Cph#20year edition web

1998-2018: CPH POST 20-YEAR ANNIVERSARY SPECIAL EDITION

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20-YEAR ANNIVERSARY THE COPENHAGEN POST | CPHPOST.DK

1998 - 2018

Reaching 20: a journey of serendipity every single issue – and one thing is clear: this has never been an easy business. Not least, we keep on making the same mistakes.

Ben Hamilton, editor As Johnny Logan once said: “What’s another year?”

And he certainly had a point, we reasoned when CPH POST reached its 10 and 15-year milestones.

But 20 years … we couldn’t ignore that, could we?

– especially as it gives us an excuse to take a look at our checkered history and how things haven’t always gone as planned at this English-language newspaper.

Stunning typos, strange notions, short-sighted schemes, spendthrift planning, swindling salespeople and senseless alliteration have done their best to derail the business.

But nevertheless … five overall editors, four relocations, three designs, two takeovers and one city later, we are still standing!

Trying conditions To make this supplement, I have leafed through

I’ve discovered this past month that some of the failed initiatives launched during my 11 years at the newspaper had actually been tried before.

Sweden, for example, is a complete waste of time if you’re not from that country!

Whether this was due to the steady turnover of staff, or disinterest from those who stayed, is unclear at times – so I’ve had to use guesswork trying to decipher the true story of the newspaper’s first nine years.

With that in mind, I’d like to apologise to anyone whose contributions have been omitted from this history, or who feels misrepresented – particularly as being misunderstood by ‘outsiders’ has always been an occupational hazard working here It’s bad enough that anyone who has ever read a newspaper is invariably an expert, but in the case of CPH POST, being an employee can be particularly trying. Overworked and underpaid, it’s an environment in which idealists and perfectionists quickly burn out and only the realists endure.

Thank you readers!

Today in 2018, it’s a vastly different media landscape from the one our intrepid ‘Postie Fathers’ first encountered in 1998 – an increasingly competitive, even desperate industry – and our longevity owes much to the support of Ejvind Sandal, the long-term owner from 2000 to 2017.

Today, Sandal retains a 28 percent stake following a management buyout last year, thus ending the newspaper’s dependence on his deep pockets – maybe you didn’t know that … well, I can promise more of the same in this special supplement. If you thought 2013 ended dramatically, just wait until you get to 2015.

Looking to the future, it is standalone time, and the pressure has seen us dramatically downsize.

Whether we reach our big 4-OH will depend on the backing of our readers and advertisers, of which many have kindly agreed to support this supplement.

We thank our readers for sticking with us these past two decades, and most particularly for responding to our advertisers – as it’s only through this relationship that we can continue to offer you free news and stay in existence.

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20-YEAR ANNIVERSARY

1998 - 2018

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20-YEAR ANNIVERSARY THE COPENHAGEN POST | CPHPOST.DK

Publisher: CPH POST • CEO: Hans Hermansen • Editor: Ben Hamilton • Layout: Peter Larsen• Info: hans@cphpost.dk • Tel: +45 2420 2411

1998 - 2018

20-YEAR ANNIVERSARY

1998 - 2018

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20-YEAR ANNIVERSARY THE COPENHAGEN POST | CPHPOST.DK

1998

45 Issues

February 19 – Volume 1 Issue 1 The first issue of the Copenhagen Post hits the newsstands. Available for just 10 kroner, there’s no doubt this is a newspaper that intends to make an impression. The POST BOX on page 2 reveals it has an editor-in-chief, managing editor, news editor, two assistant editors (Danish language and English language), business editor, special features editor and sports editor at its office at Skt Peders Stræde 27B. The non-editorial quotient only includes a president/publisher, chief executive, commercial director, advertising representative and design consultant.

March 19, 0105: Four issues in, and CPH POST is catching up on some sleep after a close-run general election in which Socialdemokratiet wins another term. Ouch! The front page reads ‘Issue 4’ – the kind of typo the staff and readers will learn to accept is part and parcel of the CPH POST identity. Slowly, the newspaper is taking shape. Business, sports, TV and history sections are obvious choices, but rental videos, tourism, an entire page dedicated to the coming weekend’s Superliga fixtures, and recipes perhaps not so.

April 2, 0107: CPH POST underlines its increasing clout with an interview with new Venstre leader Anders Fogh Rasmussen. “Can this Liberal make a difference” the headline asks. Liberal seems a bit of a stretch.

April 16, 0109: The In & Out entertainment listings guide finally makes its bow. Just four pages long, The Globe steps up as its only advertiser, thus becoming the only organisation to advertise in the first issue of the newspaper and the guide. For its third issue, it expands to eight pages, incorporating the TV listings and film reviews from the main paper.

May 14, 0113: A national strike by the country’s printers derails a whole issue, which CPH POST finds room for in its next instalment.

1998 - 2018

of the preview reads: “? ??: The party’s not over until WE decide it. The beep goes on.”

Nov 26, 0141: Two familiar faces, who go on to become loyal friends and supporters of CPH POST, take out adverts in the paper for the first time. In the case of Vivienne McKee, it’s a promotion for her 1998-99 Crazy Christmas Cabaret, ‘Tarzan – King of the Swingers’. While for Ian Burns, whose company That Theatre is also celebrating its 20th anniversary in 2018, it’s for his first-ever produc-

July 23, 0123: Following a rather barren couple of months advertisingwise, CPH POST introduces what will prove to be one of its most popular features: the crossword. Meanwhile, a news website is also launched.

