Published December 5, 2025

In the past weeks, the discussion about the state of media in Iceland has flared up again following an announcement from local media company SÝN that they will no longer be providing television news on weekends due to financial issues, bringing to an end something that the company has provided Iceland with for almost 40 years. 

Making the announcement, the head of SÝN’s news department, Erla Björg Gunnarsdóttir, said “If we want to live in a society with independent, privately run media, then this is our last chance.”

We second that. Currently the government is revising how they support free media in Iceland. We’re not holding our breath. Since 2008, the number of people who work for independent media in Iceland has fallen by 69 percent. The government’s support for independent media in the past few years has done little, if anything to stop this trend. 

This magazine is not insulated from the problems of the Icelandic media environment. It’s hard to admit, but our magazine is also struggling. We’ve joked that we should tell our readers that if things progress as they are, we might have to take up whaling to make ends meet. 

In Icelandic, the phrase for good luck, is hvalreki, or beached whale. So essentially, we are looking for a beached whale. And by that we don’t mean the intelligent magnificent creatures that swim the oceans, but you, dear reader, in the form of supporting us financially. 

Next year we will be rolling out a new subscription model for our readers. Until then we are looking for either one-off donations, or regular benefactors, who, by supporting us monthly, will get their name listed in the masthead of this magazine. Support us by going to support.grapevine.is. Become our whale. Or else we’ll start whaling.