MediaWatch: June 1997
Table of Contents:
Lunden's True Love
Whenever American network reporters travel to Scandinavia, it is a good bet stories on the joys of parental leave, "free" day care, and other government "benefits" are soon to follow. Such was the case when ABC's Good Morning America crossed the Atlantic.
In Denmark on May 12, Joan Lunden gushed: "Yes, Scandinavia has a very unique approach to life, and at the center of it all is an extremely progressive set of social systems, and I think people would be surprised at just how much they provide."
Reporter Bill Ritter detailed how a Swedish father took five months off to care for his kids while still getting 75 percent of his salary. Ritter extolled the policy: "And that's the Scandinavian way, with family-oriented benefits, like maternal leave, guaranteed by both the government and by private industry." Ritter did note that the average income tax is over 50 percent. "While that kind of tax might make most Americans cringe, most people here say with the benefits to the family, the taxes are worth it."
The GMA crew swung up to Norway the next day, where Lunden equated government mandates on private employers with caring about children. She introduced her interview with the former Norwegian Prime Minister Gro Harlem Brundtland: "Scandinavia has really been known, all these countries, for their innovative and their progressive social systems. But when it comes to protecting women's rights and children's rights, Norway could really teach most other countries a thing or two; they are top priorities here." Lunden failed to identify Brundtland as the First VP of the Socialist International and member of the Labour Party.
Lunden was so excited she appeared ready to move to Norway, suggesting that when women hear of all the great benefits "most women" would "just want to pack up and come right over here." She oozed about paid maternity leave: "You realize that in America, a lot of women only have six or eight weeks off. I mean, a year paid leave, to go away, have your baby, and you're not penalized at work at all. And even the fathers are required to take about a month off, right?"
Lunden concluded by wishing that the U.S. would impose some of those great mandates: "Hopefully, we can get some of those programs instituted in America. "
