''Morgenavisen Jyllands-Posten'' (;

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ...

: ''The Morning Newspaper "The Jutland Post"''), commonly shortened to ''Jyllands-Posten'' or ''JP'', is a Danish daily

broadsheet A broadsheet is the largest newspaper format and is characterized by long vertical pages, typically of . Other common newspaper formats include the smaller Berliner and tabloid–compact formats. Description Many broadsheets measure roughly ...

newspaper A newspaper is a periodical publication containing written information about current events and is often typed in black ink with a white or gray background. Newspapers can cover a wide variety of fields such as politics, business, spor ...

. It is based in

Aarhus C Aarhus C is a postal district in the city of Aarhus, Denmark, consisting of the Inner city, Vesterbro, University of Aarhus, Frederiksbjerg, Langenæs and Aarhus Ø, with postal code 8000. The district is commonly defined as the area enclosed ...

Jutland Jutland ( da, Jylland ; german: Jütland ; ang, Ēota land ), known anciently as the Cimbric or Cimbrian Peninsula ( la, Cimbricus Chersonesus; da, den Kimbriske Halvø, links=no or ; german: Kimbrische Halbinsel, links=no), is a peninsula of ...

, and with a weekday circulation of approximately 120,000 copies,Publication figures for ''Jyllands-Posten''Dansk Oplagskontrol (in danish)
25 April 2010. The foundation behind the newspaper, Jyllands-Postens Fond, defines it as an independent (

centre-right Centre-right politics lean to the right of the political spectrum, but are closer to the centre. From the 1780s to the 1880s, there was a shift in the Western world of social class structure and the economy, moving away from the nobility and ...

) newspaper. The paper officially supported the Conservative People's Party until 1938. In 2005-2006 the newspaper published cartoons that depicted the Islamic prophet Muhammad which sparked violent protests around the world, and led to several attempted terrorist plots against the newspaper or its employees.

History

The newspaper was founded in 1871 and issued its first copy on 2 October of that year. Originally, the name ''Jyllandsposten'' (in one word) was used, the hyphen being adopted in 1945. The current name was introduced in 1969. It also refers to itself as "Denmark's joke newspaper". ''Jyllandsposten'' quickly became one of

's most modern newspapers and secured an exclusive access to government

telegraph Telegraphy is the long-distance transmission of messages where the sender uses symbolic codes, known to the recipient, rather than a physical exchange of an object bearing the message. Thus flag semaphore is a method of telegraphy, whereas ...

wires between 21:00 and midnight every day. This enabled ''Jyllandsposten'' to publish news one day earlier than most of its competitors. Gradually the paper expanded, enlarging its format and adding more and more pages. The first issues had only contained four pages. In 1889 it abandoned the traditional

Gothic Gothic or Gothics may refer to: People and languages *Goths or Gothic people, the ethnonym of a group of East Germanic tribes **Gothic language, an extinct East Germanic language spoken by the Goths **Crimean Gothic, the Gothic language spoken b ...

script in favour of the

Latin script The Latin script, also known as Roman script, is an alphabetic writing system based on the letters of the classical Latin alphabet, derived from a form of the Greek alphabet which was in use in the ancient Greek city of Cumae, in southern ...

used today. Gothic script had been abolished by the Danish spelling reform of 1875, but was still in wide use. Politically the paper supported the '' Højre'' ("Right") party – which became the Conservative People's Party in 1915. The paper advocated business interests and strongly opposed

socialism Socialism is a left-wing economic philosophy and movement encompassing a range of economic systems characterized by the dominance of social ownership of the means of production as opposed to private ownership. As a term, it describes th ...

. It was also critical of business monopolies. In international affairs, it was generally supportive of Britain and critical of Germany, which it considered the only country that "wished to attack Denmark," to quote an 1872 edition. This nationalist sentiment was a reaction to Germany's annexation of large portions of southern Jutland following the

Second War of Schleswig The Second Schleswig War ( da, Krigen i 1864; german: Deutsch-Dänischer Krieg) also sometimes known as the Dano-Prussian War or Prusso-Danish War was the second military conflict over the Schleswig-Holstein Question of the nineteenth century. ...

in 1864. Editorially the newspaper supported the Danish minority in Germany and advocated for a new border located at the Danevirke. Throughout

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...

