Authority’s cancellation of newspaper subscription must not be used as pressure or as retributive action

Publiceret 09-07-2026

In May 2026, the Parliamentary Ombudsman started an investigation following media coverage of Lolland Municipality having cancelled subscriptions to Lolland-Falster’s Folketidende after an article in the newspaper.

An authority has fairly wide margins in relation to its administration in this kind of field. However, besides observing general considerations of finance and allocation of funds, the authority must also in this connection engage in its activities in accordance with general principles on objectivity and equality, among other things. Therefore, the authority’s decision to for example cancel subscriptions must not be used as pressure or ‘retributive action’ towards the media.

This is the message in the statement that the Parliamentary Ombudsman has now sent to Lolland Municipality.

Lolland Municipality has informed the Ombudsman that the cancelled subscriptions belonged to the mayor and two municipal councillors and that the cancellations happened upon request from the persons in question and, in the municipality’s opinion, not with the intent to punish the local newspaper.

However, some statements from the relevant local politicians can in the Ombudsman’s opinion leave another impression. Therefore, the Ombudsman has informed Lolland Municipality that he assumes that the municipality will consider whether the statements change the basis for the municipality’s understanding of the intention of the cancellations.

The Ombudsman has asked the municipality to keep him informed about the results of the considerations.

‘Of course, an authority can choose to cancel a newspaper subscription, but it has to be based on objective grounds. It is not objective if it is done in order to punish or put pressure on certain journalists or media based on their news coverage in for example a critical article’, says Parliamentary Ombudsman Christian Britten Lundblad. ‘In this case, statements have been made which can leave the impression that exactly this has been the intention. It is important that the municipality is aware of this and takes a position on this.’

Read the Ombudsman’s letter to Lolland Municipality (in Danish).

Further details:

Director of International Relations Klavs Kinnerup Hede, kkh@ombudsmanden.dk

Facts

On 29 April 2026 in the article ‘Borgmester opsiger lokalavis efter kritisk artikel (Mayor cancels local newspaper subscription after critical article), journalisten.dk (a Danish online media) wrote, among other things, that Lolland Municipality had cancelled its subscription to Folketidende for the mayor who was angry about a critical article in the newspaper. In addition, the mayor was quoted for writing on social media that the criticism must be fair, open and responsible in order not to lose its legitimacy and that she was considering further measures.

One of the municipal councillors whose subscription was cancelled wrote, among other things, on Facebook that the worst thing was that some of the newspaper’s journalists put the rules of good craftmanship aside. He did not want to pay for this anymore, and his subscription was cancelled as of that date.

The other municipal councillor wrote, among other things, in an internal e-mail that the final journalistic quality was the straw that broke the camel’s back.

In the discharge of their duties, public authorities are subject to general principles of administrative law on objectivity and equality, among other things. This includes a ban on the authorities pursuing unlawful purposes through the use of discretionary powers. These principles also apply in the authorities’ conduct with the media.

Thus, an authority’s reaction towards a media must not be able to be perceived as pressure, and ‘retributive actions’ towards the media must not be used. Nor must statements be made which can be seen as threats of such actions, for example by stopping collaboration with the media or certain journalists or (for that reason) cancelling or limiting subscriptions or advertising in the media. Subject to this, the authorities must not impose sanctions on any possible violations of journalistic ethics.