Sep 10, 0129: The editorial team has already been reduced in size, although they find room in this issue to add an environment editor.

Sep 17, 0131: Four weeks after launching its legendary alternative nightlife column ‘The Little Murmur’, In & Out editor Thomas DalvangFleurquin announces plans for a single-night club event entitled ‘The Copenhagen Distortion’. The final line

tion, ‘Jurassic Pork’, in which he joins forces with well-established star Tom McEwan. Elsewhere on the advertising front, things have improved since the arrival of David Williams, whose pursuit of airlines has delivered the national carriers of several countries, including Lithuania, the Czech Republic, Spain and Saudi Arabia – for varying lengths of time.

Nov 26: 0141: The tone changes somewhat in the Portrait of the Week column, as an anonymous writer takes over duties, bringing a more acerbic timbre to affairs.

Marcus Hoy Sports / features editor 1997-2003 Initially, the Danish establishment didn’t care much for CPH POST. Press cards were denied by the journalists’ union, and without official accreditation we were refused access to press conferences, events and functions. In truth, we didn’t have time for much actual journalism and many early articles were unauthorised translations of those appearing in the Danish press.

The first editor at the cramped office in Copenhagen’s Old Town was a Danish journalist whose written English wasn’t the best. We dreaded his edits, as they often made our articles worse.

I’d originally thrilled to see my byline in print, but I ended up demanding it be removed due to the imposed bad grammar.

In the early days, salaries regularly went unpaid and CPH POST always seemed to be on the brink of bankruptcy. I witnessed near-mental breakdowns and even physical fights among staff.

After a couple of year’s existence we received invites to one of the expat community’s premier social functions, the British Embassy’s ‘Summer Drinks’.

In hindsight it probably wasn’t a good idea to go to Christiania first to ‘stock up’. The presence of a free bar ensured chaos ensued, and invites were not forthcoming for many subsequent years.

Despite being sacked and reinstated twice, I’m very grateful for my experiences. These included a helicopter tour over the half-finished Øresund Bridge, standing in the tunnel at Brøndby Stadium with the Barcelona team, watching Mike Tyson take on Brian Nielsen at Parken and posing questions to Tony Blair and Alex Ferguson (who called my question “stupid”) at press conferences.

When I finally left to become a freelancer I had a press card, a vastly improved CV and the knowledge that success in Denmark depends a lot more on your capacity to ‘fit in’ than your ability to do a job.

20-YEAR ANNIVERSARY

1998 - 2018

1999 ’

45 issues

Feb 18, 0207: The front-page of the one-year anniversary edition promotes an interview with a 30-year-old female handball player who is considering a career in coaching. The Pulitzer Prize is in the post. Otherwise, though, things are looking up after a lean start to the year. Among the new advertisers are Copenhagen International School, the Copenhagen Theatre Circle (‘The Good Old Days’) and The Dubliner.

March 11, 0210: CPH POST publishes its first ever supplement: an eight-page instalment to honour St Patrick’s Day … with lots of adverts.

Pre-parade and three-legged race, a long list of since-deceased pubs line up to advertise, including Foley’s and Bloomsday, along with Willows grocery shop and Baron & Baroness.

Among the features is one marking the tenth birthday of the city’s oldest Irish pub, The Shamrock Inn.

May 13, 0217: There is a call for the justice minister, Frank Jensen, the future city mayor, to resign on the front cover. He looks like a school leaver, but is in fact 37.

July 12, 0221: The newspaper is reduced in size from 12 to eight pages, the same length as In & Out, and advertising appears to be flatlining.

Meanwhile, there’s a change of guard as Lewis Demat is appointed editor.

Outside the newspaper, nobody knows who he is.

July 19, 0222: A new issue and a new president and publisher is confirmed in the POST BOX: the Danish lawyer and businessman Ejvind Sandal.

July 26, 0223: Sandal is introduced to the readers in a page 2 special –

Thomas Dalvang-Fleuquin CPH POST co-founder / In & Out founder & editor 1998-2008 Myself, and the other founders – my close friend San Shepherd and his father Philip Shepherd – all felt Copenhagen was an underrated city with a lot of international potential, and that an English-language newspaper could help it on its way.

In a way, we were right about the city. Between 1998 and 2005, Copenhagen went through a golden age that saw it transform from a provincial Scandinavian hellhole into a cool international city.

When we started, we had a few journalists, but San and I did everything else. I’d work 40 hours from Monday to Wednesday making the paper, drive to the printer Wednesday night to deliver the files, sleep in the van while they printed, then distribute them. Friday and Saturday night, I’d work in a bar so I could earn some money.

If I could do things differently, I would have stopped in 2004 and not 2008. It was around 2004 that my brain started to wear down, as we went from being an entrepreneurial endeavour to a company seeking to solidify itself. I had enjoyed more the impossible nature of what we were doing. finally an exclusive for the newspaper.

The 56-year-old is confident there will be “significant growth in the market for English language information, not only in Denmark, but in the whole of Scandinavia”, and founder San Shepherd, who confirms he will staying on as chief executive, hopes Sandal’s clout will enable the paper to access more editorial contributions from the Danish community. The article reveals that the newspaper’s website is now averaging 20,000 unique visitors a month and that a daily newsletter is being distributed to 1,000 recipients every weekday. As the advertiser list suggest, CPH Post has enjoyed some success with various airlines.

