Live, nationally televised debates

My friend Marvin was just featured on this Vimeo video, and I think he has a point about Icelanders and their love of quizzes. Icelanders like to see someone who knows all the answers to all the questions.

As I have said before, these types of quizzes are not so popular in the US, even on college campuses. There the smart kids show off by being part of a debate club.

It occurs to me that right about now, Iceland would do a lot better off if every Friday night's showing of Útsvar was replaced by lively political debates. They could even use the same set and have the same format, just have the participants be all politicians and have all the questions be about what happened and what should happen for Iceland's future. Run up and grab the bell, show video clips, act out phrases even, but no scoring for having the right answer, and both sides get a chance to answer the same question. This could replace the 10 minute "debates" in Kastljós.

Comments

Anonymous said…
No way! I, for one would never even think of watching a show like that. Get enough of them anyway. Love Útsvar but gave up watching Gettu betur years ago.
October 2, 2010 at 4:26 PM
Lissy said…
Hahaha, Hildigunnur! I was of course sort of kidding, but my point is that in the United States, live television is used much more often by politicians, and to extremely good affect. Perhaps I have just missed it, but in the almost 2 years Johanna has been in office, I have never heard her "address the nation" directly on live TV the way Obama does periodically, nor have I heard Ólafur do that either. They address the Althingi, and then the news tells us what they said. There is no reason in this day and age, with the technology we have, that politicians cannot simply broadcast their message directly. Jón Gnarr knows this, which is why he started a blog. Jóhanna needs to do something to show she is interested in engaging directly with people outside the Althingi.
October 3, 2010 at 9:57 AM
Valur said…
Marvin is pretty smart and cool.

Varðandi samskipti Jóhönnu við þjóðina þá hafði hún fyrst um sinn vikulega fjölmiðlafundi með Steingrími eftir að hún var kosin forsætisráðherra. Þeir eru ennþá nokkuð reglulega haldnir held ég. Slíkt var ekki upp á teningnum í fyrri ríkisstjórninni.

Hér á Íslandi er lítil hefð fyrir ávörpum forsætisráðherra og forseta nema þá bara einu sinni ári. Það mætti mögulega vera oftar.
October 4, 2010 at 9:49 PM
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Dett í, ofan á, úr, út

I´m not sure if someone had dett í (gotten drunk), or if það bara dett ofan á (it just sort of happened), or if some dett úr (forgot), but at any rate, my household goods dett út (have disappeared). Let's review the chronology here. Early August packers from the shipping company arrive at the apartment in Moraga. They load my 4 large plastic containers and 8 cardboard boxes, plus one baby crib, into their truck. I watch my things depart. In September, I ask the friendly girl (Magie is her name) if she happens to know when I might expect my stuff. Late September she tells me. I am most impressed. Extremely so. Mid October rolls around, and I have not gotten a call. And it occurs to me that I am going to be traveling through November. Hmm. So I call again. Well, yes, she tells me, looks like your shipment should arrive on the 31st of October. Now here I admit that maybe I was a little lacks. I had a lot to do before my trip, and so when they did not call me, I did not follow ...
Read more

On Icelandic doctors

My friends and family here in Iceland were very enthusiastic about me going to the krabbameinsfélag for an exam. I was really impressed how easy it was to get an appointment--booked online even! And when I got there this afternoon, the efficiency continued: they have a well oiled operation in place there, all very organized with computers asking questions and keyed lockers to keep one's personal belongings in. Then when it came time to see the doctor, well, that lasted all of 2 minutes. And I paid 3420 kroner. So I was overall a little disappointed. When I mentioned to the front desk clerks that I was wondering if it was possible to actually get an appointment where I could speak to a doctor, I was given a variety of phone numbers. None of the ones I called had appointments within the next 6 weeks. In the United States, when I want a doctor's appointment, I can usually get it within a week of calling, though sometimes I have had to wait 10 days or so. The highest co-pay I hav...
Read more

Cultural tourism in Iceland

I just finished writing a chapter of my dissertation, which resulted in a much larger discussion of cultural tourism in Iceland than I had intended. But the fact is, this is an issue I have been extremely interested and concerned about for at least 15 years, if not 20. I have never, ever liked the way Iceland is marketed to tourists in the U.S. Everything from the unspoiled nature to the crazy city life in Reykavik. It has always left the part of Iceland I loved--the simple joy of being in a relaxing and lovely place with my family--completely out of the picture. In 2001, I went to Hvollsvöllur to examine the Saga Centre as part of a study commissioned by the National Park's service to look into cultural landscapes as heritage tourism. I thought that endeavor might represent a change in how Iceland was presented to tourists. But in the last 10 years, and especially while working at Vikingaheimar, and at meetings with the Saga Trails Association, I came to see just how completel...
Read more