The Outline

Starting this project, I didn’t know anything about Denmark. I was really just looking for a country that I had in my personal family history, so it might be cool to do the project on it. This journal was meant to keep up on how other countries function in their media roles, in the own cultures and how different yet the same we can be. I was pretty excited to start this project, because it would never be anything that I would do on my own. At the end of it, I think that I definitely look at media in a different light when it comes to how it affects people.

I have never really thought about what globalization means or how it affects other countries before I took this class. The concept completely makes sense, but I never knew how much it really is everywhere until I started taking a closer look at Denmark. How we, the US, do things really takes a toll on everyone around us, whether they ask for it or not. When doing research on Denmark, I think that they have kept their own identity better than some of the other more prominent countries.

To start my blog, my first entry is just simply me stating why I chose the country that I did and what I knew about it going into this project. NOTHING! I went into this as a completely blank slate and because of that a lot of my first entries are just a little bit of background.

In class you asked us what other cultures do to us as people. That entry might seem a little random, but I think that other cultures really do affect people. It might be as little as cultural food, but I think that definitely says something about how other cultures affect people. When America has a cuisine of hamburgers and hot dogs, other countries cuisine, even if as unimportant as it seems, really affects how a country progresses.

I also started with a little backup on the country. I had no idea that Denmark still had royalty, yet alone one of the oldest royalties in history. I left a little detail that looks into their royal family and how it is still making progress today. The website that I put on this entry takes a good look at the family, their history, and where they are today.

After the history about Denmark I went into some of their media. I was having trouble finding a website that talked about their media in the sense of numbers, so the first couple of entries I just wrote about it. I found an article that was written about some newspaper publications going into private ownership. It’s scary, but there are two I got from the article that are doing really well for them, Urban and MetroXpress.

Then I finally found a good website that was easy to read and explained Denmark’s media in how many different stations and how they are broadcasted. They break down their mediums into three categories: national, regional and local. Each has its own set of television and radio stations. Like MetroXpress and Urban, the two largest publications on this website were Dansmark Radio (DR) and TV 2/Danmark. This is a good website to look at how different their media might be compared to ours.

In class we were talking about large media conglomerates. The first article I found was one talking about the US taking over with its companies. In the middle of the article is speaking about how some smaller countries are doing what they can to keep their own identity. I think that globalization can be a good thing, but at the same time I understand that some countries might resent our taking over the world. In this article it was stating that Denmark was trying to keep their media industries domestic and inside the country.

On the flip side, this introduced me to Egmont, which is the largest conglomerate in Denmark. Egmont is a company that was started in a tiny kitchen with one man who had an idea. That has expanded to many countries and all different mediums of print. Even Denmark is putting their name and style out into the world. The last few articles I wrote about were just interesting to me. I thought that I would throw articles in there that were just found in their news. The Copenhagen Post was my best friend during this project because it is available in English. Here is my blog. I hope you enjoy.

Journalists as Terrorists Targets

In October one of the Jyllands-Posten’s editors was the target to several terrorists targets. Flemming Rose had received a few threats due to some cartoons about Mohammed he had put into his piece. Authorities tracked down who was responsible for these threats that included a remote control bomb to his home.

I found this article going through the Copenhagen archives and it scared the hell out of me. I realize that being a journalist can be a dangerous career at times, but the fact that people can take it as far as bombing your home is a terrifying thought.

Rose was quoted as to saying this isn't going to affect his lifestyle. I love that he has a passion for his career, but I don't know if I would be able to have the faith in the authorities the way he does. One suspect gave testimony implying the others were involved, while the other suspects pleaded innocent. These suspects said that these threats might have been meant as a joke. That is a scary, scary lifestyle.

For the whole story, check out the following: http://www.cphpost.dk/get/103731.html

Sex Slaves and Voodoo?

I found this article on "The Copenhagen Post" website and could not resist but to talk about it. Apparently many prostitues have ended up being moved from Nigeria to Denmark on the dime of voodoo priests.

As I was reading the article, women are looking for a better life for themselves in the country of Denmark. They turn to these priests to help them financially get from Nigeria to Denmark, while these priests force them into being sex slaves to pay for all of their expenses travelling. It is an incredibly sad story that they think living as a sex slave is better than living in their home country.

The priests threaten the curses of voodoo to make sure that these women are staying in line and passing over their money. In Denmark, numerous homeless shelters have become the living spaces for these women because all of the women's money is going to the priests in Nigeria.

It is just so bizarre to me that in this day and age, voodoo is still being held as a real thing. We talk everyday about how technology is changing the world, but apparently not every country. This article is so weird and so sad at the same time.

Check out this crazy article at Copenhagen Post: http://www.cphpost.dk/get/104112.html