Nov 29, 0241: San Shepherd takes over the editor-in-chief responsibilities from his mother Karin and is now responsible under Danish press law.

In & Out experiments with a new font.

It lasts just one issue.

Ejvind Sandal and San Shepherd

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20-YEAR ANNIVERSARY

2000

THE COPENHAGEN POST | CPHPOST.DK

1998 - 2018

49 issues

May 18, 0319: Denmark wins Eurovision for the first time since 1963 as the Olsen Brothers triumph with ‘Fly on the Wings of Love’.

May 26, 0320: The headline “Copenhagen Distooooortionn!!” announces that what began as a single night party in 1998 has now expanded into a five-day festival. Starting on Wednesday 31 May at Rust in Nærrebro, it will then visit Park Café in Østerbro and Vega in Vesterbro over the next two nights, before taking in a whole range of city centre clubs (and double-decker buses) on Saturday and two chill-out park events on Sunday.

June 7, 0321: Editor Lewis Demat is finally confirmed as the writer of the

2001

controversial previously authorless ‘Portrait of the Week’.

June 16, 0322: The Øresund Bridge opens, bringing neighbours Sweden a whole lot closer. Around 280,000 people take part in the festivities, with 91,000 running across the bridge.

July 7, 0325: Eight die in a tragic crush at a Pearl Jam concert at the Roskilde Fesitval.

July 14, 0326: Fans of Pearl Jam ex-

press their disgust at a short article in the previous edition of the CPH POST entitled ‘Controversial Pearl Jam Past’.

“You’re not selling news; you’re selling lies and half-truths and should be ashamed of yourselves. Disgusting,” writes one fan from Albuquerque.

Editor Lewis Demat apologises for any offence caused, but maintains that the band’s “controversial past is well documented and was not invented by myself”.

Aug 4, 0329: CPH POST interviews the new coach of FC Copenhagen:

future England boss Roy Hodgson.

Despite his fluency in Swedish following his stint as coach of Malmö FF, he confirms English is the language of choice at the club.

Sep 30, 0337: The Danes reject the euro, with 53 percent voting against the adoption of the currency.

Nov 10, 0343: The queen’s mother, Ingrid, the consort of Frederik IX, dies at the age of 90. She outlived her husband by 28 years.

48 issues

Jan 26, 0403: CPH POST is advertising for a copy editor, news journalist and feature journalist, as well as a DTP and layout assistant and subscriptions salespersons – is it expanding? No longer is the POST BOX a long list of editors, with no fewer than three employees listed as news journalists.

The focus would appear to be on subscriptions, as the number of adverts dropped dramatically in 2000 in line with a policy to only include promotions befitting of a serious newspaper.

Aug 24, 0431: The map is taking shape with no fewer than 13 establishments creatively marked on what is still essentially one road.

appropriate launching pad for a stinging attack on SAS.

April 6, 0413: A map makes its debut in In & Out. It’s pretty threadbare and linear, but it’s a start.

April 27, 0425: Diego Vega is listed in the Post Box for the first time; Rebecca K Engmann is a features writer for In & Out – it won’t be long before they’re writing half the newspaper between them.

Oct 26, 0440: Rebecca K Engmann, who has been writing half the paper for two to three months, is finally included on the POST BOX as a journalist.

Nov 23, 0444: Anders Fogh Rasmussen is confirmed as the new PM of Denmark.

Sep 14, 0434: The reaction to 9/11 dominates the news output. The Portrait of the Week deems it an

Oct 12, 0438: SAS suffers its worst ever air disaster when 118 people are killed in a crash in Italy. Nineteen Danes are among the dead.

20-YEAR ANNIVERSARY

1998 - 2018

2002

47 issues

March 1, 0508: A big shake-up, or should that be shakedown, at the top, although there is no mention in the newspaper. The founder San Shepherd leaves his role as CEO/editor-in-chief and is replaced by Jesper Nymark as chief executive and by his father Philip as editor. The mysterious Lewis Demat, the managing editor, stays on as the author of Portrait of the Week, but the headlines retain a familiar ring. Nymark, an art graduate, will go on to become the newspaper’s longest-serving employee and over his first two years oversee an increase in circulation – up from 3,000 to 10,000 copies – and news dissemination as CPH POST agrees deals to supply content to the likes of Ritzaus Bureau, the EU Commission, Wonderful Copenhagen, and the Danish Foreign Ministry at denmark.dk. “I was supposed to help my friend San find a visionary leader, and I was looking and looking,” Nymark later explained to Berlingske. “But it ended up being myself because I could see the idea of​​ the newspaper and its future.”

April 19, 0514: CPH POST informs its readers that next week’s issue has

been cancelled due to the “changed print deadline of next week’s holiday”. Meanwhile, the advertisers are returning in heavy numbers – the Copenhagen Marriott, the Roskilde Festival and even a couple of brands.

May 17, 0517: A positive review of ‘Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones’ might have been an error of judgement in hindsight.

June 28, 0523: A main article on a news page lovingly praises the Copenhagen Marriott for passing an inspection by legendary owner JW Marriott – CPH POST first ever advertorial perhaps?

