State TV in Norway: Paying to Be Propagandized
January 23, 2013
By Bruce Bawer
Well, its done. I just made the first of my two compulsory yearly payments to NRK short for Norsk rikskringkasting. In English it calls itself the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation, but believe me, theres nothing remotely corporation-like about it. Its a fully government-owned and government-operated outfit, and its fealty to the Labor Party worldview is reflected in the nickname by which some of its disgruntled viewers refer to it: ARK, or Arbeiderpartiets rikskringkasting Labor Party Broadcasting.
As of 2013, the semiannual NRK license fee which, I should perhaps underscore, is something you pay in addition to whatever you might happen to shell out for your cable and/or satellite service went up to $240.33, for a total of $480.66 per year. (Out of the kindness of their hearts, they divide the amount in two, apparently realizing that for a lot of people this is no small expense.) Its a tax, of course, but its not treated as a tax which is reflected in the fact that the fee actually includes an eight percent value-added tax. In other words, not only do they charge you a tax on top of your regular income tax to pay for a product that you may never even use they also tax the tax.
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State TV in Norway: Paying to Be Propagandized
January 23, 2013
By Bruce Bawer
Well, its done. I just made the first of my two compulsory yearly payments to NRK short for Norsk rikskringkasting. In English it calls itself the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation, but believe me, theres nothing remotely corporation-like about it. Its a fully government-owned and government-operated outfit, and its fealty to the Labor Party worldview is reflected in the nickname by which some of its disgruntled viewers refer to it: ARK, or Arbeiderpartiets rikskringkasting Labor Party Broadcasting.
As of 2013, the semiannual NRK license fee which, I should perhaps underscore, is something you pay in addition to whatever you might happen to shell out for your cable and/or satellite service went up to $240.33, for a total of $480.66 per year. (Out of the kindness of their hearts, they divide the amount in two, apparently realizing that for a lot of people this is no small expense.) Its a tax, of course, but its not treated as a tax which is reflected in the fact that the fee actually includes an eight percent value-added tax. In other words, not only do they charge you a tax on top of your regular income tax to pay for a product that you may never even use they also tax the tax.
...
State TV in Norway: Paying to Be Propagandized