''Jyllands-Posten'' continued its verbal attacks on Germany despite the government's policy of neutrality in the conflict. In 1918, the newspaper was outlawed in Germany.

1920s–1930s

In 1929, the paper established an office in Copenhagen, and established a corporation with ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper '' The Sunday Times'' ( ...

''. In 1931, the paper was acquired by a joint stock company whose main investor became editor-in-chief. In 1934 the newspaper began to use photographs in its layouts. Foreign news stories were supplied by Ritzau, ''The Times'', and the ''Daily Telegraph''. During the 1920s and 1930s, the editorial line of the paper was right-wing Conservative. The paper expressed its sympathy for a number of conservative issues, most notably increasing the size of the Danish military, which had experienced a massive cut in funds by the Social Democratic government. Another issue was support of the Danish minority in Germany. The paper expressed its admiration for the authoritarian regimes of Italy and Germany on several occasions, a line assumed by many European newspapers. In 1922, the newspaper expressed its admiration for

Benito Mussolini Benito Amilcare Andrea Mussolini (; 29 July 188328 April 1945) was an Italian politician and journalist who founded and led the National Fascist Party. He was Prime Minister of Italy from the March on Rome in 1922 until his deposition in ...

, who had just assumed office: ''The very strong man, that Mussolini undoubtedly is, is exactly what the misruled Italian people need''. In 1933, the newspaper advocated that Denmark follow Germany's example and replace petty party politics with the stability of an authoritarian regime. The paper considered the German Weimar republic to be a failure because of its lack of stability, and was sympathetic to

Adolf Hitler Adolf Hitler (; 20 April 188930 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was dictator of Germany from 1933 until his death in 1945. He rose to power as the leader of the Nazi Party, becoming the chancellor in 1933 and the ...

's coming to power and the shutting down of democratic institutions. In March 1933, the paper wrote: ''Only dry tears will be cried at the grave of the Weimar Republic ... As odd as it may sound, the only 12-year-old German constitution with its one-chamber-system, its low electoral age—20 years—and proportional representation is already antiquated.'' The editorial of 17 May 1933, stated that ''... democratic rule by the people, as we know it, is a luxury which can be afforded in good times when the economy is favorable. But restoring the economy after many years of lavish spending requires a firm hand...'' On 15 November 1938, the editorial commented on the Kristallnacht with the words: ''"When one has studied the Jewish question in Europe for decades, the animosity towards the Jews is to a certain extent understandable, even if we look past the racial theories, that mean so much in the national socialist world view ..We know, that tens of thousands of Jews condemn the Jewish business sharks, the Jewish pornography speculators and the Jewish terrorists. But still, it can not be denied, that the experiences which the Germans—as many other continental peoples—have had with regards to the Jews, form a certain basis for their persecution. One must give Germany, that they have a right to dispose of their Jews."'' A front-page story in 1938 was an open letter to Mussolini criticizing the persecution of Jews, written by

Kaj Munk Kaj Harald Leininger Munk (commonly called Kaj Munk) (13 January 1898 – 4 January 1944) was a Danish playwright and Lutheran pastor, known for his cultural engagement and his martyrdom during the Occupation of Denmark of World War II. He i ...

, a prominent priest and playwright, who himself had though previously been sympathetic towards Mussolini and Hitler. In 1939, the paper rebuked the Danish government for signing a German-Danish treaty of non-aggression. In ''Jyllands-Postens own history of the paper, published on its website, the story of Kaj Munk's open letter to Mussolini and the paper's opposition to the Danish-German non-aggression treaty are mentioned, but not its sympathies towards Fascism and Nazism. The paper states: ''JP in this period turned itself firmly against the Soviet Union and

world communism World communism, also known as global communism, is the ultimate form of communism which of necessity has a universal or global scope. The long-term goal of world communism is an unlimited worldwide communist society that is classless (lacking ...