Sep 20, 0535: Chris Myers, the king of the barter deals, gets taken on as a salesman. Within weeks he has transformed the classifieds into a hive of activity and with the help of Vicki Kingsley starts to reinvigorate the fortunes of the paper. Eight issues later he is confirmed as the new sales and advertising manager.

Sep 27, 0536: Mary Donaldson, two years after meeting Prince Frederik, makes her bow in the CPH POST. The

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year also includes the debut of Lars Løkke Rasmussen and Mads Mikkelsen in the paper.

Dec 6, 0546: CPH POST publishes its first serious supplement: a preview of the 2002 EU Summit. The issue includes first-time advertisers Denmark.dk, Fisketorvet, Albatross Travel and EasyJet, capping a year that also welcomed the likes of the Roskilde Festival, Danish Red Cross, Novo Nordisk and irland-turisme.dk.

Aug 16, 0530: Finally a penis joke makes it into the newspaper’s lead story, even if it is a little flaccid.

“Smaller when it’s cold” doesn’t really fit the story and photo relating to a visiting billionaire docking his big yacht in Copenhagen Harbour. meanwhile, the paper launches its first ever news voxpop.

Sep 6, 0533: Rebecca K Engmann is rewarded for all her hard work and promoted to the role of managing editor. The voxpop is duly discontinued.

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IRON RING is a visual poem, to a great musical work.

The music Shostakovich 7th Symphony in a bombardment of sensuous, grotesque and touching images.

10 20-YEAR ANNIVERSARY THE COPENHAGEN POST | CPHPOST.DK

2003

lishes the definitive guide map, the reference of choice for visitors until this very day. A slight hiccup in the very next issue ensures that nobody can see where the advertisers are located, but it proves popular with the readers.

49 issues

Jan 10, 0601: The queen is interviewed by the Sunday Telegraph’s Gyles Brandreth. She smokes 14 cigarettes during the two-hour interview and concedes that “it hasn’t always been easy for her husband”, comparing their relationship to the weather. The newspaper is printed over 16 pages – the first issue containing more than 12 pages since 1998.

Jan 24, 0603: In & Out gives a good review to ‘Die Another Day’, the worst of all the Bond films.

March 7, 0609: Wonders never cease.

In the three months following ‘Christ’ Myers’s promotion, advertising revenue and circulation numbers triple.

And Lewis Demat even gets some fan

2004

1998 - 2018

50 issues

Jan 9, 0701: The Portrait of the Week draws another complaint, this time from the Hansens in Copenhagen.

The “vulgarity, boorishness and grossness” has lost the CPH POST a reader, no rather an entire family of readers, they inform the editor. Meanwhile,

mail commending him on “schoolboy toilet humour”.

June 13, 0622: CPH POST draws attention to a Børsen article claiming that the newspaper is on course for an operational profit in 2003, with owner Ejvind Sandal apportioned most of the credit following his 1999 takeover when he bought the operation for a single krone. Suffice it to say, June was a bit early to make such a prediction. another four pages have been added to the newspaper, taking the whole affair to 36.

Jan 30, 0704: Lewis Demat is back in the POST BOX as a journalist.

Feb 13, 0706: A Swedish News page is added to the newspaper, and it duly delivers in the next issue with an ad

June 27, 0624: In & Out adds four more pages to include a map across its centre page spread. With the newspaper now up to 16 pages, CPH POST is 28 pages in length. Just one year ago, it was 16 pages long.

July 4, 0625: CPH POST publishes its first ever Copenhagen Jazz Festival supplement.

Aug 15, 0631: In & Out finally pubfor Malmo’s Mayfair Hotel.

April 23, 0716: A new Local Community News page is launched, covering a mix of expat sport and news related to diplomatic circles and international schools. One of the first pieces concerns the launch of a new gaelic football side, GAA Copenhagen.

May 21, 0720: Mary and Frederik tie the knot on May 14 at Vor Frue Kirke in Copenhagen.

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May 28, 0720: A full page ad announces that Denmark’s newest Irish pub, the Irish Rover, is opening with a big party on July 9.

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See www.teaterskolen.com for audition details.

June 25, 0725: A 2-2 draw between Denmark and Sweden – the only possible result that would guarantee the teams’ qualification for the quarter-finals – sends Italy crashing out of Euro 2004 in Portugal. CPH POST is besieged by angry fans of the Azzurri, with Patricio in Milan arguing that the two countries’ citizens deserved to “be punished to go by bicycle all the life”.

Oct 31, 0642: CPH POST remains in buoyant mood. A story entitled ‘Resisting the English-language takeover’ refers to the ”success of this newspaper” in the lead-in.

Nov 7, 0643: Make that 16 pages! In & Out adds four more to make the whole paper 32 pages long. Just one year earlier, it was 20 pages long.

Dec 12, 0648: CPH POST publishes its first wrap-around – a four-pager containing its Management Conference supplement.

July 23, 0729: CPH POST interviews Noel Fox, the founder of the Scandinavian Times, the first Englishlanguage newspaper in the region, which ran from 1972 to 1977. Fox then sold the newspaper to SAS, and it continued thereafter as the airline’s in-flight magazine Scanorama.

Aug 20, 0733: A new photographer is added to the POST BOX: Hasse Ferrold. His first big splash, photos of dignitaries at a film premiere in December, is greeted by the headline “HELLO magazine, here we come!” But it doesn’t put him off, and 14 years later, he is still contributing to the newspaper.

