State Broadcasting To Rent Out Office Space

State broadcasting network RÚV will soon begin renting out the top two floors of their office building, in part to “to create a more open and dynamic workplace”.

Vísir reports that the top two floors of Efstaleiti 1 comprise a total of about 1,000 square metres of office space. RÚV is currently accepting offers, with the lease to begin on September 1.

“Renting out [the spaces] is in keeping with the policy of the new broadcasting director,” a statement to the press reads in part. “To create a more open and dynamic workplace, devote fewer funds to the building and put more into broadcasting material.”

As reported, RÚV has been going through a number of organisational changes. Broadcasting director Magnús Geir Þórðarson told reporters last March that the Efstaleiti building was “too big and too inconvenient”.

Last November, RÚV fired 60 employees, citing threats of severe budget cuts as the main cause. Progressive MP Vigdís Hauksdóttir, who is also the chairperson of the Budget Committee, told reporters last August that “I am of course in this budget streamlining group, and it covers everything. I think an unnatural amount of money goes to RÚV. Especially when they don’t do a better job at reporting the news. They are fond of a particular platform, and lean to the Left. Everyone who wants to see that can see it. I assure you this is true, and can confirm it whenever and wherever that [RÚV] is very pro-EU.”