, while still maintaining a distance towards Germany, especially with its demands for a strengthened Danish military, and its support for the Danish minority in Southern Schleswig. In 1939 the paper, in opposition to the Copenhagen papers, went against the Danish-German non-aggression treaty.''

1940–present

Circulation almost doubled during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

, despite censorship and paper rationing. The number of copies rose from 24,000 to 46,000. The edition announcing the Liberation of Denmark sold 102,000 copies. A number of the paper's employees were involved in the

Danish resistance movement The Danish resistance movements ( da, Den danske modstandsbevægelse) were an underground insurgency to resist the German occupation of Denmark during World War II. Due to the initially lenient arrangements, in which the Nazi occupation autho ...

against the

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ge ...

occupation of Denmark At the outset of World War II in September 1939, Denmark declared itself neutral. For most of the war, the country was a protectorate and then an occupied territory of Germany. The decision to occupy Denmark was taken in Berlin on 17 Decem ...

. After the war, the paper continued to grow, and its ties and sympathy to business interests and industries grew stronger. The paper's nationalist-conservative line was replaced by a line supporting economic

liberalism Liberalism is a Political philosophy, political and moral philosophy based on the Individual rights, rights of the individual, liberty, consent of the governed, political equality and equality before the law."political rationalism, hostilit ...

. In 1954, ''Jyllands-Posten'' became the first newspaper in Denmark to use colour photos in its layouts. In 1956, the paper implemented the Danish spelling reform of 1948, although headlines were written in old style until 1965. In 1959, First Secretary of the Communist Party

Nikita Khrushchev Nikita Sergeyevich Khrushchev (– 11 September 1971) was the First Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union from 1953 to 1964 and chairman of the country's Council of Ministers from 1958 to 1964. During his rule, Khrushchev s ...

reportedly cancelled an official visit to Denmark, on the grounds that ''Jyllands-Posten'' had published a number of articles highly critical of the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen nationa ...

. ''Jyllands-Postens editorial line remained staunchly anti-Communist. ''Jyllands-Posten'' was affected by a series of strikes in 1956 and between 1973 and 1977. In 1977, the paper left the Union of Danish Employers, following a three-week-long strike against the introduction of new labour-saving equipment. In 1971, the paper bought out the joint stock company controlling it, and it has since been owned by a foundation. In the 1980s, the newspaper gradually increased its number of foreign correspondents, until finally stationing more than 20 journalists around the world. In 1982, ''Jyllands-Postens Sunday edition became the largest Sunday paper in Denmark. The paper established offices in Denmark's 10 largest cities. The 1990s were marked by a struggle with ''

Berlingske Tidende ''Berlingske'', previously known as ''Berlingske Tidende'' (, ''Berling's Times''), is a Danish national daily newspaper based in Copenhagen. It is considered a newspaper of record for Denmark. First published on 3 January 1749, ''Berlingske'' ...

'' which was seeking to expand its circulation in Jutland. In response, ''Jyllands-Posten'' began issuing a special version of the paper in Copenhagen. In 1994, the weekly edition became the biggest daily morning-newspaper in Denmark with a circulation of 153,000. In the period of 1995-96 the daily had a circulation of 161,000 copies. An internet edition was launched in January 1996 as the second Danish online media (after Ingeniøren),Behrendt, Maria.
Ing.dk kom først – lige fra den spæde start
'' Ingeniøren'', 24 December 2014. Accessed: 24 December 2014. and is the most visited Danish internet news site. In 2001 a number of journalists left ''Jyllands-Posten'' and launched the free distribution daily '' MetroXpress'' in cooperation with a Swedish media company. In 2003 ''Jyllands-Posten'' merged with the rival publisher of '' Politiken'' and '' Ekstra Bladet'' when the companies of the papers merged. However, the three newspapers maintain their editorial independence. Current members of the

board of trustees A board of directors (commonly referred simply as the board) is an executive committee that jointly supervises the activities of an organization, which can be either a for-profit or a nonprofit organization such as a business, nonprofit org ...

include two notable Danish rightwing intellectuals, David Gress and history professor Bent Jensen. In 2012, ''Jyllands-Posten Foundation'' became a founding member of the European Press Prize.