Sep 10, 0736: The Cursen-hagen Post? An employee’s wedding photos illustrates a story about divorce rates … barely a year or two before his own.

Oct 1, 0739: More fan mail for Lewis Demat, this time from Bill Burk, who sounds like he might be an ex-Marine.

“It is obviously not a coincidence you are called Burk,” responds Demat.

Oct 8, 0740: Chris Myers steps down as sales and advertising manager. Is this the end of an era?

1998 - 2018

20-YEAR ANNIVERSARY

11

12 2005

THE COPENHAGEN POST | CPHPOST.DK

1998 - 2018

51 issues

Jan 7, 0801: The Local Community News page and Lewis Demat’s Portrait of the Week have been discontinued, but the Swedish page continues, despite only yielding one advertiser in 11 months. Our neighbour is a hard nut to crack, it would appear, despite a marketing drive in Malmö and a page two ‘news story’ entitled “Shop in Sweden and save” in Issue 8 Volume 7.

Jan 28, 0804: A new name is added to the Post Box. The Maine journalist Kevin McGwin will end up spending nearly nine years at the newspaper.

Together with three other 2005 additions – journalist Uzi Frank and salespeople Mark Millen and Jeanne Thames – he will help shape a new-look staff moving onwards.

Long-serving journalist Howard R Knowles officially leaves, while managing editor Rebecca K Engmann departed in 2004. The newspaper makes it a policy to drop middle name initials from the post box.

March 18, 0811: CPH POST owner Ejvind Sandal is appointed chairman of Brøndby football club. By this point, the newspaper staff have lost count of the number of his director and chairmanships – as many as 40, it is rumoured. He will go to take the credit for the sacking of Mi-

chael Laudrup (in reality, they parted company after failing to agree the terms of a new contract) and also selling Daniel Agger to Liverpool for a record fee.

May 6, 0818: Politicians Helle Thorning-Schmidt and Villy Søvndal, along with boxer Mikkel Kessler, make their debuts in the paper.

May 20, 0818: A curious supplement entitled Original Denmark is published. Denmark is … original, we’re told. But this is the boom and the ads are flying.

June 17, 0825: CPH POST publishes a Chicago Downtown Edition eightpage wrap-around to mark the Rotary International Convention.

Besides getting the issue number wrong, it’s a valiant effort.

June 24, 0826: “School’s out for summer” is used as the front-page headline for the fourth year in succession.

Sep 23, 0838: CPH POST publishes its first ever Relocation supplement. An instant success, it becomes a regular biannual fixture.

Oct 14, 0841: Finally! After eight years of mostly indifferent headlines, the film page decides to award star ratings to give the reader a faster overview of affairs, and the first lucky recipients are ‘Flightplan’ (two) and ‘Wedding Crashers’ (three). Confus-

ingly, perhaps, the system permits a no star rating – which when used is read as another glaring typo.

Oct 21, 0842: Trouble is on the horizon for Denmark, but CPH POST takes its eye off the ball. It fails to notice a September 16 story about a children’s writer struggling to illustrate his book about Mohammed, followed

by Jyllands-Posten’s September 19 challenge to the cartoonists union to comply and subsequent publication of its infamous cartoons on September 30 – but to be fair, so do most of the country’s media, and it takes an onslaught of complaints from concerned Muslims to put them on track.

It isn’t until several weeks later that it reports “Prophet cartoons lead to death threats” – the tip of the iceberg it will transpire.

Uzi Frank Journalist / In & Out editor 2005-2008 It’s no secret that in its early years CPH POST operated on a shoestring budget.

Holed up at the bottom of a courtyard, the office had no sunlight, was freezing cold in the winter, and steamy like a jungle in the summer.

One day the writers were dreaming of what it would be like to work at the media outlets located upstairs such as Jyllands-Posten and Ritzau. We imagined they had a fancy canteen and a swimming pool.

By chance our intern came in and asked: “What’s that about a swimming pool?” Finally a perk he probably thought. “Yeah, it’s up on the roof – just swipe your card.”

The intern grew more and more excited as our descriptions of the fantasy media world a few floors up snowballed out of control: “There’s a spa and sauna too”. Finally, we had to reveal there was no pool; we’re all in the dungeon.

When Jyllands-Posten printed its Mohammed cartoons in the autumn of 2005, CPH POST reported a few local protests, but the story kind of petered out. A few months later, however, the cartoons took on a new life.

Jyllands-Posten was located upstairs, and there were legitimate concerns that terrorists might target the newspaper, so a reinforced steel door was installed.

The only protection for us was an unarmed guard who sat on a fold-up chair in the courtyard all day. We realised that any zealots trying to storm Jyllands-Posten would probably give up and turn their attention on us. We could only hope the courtyard guard was armed with some very hot chocolate.

During CPH POST’s first decade, our receptionist would regularly get phone calls asking about postage rates. “No, we don’t send packages,” she would explain. A decade later, Post Danmark no longer exists, but CPH POST does.

(CPH POST: They still call!)

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14 20-YEAR ANNIVERSARY THE COPENHAGEN POST | CPHPOST.DK

2006

51 issues

Jan 6, 0901: Over at In & Out, founder and long-time editor Thomas Dalvang-Fleurquin is increasingly taking a backseat role, relinquishing the day-to-day running to Jane Graham.

