Page 109 - Courting the Media Contemporary Perspectives on Media and Law

100 Per-Anders Forstorp

Stockholm, Sweden. The man in the fight was the doorkeeper at the Crazy
Horse. The woman was the Chairman of the Social Democratic Youth of
Sweden (SSU), who visited the bar with a number of friends and colleagues.
The following day, leading newspapers ran the following headlines:

Excerpt 1

SSU-boss placed in drunk cell. Words stand against words after
Anna Sjödin was caught suspected of assaulting a civil servant (SSU-bas
sattes i fyllecell. Ord står mot ord efter att Anna Sjödin gripits misstänkt
för våld mot tjänsteman) [Dagens Nyheter, January 30 2006] (emphasis
added).

Excerpt 2

Words stand against words in the bar row (Ord står mot ord i
krogbråket) [Dagens Nyheter, January 31, 2006] (emphasis added)

The employees of the bar brought action against the woman. When the
trial was initiated at the district court of Stockholm in September the same
year, the same formulations surfaced in the headlines:

Excerpt 3

Words stand against words (Ord står mot ord) [Svenska Dagbladet
September 27, 2006] (emphasis added).

Excerpt 4

Words vs. words when the Sjödin trial is initiated (Ord mot ord när
Sjödinrättegång inleds) [Sveriges Radio, September 27, 2006] (emphasis
added).

The woman was later prosecuted on a number of counts: assaulting a civil
servant, insult, and arbitrary conduct. In December, following a district court
decision, the woman was fined. The same day she published a public letter of