Ownership

Since 1 January 2003, ''Morgenavisen Jyllands-Posten'' has been owned and published by JP/Politikens Hus A/S. JP/Politikens Hus is owned in equal parts by Jyllands-Posten Holding A/S and A/S Politiken Holding, the

holding companies A holding company is a company whose primary business is holding a controlling interest in the securities of other companies. A holding company usually does not produce goods or services itself. Its purpose is to own shares of other companies ...

of ''Jyllands-Posten'' and '' Politiken'' respectively. The sole

shareholder A shareholder (in the United States often referred to as stockholder) of a corporation is an individual or legal entity (such as another corporation, a body politic, a trust or partnership) that is registered by the corporation as the legal o ...

of Jyllands-Posten Holding is the private foundation Jyllands-Postens Fond. Established in 1971, the fund's mission is to support the political and

editorial independence Editorial independence is the freedom of editors to make decisions without interference from the owners of a publication. Editorial independence is tested, for instance, if a newspaper runs articles that may be unpopular with its advertising ...

of ''Jyllands-Posten''.

Sections and features

On a daily basis, ''Jyllands-Posten'' has at least one section dedicated to business news in addition to its main news section. Other more specialised supplementary sections are published on a weekly basis. Starting on 5 January 2006, most of these supplements (not including business ones) have been printed in a tabloid format half the size of the broadsheet sections. They have a relatively colourful layout and are referred to as ''avismagasiner'' ("newspaper magazines"). * Must and Viva are not published on a weekly basis, but rather 10 times a year each, always on Fridays.

Comic strips

Daily comic strips in ''Jyllands-Posten'' are '' Ziggy'' and ''

Fred Basset ''Fred Basset'' is a comic strip about a male basset hound. The cartoon was created by Scottish cartoonist Alex Graham and published first in the ''Daily Mail'' on 8 July 1963. Fred's cartoon strips are renamed as ''Wurzel'' in Germany, ''Lill ...

'' (known as ''Freddie'' in Danish); the Danish comic ''Poeten og Lillemor'' was previously featured, but cancelled some time after the death of its creator, Jørgen Mogensen.

Website

Since 1996, ''Jyllands-Posten'' has also operated a news website, ''Internetavisen Jyllands-Posten''
www.jp.dk
. The website features a section of English-language news, supplied by ''

The Copenhagen Post ''The Copenhagen Post'', also stylized ''CPH Post'', is a weekly newspaper providing Danish news in English both nationally and internationally; it is the only English-language newspaper printed regularly in Denmark. History and profile Founded ...

'', while the Danish version of ''

Computerworld ''Computerworld'' (abbreviated as CW) is an ongoing decades old professional publication which in 2014 "went digital." Its audience is information technology (IT) and business technology professionals, and is available via a publication website ...

'' supplies much of the technology-related content.

PDF Portable Document Format (PDF), standardized as ISO 32000, is a file format developed by Adobe in 1992 to present documents, including text formatting and images, in a manner independent of application software, hardware, and operating systems. ...

editions of the printed newspaper from the recent few years are available to subscribers. A separate portal for business news, ''Erhverv På Nettet''
epn.dk
, was launched in October 2006; the main website now refers to epn.dk for business news, and epn.dk back to ''Jyllands-Posten'''s main site (as well as '' Ekstra Bladet'''s) for general news.