Organising Distortion is becoming a full-time job, although he continues to lay out the guide, normally in one massive shift starting on print day.

Feb 3 & 10, 0905 & 0906: CPH POST, a long-time collaborator with JyllandsPosten to which it supplies news in English, offers strangely subdued coverage as the Cartoon Crisis kicks off worldwide, causing an estimated 200 deaths as Muslims riot over the publication of images depicting the prophet Mohammed. The February 3 issue publishes a photo of the visiting Afghan president accompanied by a story suggesting his presence was overshadowed by the crisis, and then the February 10 issue runs the

2007

51 issues

headline “World watches as premier calls for calm” – so no indication this is Denmark’s worst moment since WWII. One thing’s for sure: nobody is calmer than CPH POST. March 3, 0909: A couple of new ads on the Swedish news page suggests there may be life in the old dog yet.

Solidarity over the cartoons, perhaps?

March 23, 1012: Rene Redzepi makes his first appearance in the paper. Later in the year he is joined by Caroline Wozniacki and Kasper Schmeichel.

April 6, 1014: In the same issue that one of Thomas Dalvang-Fleuquin’s kids makes yet another appearance in the newspaper, there’s a new face in In & Out and she means business.

Karla Hamilton, just two, makes her debut in a feature about a city farm. It

ert Cellini, joins the team. His uncle is a famous ‘fixer’ in Chicago. ‘Bob’ can handle himself, if you know what I mean, capiche? His addition means the entire news desk is now American.

Meanwhile, the Swedish news page fails to return after the summer break.

In its place is a new Diplomatic News Page – a new direction for the paper?

Nov 3, 0944: British Chamber of Commerce president Mariano A Davies makes his first appearance in the newspaper – the first of very many.

Dec 1, 0948: CPH POST publishes its first ever Christmas supplement.

April 7, 0914: The POST BOX confirms Kevin McGwin is the new managing editor, taking over a role that had been empty since the departure of Rebecca K Engemann in 2014. One of McGwin’s first introductions is a page to put all the culture news on, which immediately gives the opening pages of the newspaper a more serious look – particularly the front-page’s main story, which had previously tended to favour light culture and sport content, as opposed to serious news. A serious news editorial soon follows.

Aug 18, 0933: A new journalist, Robis the first of many – so many that her father has filled a whole scrapbook.

Jan 26, 1004: “Where’s global warming now” asks the front page as the white stuff comes down in heavy amounts and environmentalists choke on their cornflakes.

March 16, 1011: Ben Hamilton writes his first piece for the newspaper – a trio of Irish-related articles for the St Patrick Day’s supplement. Starting out as a contributor to In & Out, he will climb the ladder the hard way, with steady promotions from proofreader to sub-editor to guide editor to newspaper editor. A ruthless streak, some might say.

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May 4, 1018: Photographer Hasse Ferrold finally gets a write-up – a chance to promote his presidency of International Club Copenhagen, which is still going strong today.

May 25, 1021: CPH POST launches a Community Profile section with a piece about journalist Robert Cellini.

CPH POST journalist Robert Cellini

Kevin McGwin Editor 2004-2013 There is an American newspaper named The Fresno Bee. This was something I thought of each Thursday morning as I picked up the new copy of CPH POST during the nine years I worked there. Short on staff and resources, the newspaper came out thanks only to the commitment of its dedicated employees to keeping our community informed about current events in our adopted home country.

Reporting what the Danish media is reporting is vital to CPH POST’s mission of keeping foreign readers in Denmark and abroad as informed as possible about events here – it made up the vast majority of our content. But it often caused dissatisfaction amongst our journalists and frustration among our readers.

That all changed one morning in September 2005 when we received the first of what were to be dozens of phone calls from abroad. Jyllands-Posten had

published drawings of the prophet Mohammed, some of them portraying him as a terrorist. The Muslim world was enraged. Foreign news outlets were suddenly looking to us to explain to them not what was happening here, but why.

The ‘Mohammed crisis’ was with us in some form or another throughout most of my time at CPH POST (including bomb threats and an averted terrorist attack on the building we shared with Jyllands-Posten).

And just as their publication served to awaken our journalistic ambition, it was their republication, in 2007, that forced us to speak our minds: our first editorial, entitled “Stop it”, was published in response to the republication.

Later we added commentary from prominent Danes and then columns from members of our own community.

Having an opinion page did not give us the teeth we needed to challenge the powers that be, but it did allow us to involve our community, instead of simply informing them.

June 1, 1022: CPH POST discontinues its Community Profile section.

Sep 7, 1036: CPH POST runs its feature on the history of the Danish Dynamite for the third time in four years.

Aug 3, 1031: Jane Graham abruptly departs as editor of In & Out and Marie O’Connor valiantly fills in to help assistant editor Ben Clement, but the job is eventually given to Uzi Frank in October.

Aug 17, 1033: Claire Clausen joins the team as the new community and diplomacy reporter. Within a year, she will have interviewed most of the city’s ambassadors.

Sep 21, 1038: Arun Sharma writes his first review for the film section – the first of many savagings. Fortunately nobody tells him you can give a film zero stars and his average score hovers around 1.8/5.

Nov 16, 1046: Journalist Robert Cellini is diagnosed with cancer and leaves on a period of extended leave.

