''Rikets tilstand'' ("State of the Realm") is a Norwegian investigative

documentary A documentary film (often described simply as a documentary) is a nonfiction Film, motion picture intended to "document reality, primarily for instruction, education or maintaining a Recorded history, historical record". The American author and ...

series that aired on TV 2 from 1999 to 2002. The host was Gerhard Helskog, former host of ''

Dokument 2 ''Dokument 2'' is a Norwegian investigative documentary series that has aired on TV 2 since its inception in 1992. The series was originally hosted by Gerhard Helskog, later by Tonje Steinsland. The documentaries have won several Gullruten ...

''. The series premiered on 30 September 1999. ''Rikets tilstand'' won a SKUP diploma and the

Gullruten Gullruten ("Golden Screen") is an annual award for the Norway, Norwegian TV industry, founded in 1998 by ''Norske Film- og TV-produsenters forening''. The awarding committee has representatives from the major national TV companies, Norwegian Broa ...

award for best documentary for the two-part episode ''

Norske jenter omskjæres ''Norske jenter omskjæres'' ( English: ''Norwegian girls are being circumcised'') is a Norwegian television documentary that was aired in two parts as part of the '' Rikets tilstand'' investigative series on TV 2 on 27 September and 4 October 200 ...

'' (2000), about Norwegian Muslim girls being subjected to

female genital mutilation Female genital mutilation (FGM) (also known as female genital cutting, female genital mutilation/cutting (FGM/C) and female circumcision) is the cutting or removal of some or all of the vulva for non-medical reasons. Prevalence of female ge ...

with the secret approval of

imam Imam (; , '; : , ') is an Islamic leadership position. For Sunni Islam, Sunni Muslims, Imam is most commonly used as the title of a prayer leader of a mosque. In this context, imams may lead Salah, Islamic prayers, serve as community leaders, ...

s. The series became subject to a scandal in 2002 after an episode made unsubstantiated allegations of doping in the Norwegian national skiing team. The series was also tarnished for sparking a

moral panic A moral panic is a widespread feeling of fear that some evil person or thing threatens the values, interests, or well-being of a community or society. It is "the process of arousing social concern over an issue", usually perpetuated by moral e ...

following an episode in 2001 alleging the now-discredited link between the MMR vaccine and autism. Helskog was himself sued for libel (although eventually acquitted) by Jan Simonsen, who claimed the series had directly resulted in him being expelled from the Progress Party.

References

{{reflist 1999 Norwegian television series debuts Norwegian documentary television series TV 2 (Norway) original programming 2002 Norwegian television series endings MMR vaccine and autism