End of an Era?

Image: Reykjavík Grapevine

I recently came across an article in The Reykjavík Grapevine, a tourist/culture paper/website that opened with this declaration:

The Reykjavík Grapevine is broke. We need money. Yesterday we had to inform our staff journalists, Iryna, Ish (pictured holding our latest Best of Reykjavík magazine at our annual Best of Reykjavík Award ceremony) and Jói (who couldn’t attend the ceremony, and thus isn’t pictured) that we won’t be able to afford their work unless our fortunes change. This was incredibly difficult and sad to do, because we are a small, tight-knit team who do this job out of love. It has been our purpose to bring journalism and cultural coverage of Iceland to our readers for almost 24 years, and while business has always been difficult, it has become ever more so in the past few years, making it harder to fulfill our purpose. Hell, we’re one of the last — if not the last — cultural publication still in print in Iceland, a country with a single daily newspaper left.

During the Covid-19 epidemic, The Reykjavík Grapevine was a beacon, shining light on Iceland’s struggles with the pandemic, led by its intrepid editor Valur Grettisson, his dog Polly, and the capable intern Poppy Askham. Their twice-weekly forays covering a country in lockdown was both informative and entertaining—so much so that I even sent them some money! After Covid lessened its grip this publishing enterprise got new owners who wanted to take it in a new direction. They weren’t an obvious changes, but its tone changed. Instead of Poppy or Valur (and his adorable dog) we got snarky podcasts from the new editor and his cronies.

I stopped following it.