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B

20-YEAR ANNIVERSARY

15

CPH POST Christmas Party 2007

BJØRN’S INTERNATIONAL SCHOOL Bjørn’s International School aims to give a democratic education to children from all over the world regardless of race, religion or colour.

1

We have 150 students aged from 6-16 years from 50 different countries.

2

We have 2 sections. The Danish section (grades 1-9) where students can take the Danish State School leaving examination.

3

The English-speaking section (grade 1-9) where students can take the International General Certificate of Secondary Education.

4

Only transit students with a stay in Denmark of 1-4 years in the English speaking section.

5

We encourage parent co-operation.

6

We take into consideration the individual needs of the children.

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We have small classes.

Member of ECIS European Council of International Schools Center for IGSE International General Certificate of Secondary Education

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16 20-YEAR ANNIVERSARY THE COPENHAGEN POST | CPHPOST.DK

2008

52 issues

Jan 26, 1102: A headline in In & Out, “This week’s arty bar headline”, goes a little astray, but it could have been worse.

Feb 1, 1104: Michael de Laine, the paper’s business reporter, is elected chair of the Danish Science Journalists Association. Oh, so that’s who that bloke with the beard is.

March 7, 1109: End of an era! Thomas Dalvang-Fleuquin, a Wednesday fixture in the office for several years now, produces his final guide, handing over the full reins to Uzi Frank, almost exactly 10 years after making his first. A tribute in Volume 11 follows. “Thomas is the perfect guy to have on your side when you go to war,” comments editor Philip Shepherd. “He never gives up.” Talking of which, Robert Cellini returns to work.

March 19, 1111: A blizzard fails to deter hundreds from taking part in the St Patrick’s Day Three-Legged Race, although it does lead to a time limit being introduced after the organisers

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wait hours for the straddlers to finish.

March 29, 1112: A new weekly advert appears for the first time that some readers find a little disturbing.

Written and sponsored by the Tabah Foundation in the UAE, the first piece is entitled ‘Tolstoy and Prophet Muhammad’ and the series continues in a similar vein. Fully nine years later, Denmark will place the writer, Mohammad Rateb Abdalah Al-Nabulsi, on its list of banned preachers. But for now it’s a nice little earner at a time when ad revenue is drying up.

A special edition produced for the British Chamber of Commerce and the British Import Union also helps matters.

May 9, 1118: The front page story reveals that a Dane has built the world’s largest privately-owned submarine.

Peter Madsen tells media he intends to live in it. Meanwhile, Copenhagen holds its first Sakura Festival.

June 6, 1122: Ben Hamilton replaces the departing Uzi Frank as In & Out editor. Meanwhile, future newspaper editor Jason Heppenstall takes over newspaper layout duties. Elsewhere, In & Out assistant editor Ben Clement wins a top architecture prize and then promptly announces he is leaving in September.

Aug 8, 1131: Deliver us from this dungeon! After almost a decade located in damp offices at Store Kongensgade 14, the CPH POST moves into new offices two floors above.

Recently vacated by the culture department of Jyllands-Posten, our new neighbours, it’s the very office in which the 2005-06 Cartoon Crisis was conceived. Meanwhile, an IT support deal is signed with a Ghanaian company called Bemitech. The staff later work out that the experts pretty much google the solution to every problem they need to deal with.

Aug 8, 1137: Film reviewer Arun Sharma learns he can give no-star ratings and wastes no time in giving zero to ‘Bangkok Dangerous’ for making you feel you were “emotionally and physically abused “in the dark”.

Shortly afterwards, the ‘no stars’ rat-

ing is abolished in favour of scoring the films out of six.

Dec 3, 1148: A new intern, Wesley Spyke, suggests CPH POST should have a Facebook page and he duly launches one.

20-YEAR ANNIVERSARY

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2009

51 issues

Jan 30, 1204: A small page 2 item ‘People at The Post’ puts a face to the names of the CPH POST employees.

Swedish distribution manager Sara Cederlund gets things rolling.

Feb 20, 1207: Another banal article about the Marriott Hotel. It looks like an advertorial, it reads like an advertorial, but … they do make exceedingly good steak dinners.

March 27, 1212: Joanne SchmidtNielsen features in the newspaper for the first time as Enhedslisten confirms she is their new leader … sorry political spokesperson.

April 9, 1214: Sad news as CPH POST distribution manager Lauritz Schou dies. He was 71. Meanwhile, Lars Løkke Rasmussen is confirmed as the country’s new PM. May 7, 1218: Journalist Katie Rice interviews John Nettles – Barnaby himself or, if you like, Bergerac. It’s the first of many high-profile names for Miss Rice in what turns out to be an extremely busy 2009 for her.

July 10, 1227: CPH POST advertises specially tailored corporate Englishlanguage classes. It doesn’t take off.

July 24, 1229: In & Out with the frontpage headline “In the out crowd” goes full-on LGBT for the 2009 OutGames in Copenhagen, ten days of culture and sport that draws thousands of extra visitors to the capital.

July 31, 1230: A story on the CPH POST website describes Dansk Folkeparti as the national socialists – a Nazi moniker the party quickly takes issues with. The headline and content of the story “National socialists are ready to rule” is quickly changed. DF wants the journalist to take a history lesson and to be dismissed. Speaking to Politiken, CPH POST managing editor Kevin McGwin takes responsibility for editing the piece, but not writing it.