Political line

Immigration

''Jyllands-Posten'' does not present a consistently pro- or anti-migrant stance relative to other Danish newspapers. However, it has been criticized as being anti-migrant after a few controversial incidents. In 2002 the Danish Council of the Press criticised the newspaper for breaching its regulations on race while reporting on three Somalis charged with a crime. The relevant regulation was: "Any mention of family relations, occupation, race, nationality, faith or relationship to an organisation ought to be avoided, unless this has a direct relevance to the case," ''Jyllands-Posten'' published a story alleging asylum fraud by resident Palestinian refugees in Denmark. This contributed to the electoral success of

Anders Fogh Rasmussen Anders Fogh Rasmussen (; born 26 January 1953) is a Danish politician who was the 24th Prime Minister of Denmark from November 2001 to April 2009 and the 12th Secretary General of NATO from August 2009 to October 2014. He became CEO of polit ...

on 20 November 2001, whose political party campaigned for reduced immigration. The story was found to be unsupported and resulted in the sacking of the editor-in-chief Ulrik Haagerup on 12 December 2001 ('' Politiken'', ''

'',

Information Information is an abstract concept that refers to that which has the power to inform. At the most fundamental level information pertains to the interpretation of that which may be sensed. Any natural process that is not completely random, ...

, ''B.T.'', 13 December 2001). However, ''Jyllands-Posten'' maintained that the dismissal of Haagerup had nothing to do with his responsibility for the articles in question (editorial on 16 December 2001). According to ''

Weekendavisen ''Weekendavisen'' (meaning ''The Weekend Newspaper'' in English) is a Danish weekly broadsheet newspaper published on Fridays in Denmark. Its circulation (as of 2007) is approximately 60,000 copies, about ten per cent of which cover subscriptions ...

'', a newspaper that pretty much shares the political line of ''Jyllands-Posten'', the real reason for Haagerup's dismissal was a disagreement about the employment strategy (21 December 2001). The 2004 report on Denmark by the European Network Against Racism (ENAR), an organisation of NGOs funded partly by the

European Commission The European Commission (EC) is the executive of the European Union (EU). It operates as a cabinet government, with 27 members of the Commission (informally known as "Commissioners") headed by a President. It includes an administrative body ...

, concluded that the Danish media devoted an excessive proportion of their time to the problems posed by immigrants, and most often Islamic immigrants, while often ignoring the problems that these immigrants face. According to the ENAR report, out of 382 JP articles on immigrants, 212 were negative, a share similar to other Danish newspapers. The ENAR report holds newspapers such as ''Jyllands-Posten'' to blame for the rise of the anti-immigrant right-wing in Danish politics. A journalist employed at ''Jyllands-Posten'' won a second prize in 2005 in an EU wide competition for journalists for diversity and against discrimination. The compilation of several articles "The Integration Paper" by Orla Borg was awarded the second prize.

Pro-Israel

On 5 January 2008, the newspaper published an editorial expressing the views of the newspaper where they give unreserved support for Israel's war in Gaza. The newspaper starts by telling its readers they are happy that those in the international community who are important are not condemning the Israeli attacks on Gaza. The newspaper continues with saying that the war is not complicated at all and blames Hamas and Palestinians for the Israeli attacks. The newspaper also states that Israel should avoid killing civilians but continues "But war is war. Civilians have always died in wars."

Controversies

Muhammad cartoons

The paper gained international attention after its controversial publication in September 2005 of 12 cartoons depicting

Islam Islam (; ar, ۘالِإسلَام, , ) is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion centred primarily around the Quran, a religious text considered by Muslims to be the direct word of God (or '' Allah'') as it was revealed to Muhammad, the ...

and

Muhammad Muhammad ( ar, مُحَمَّد; 570 – 8 June 632 CE) was an Arab religious, social, and political leader and the founder of Islam. According to Islamic doctrine, he was a prophet divinely inspired to preach and confirm the mon ...

; one of these showed Muhammad with a bomb in his turban. This drew protests from Muslims living in Denmark, followed in early 2006 by protests throughout the

Muslim world The terms Muslim world and Islamic world commonly refer to the Islamic community, which is also known as the Ummah. This consists of all those who adhere to the religious beliefs and laws of Islam or to societies in which Islam is practiced. I ...

