[...] Our discussions in this group were led by two of the continents most distinguished journalists, both men in whom “Weltschmerz” was clearly evident. They were our German friends Frank Schirrmacher, editor of the Frankfurter Allgemeine, and Tøger Seidenfaden, editor of Copenhagen's Politiken. I speak the language of neither of these papers, though they both spoke mine fluently, but the reputation of their papers speak for themselves. When I was in Eastern Europe and in Moscow, I was impressed by the courage and scope of the reporting both of Politiken and of Frankfurter Allgemeine.

The Frankfurter Allgemeine has been a major player in every social and political and cultural issue of note in Germany for decades. For its part Politiken has been a consistently liberal voice in Denmark, which in recent times both criticised Jyllands Posten over its publication of the famous Danish cartoons, yet also made the decision to re-print these cartoons in order to show its readers what lay at the bottom of a spreading and violent reaction. And one should note ‑ especially a British journalist  should note with some shame ‑ that not one British newspaper made the same decision with the exception of the monthly magazine Prospect.

In our discussion, Tøger Seidenfaden displayed his usual energetic and limpid self. For decades, he said, the press had performed the public service of providing news analysis and debate privately financed. Now, however, the challenge of globalisation to that service had become daunting. Newspapers, he argued, became more parochial in their coverage. They have cut their reporting staffs and consequently their reportage. This is true not only of the Danish newspapers but also of newspapers elsewhere - perhaps not as dramatically as in Denmark but nevertheless widespread.

Now the established Danish newspapers were under further challenge from a new phenomenon: that of the free paper which is about to be distributed free to all or to most Danish households, with a possible circulation of one million.

Various concerns were raised by our group. There were questions about Al Jazeera’s project for an international channel which is about to start transmission later this year. This may be unfair, since Al Jazeera in the Arab world is often seen as a medium of debate and revelation, which has opened up areas formerly forbidden. Indeed its critics in the Arab world see it as a dangerously liberal and even Westernising influence. In the West, however, fears are expressed, especially in the more ideological and extreme media, that Al Jazeera had to be understood as one of many voices speaking to the growing Muslim minorities in Europe in a way and encourages their alienation from Western society. [...]