Well it certainly has been a fun ride. After ten years of contributions and four years of daily news, I’ve decided that the time has come for me to bow out and let other voices take part in the Grapevine. I hope to be able to focus more on writing short fiction, and to finally get to work on the novel I outlined some months ago.
During my tenure I’ve worked under four different editors, each of them with their own unique voices that contributed to Grapevine being what it is today. It’s been a pleasure to work with every single one of them. I am also pleased with the work Grapevine’s first woman editor is doing, and expect she will steer the paper into new territories of journalism in Iceland.
Journalism is a hard, thankless job. You seldom get feedback from readers unless it’s to tell you how wrong you are. Which, when you think about it, is sort of the whole purpose – the press and the public should and must have an agreement, that the press will stay vigilant of the people in power and inform the public, and the public in turn must keep the press honest. I am proud of the fact that Grapevine has remained the only independent media source in the country, and our news team has enjoyed the freedom that being non-corporate has given us.
As parliamentary elections come up, this is especially important. I encourage all of you: read the platforms of each party, look into the voting history of the folks running, and decide for yourself who speaks for you and who doesn’t or shouldn’t. When the press won’t ask the hard questions, demand that they do. I’m confident Grapevine will be at the lead of Icelandic media sources who are interested in looking beyond press releases and prepared statements.
In any event, I leave Grapevine with a light heart and many, many fond memories. I want to thank everyone at the paper, and most of all, all of you who continue to read and support us. You have all played a major part in my maturity as a journalist and a writer, and are the reason why I can look back and smile. Thank you.
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