. The newspaper was accused of misusing

freedom of speech Freedom of speech is a principle that supports the freedom of an individual or a community to articulate their opinions and ideas without fear of retaliation, censorship, or legal sanction. The right to freedom of expression has been recogni ...

by Muslim groups and a number of ethnic Danish intellectuals. The Muhammad cartoons controversy resulted in the withdrawal of the

Libya Libya (; ar, ليبيا, Lībiyā), officially the State of Libya ( ar, دولة ليبيا, Dawlat Lībiyā), is a country in the Maghreb region in North Africa. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Egypt to the east, Suda ...

n, Saudi and

Syria Syria ( ar, سُورِيَا or سُورِيَة, translit=Sūriyā), officially the Syrian Arab Republic ( ar, الجمهورية العربية السورية, al-Jumhūrīyah al-ʻArabīyah as-Sūrīyah), is a Western Asian country loc ...

n ambassadors from Denmark, as well as consumer boycotts of Danish products in a number of Islamic countries. The newspaper had apologised for offending Muslims, but maintained that it had the right to print the cartoons. In April 2003, the same editor on the newspaper rejected a set of unsolicited

Jesus Jesus, likely from he, יֵשׁוּעַ, translit=Yēšūaʿ, label= Hebrew/ Aramaic ( AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ or Jesus of Nazareth (among other names and titles), was a first-century Jewish preacher and relig ...

cartoons submitted by Christoffer Zieler on the basis that they were offensive. The Muhammed cartoons were explicitly solicited by the editor. Ahmed Akkari, spokesman for the Danish-based European Committee for Prophet Honouring, saw this as a double standard. Maiduguri, Nigeria; Central Africa, On 18 February 2006, riots related to the Muhammad cartoons published by the Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten left at least 15 people dead, and resulted in the destruction of approximately 12 churches. Soldiers and police quelled the riots, and the government temporarily imposed a curfew. In February 2008, following the arrest of three men who allegedly had conspired to kill one of the cartoonists, Jyllands-Posten and 16 other Danish newspapers republished the cartoon in question to "show their commitment to freedom of speech". A Pakistani-American terrorist,

David Headley David Coleman Headley (born Daood Sayed Gilani; June 30, 1960) is an American terrorist. He is currently serving a 35-year sentence in the United States after pleading guilty to 12 international terrorism charges. It has been alleged that Headl ...

(born Daood Sayed Gilani), 48, and Tahawwur Hussain Rana, 48, were charged by U.S. federal authorities in Chicago, in complaints unsealed on 27 October 2009, of plotting against the employees of the newspaper in Copenhagen. Headley was accused of traveling to Denmark to scout the building of the Jyllands-Posten and a nearby synagogue, for a terrorist attack. A small explosion at Hotel Jørgensen in Copenhagen on 10 September 2010 was described by the police as an accident with a letter bomb that was meant to be sent to ''Jyllands-Posten''. In September 2010, a 37-year-old Iraqi Kurd arrested in Norway earlier that year and suspected of planning unspecified terrorist attacks confessed that one of his targets was ''Jyllands-Posten''. Five men were arrested in December 2010 in the direct process of carrying out the attack. The arrest was due to the men being under tight surveillance, and covert investigation from the Swedish and Danish intelligence services in a successful cooperation. The arrested men including a 37-year-old Swedish citizen of

Tunisia ) , image_map = Tunisia location (orthographic projection).svg , map_caption = Location of Tunisia in northern Africa , image_map2 = , capital = Tunis , largest_city = capital , ...

n origin living in

Stockholm Stockholm () is the capital and largest city of Sweden as well as the largest urban area in Scandinavia. Approximately 980,000 people live in the municipality, with 1.6 million in the urban area, and 2.4 million in the metropo ...

, a 44-year-old Tunisian, a 29-year-old Lebanese-born man, and a 26-year-old Iraqi asylum-seeker living in

Copenhagen Copenhagen ( or .; da, København ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a proper population of around 815.000 in the last quarter of 2022; and some 1.370,000 in the urban area; and the wider Copenhagen metropolitan a ...

