editor played a key role in the overall public debate. He turned the newspapers’ debate pages into forums where only the opinions of the established elite were published while independent debaters were excluded.
DN Debatt in 1985 got its own section in the newspaper and became more independent of the editorial pages. At the same time, criticism grew that the debate pages were increasingly dominated by the social elite – politicians, authorities, and organizational representatives – those who already have plenty of marketplaces where they can spread their opinions and agendas and thus, do not need another arena to expand, writes Caesar.
It was the disgraced debate editor who began to exclude independent debaters and ordinary people from the public debate. He also managed to get the other major newspapers to follow suit and become megaphones for the elite, Julia Caesar reveals.
“Thus, DN’s debate page was filled with articles by directors-general, union chairmen, and politicians. The advantage from the point of view of the whole newspaper was that the news function was strengthened. The disadvantage was that the proportion of completely independent debaters decreased.”
The debate editor was one of those who had a high status in the editorial office. He was exactly the type of employee who was cherished at Today’s News in the 1970s and ’80s: the smooth-combed, well-oiled clique that was agile, kept up, and got along well with the editorial management.
Continue to read at Julia Caesar’s blog (in Swedish)
Text and translation: NewsVoice