—for allegedly planning "to kill as many of the people present as possible" in the ''Jyllands-Posten'' Copenhagen newsdesk.

COVID-19 outbreak in China

In January 2020, during the

COVID-19 pandemic in China The COVID-19 pandemic in China is part of the worldwide pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). China was the first country to experience an outbreak of the di ...

, the newspaper received international attention when it published a cartoon depicting the

Chinese flag The National Flag of the People's Republic of China, also known as the Five-star Red Flag, is a Chinese red field with five golden stars charged at the canton. The design features one large star, with four smaller stars in an arc set off tow ...

with yellow virus-like figures instead of the usual yellow stars. Unlike the Muhammad cartoons, the illustration of the Chinese flag was not published in the satire section nor was it intended as a provocation, but was published along an article about the outbreak in China. The Chinese embassy in Denmark demanded an official apology from the newspaper. Danish

Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is ...

Mette Frederiksen refused to apologize on behalf of the Danish government, declaring that there is freedom of speech in Denmark. Other Danish newspapers, although some of them regarded the illustration as impolite, supported ''Jyllands-Posten'', noting that Danish newspapers operate under Danish law, not based on intimidation from a non-democratic country, and also pointed out that few would have seen the illustration if not for the actions of the Chinese embassy. The illustrator received numerous threats, and social media platforms were flooded by illustrations of the Danish flag that had been edited to included feces, texts like ''alle jeres familier døde'' ("all your families are dead") and similar mockery in what experts regarded as a coordinated action, much of it spread by newly started profiles that appeared to be automated. The attempt of forcing ''Jyllands-Posten'' to apologize was similar to several earlier cases in Scandinavia where Chinese authorities had attempted to discredit the local media, especially ones that had focused on sensitive Chinese matters like the Xinjiang re-education camps and the imprisonment of book publisher and writer

Gui Minhai Gui Minhai (, formerly ; born 5 May 1964), also known as Michael Gui, is a Chinese-born Swedish book publisher and writer. He is an author of many books related to Chinese politics and Chinese political figures; Gui authored around 200 books ...

. Around the same time as the publication of the drawing in ''Jyllands-Posten'', similar drawings were published independently in Belgium, the Netherlands and Mexico, but they were not met by the same response by the Chinese authorities.

Public perception

References in fiction

*In the novel ''Den hårde frugt'' (1977, winner of "Kritikerprisen") by the celebrated

Aarhus Aarhus (, , ; officially spelled Århus from 1948 until 1 January 2011) is the second-largest city in Denmark and the seat of Aarhus Municipality. It is located on the eastern shore of Jutland in the Kattegat sea and approximately northwe ...

author

Tage Skou-Hansen Tage Skou-Hansen (12 February 1925 – 11 November 2015) was a Danish writer, editor and scholar. Overview Born in the town of Fredericia, Tage Skou-Hansen graduated from Marselisborg Gymnasium in Aarhus and became a student of history of lit ...

, a group of left-wing terrorists plan to blow up the house of ''Jyllands-Posten''. The main character, Holger Mikkelsen, a well-off lawyer known from Skou-Hansen's other novels, is confronted with his own past in the resistance movement during the German

. *The novel ''Stasiland'' (2001) by Flemming Christian Nielsen is widely perceived to be a satirical roman à clef account of ''Jyllands-Posten''. According to the publishing house: "The newspaper views its mission to praise democracy and freedom, but are they mere words meant to hide that its reporters are the victims of a creeping totalitarianism?"

References

External links

''Jyllands-Postens own presentation of its history

''Internetavisen Jyllands-Posten''
(news site)
JP's news in English

Kampen om demokratiet 1930-45
{{Authority control 1871 establishments in Denmark Danish-language newspapers Mass media in Aarhus Daily newspapers published in Denmark Publications established in 1871 Danish companies established in 1871