Aug 28, 1234: Following the signing of a six-month deal with Copenhagen Municipality, CPH POST launches a twice-daily podcast for internationals in the city. It is not renewed. The fiveminute podcasts prove too frequent, rarely include any humour, and the listening figures are pitifully low.

Sep 18, 1237: Who can forget the VisitDenmark debacle when it paid a smoking hot actress to make a YouTube video in which she claimed she was trying to track down the father

of her child, conceived in a one-night stand a year earlier – all to draw attention to little old Denmark and its free and easy lifestyle. But then they got rumbled.

Oct 23, 1242: CPH POST recruits a new sales and advertising manager, Hans Hermansen, to address declining revenue, and he is an immediate success, notching up impressive figures over the remainder of the year.

As Hermansen gets to know the business, one thing is clear: its future lies in supplements.

Oct 30, 1243: “Plot to target JyllandsPosten foiled” screams our front-page headline. But it’s not surprising that they wanted to attack their office. If you’re going to insult the prophet … hang on, isn’t that next door – like just through that glass partition?

Sure enough, it transpires that our office has been under surveillance by would-be terrorists. They don’t pay us enough for this shit!

Nov 6, 1243: CPH POST moves offices – it had nothing to do with the terror threat! Months in the planning, we pack our bags for a huge new premises at Slagtehusgade 4-6 in

Kødbyen – yeah, Slaughterhouse 5! The clock is ticking towards one of the newspaper’s biggest endeavours: a plan to go daily during the two-week duration of COP15, the December climate summit in Copenhagen. It’s thanks to months of planning by journalist Katie Rice and newspaper editor Jason Heppenstall, who in August assumed editorial responsibility after Kevin McGwin embarked on extended leave.

Dec 4, 11, 18 & 24, 1248-51: “Most agree COP15 was a failure” concedes our final front page headline of the year, but not for CPH POST! We make more money in just one fortnight than we had done in the previous 48 weeks, and it also gives our reputation a massive boost thanks to some splendid reporting from the climate summit and ten polished daily newspapers. The Christmas party that follows is a joyous affair and also one of the last times we see absentee editor-in-chief Philip Shepherd in the office. Meanwhile, a new name in the POST BOX is an intern by the name of Christian Wenande.

Wonder what happened to him?

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Jason Heppenstall Sub-editor, newspaper editor, COP15 editor 2008-2010 2009 was key for Denmark and the Copenhagen Post as it was the year the United Nation’s COP15 climate conference came to town. As editor this landmark international conference had long been on my radar. With so many delegates due to attend, as well as countless thousands of activists and protestors from across the world, I knew we had to do something special.

Initially, the bosses were sceptical.

But as the event neared we firmed up plans to produce an independent daily newspaper covering proceedings at the two-week conference. It was a huge logistical effort for a small newspaper, and I’m still surprised we pulled it off.

From our offices in Kodbyen we put together a team of journalists, distributors, sales people and photographers.

Whereas there were usually no more than 10 or so people in the office, as soon as the conference began there were up to 40 packed in — including a team of eight Kiwi journalists working in the tiny kitchen!

It’s fair to say that most people in Copenhagen completely underestimated the scale of the disruption COP15 would cause to their usually peaceful city. From the thousands of armed police manning the streets, to the constant buzz of helicopters and the endless wailing of police sirens, it seemed as if Copenhagen had turned into a warzone. What’s more, heavy snow was falling and temperatures were bitterly cold for those two weeks.

But the COP15 Post, as it was called, was an immediate success and we printed 20,000 copies a day. We got invited to speak to everyone, from Israeli President Shimon Peres to Arnold Schwarzenegger – things got a little surreal.

At the end of it all we were all completely shattered, but the effort was worth it.

18 20-YEAR ANNIVERSARY THE COPENHAGEN POST | CPHPOST.DK

2010

51 issues

Feb 12, 1306: Readers get a long overdue injection of fun with the introduction of the columns ‘Tabloid Musings’ and ‘Who is …?’, along with Robert Cellini’s sports roundup that eventually replaces the ‘Through the Looking Glass’ history feature on the backpage. Also new is a three-page Community section with its own editor, Celia Thaysen, who last year showed off her mettle by interviewing Caroline Wozniacki for the Relocation supplement. Some of the new content is decided on during a riotous trip to Oslo courtesy of Hans Hermansen and advertiser DFDS, on which it is agreed to redefine our target reader as anyone with international connections, as opposed to the wife of an ambassador living in Hellerup. It remains to this day this company’s biggest perk.

March 12, 1310: The St Patrick’s Day supplement proves controversial when an article with the headline “The six most dastardly, unpleasant, conniving villains in Ireland’s history” (including Oliver Cromwell, Thierry Henry and Roy Keane) is run on the same page as greetings for a happy day from the Irish Embassy. Equally

unhappy is Roy Keane’s cousin when he runs into our reporter in town.

Meanwhile, an In & Out writer, possibility its editor, outs Cliff Richard.

The story doesn’t go online.

April 23, 1316: Saleswoman Jeanne Thames embarks on maternity leave, bringing to an end over half a decade of continuous service. And then a week later, Jason Heppenstall leaves – the result of a row over COP15 bonuses, which had been simmering since December. News editor Katie Rice follows him barely a week later.

May 7, 1318: Heppenstall’s replacement as newspaper editor is In & Out head Ben Hamilton, while Kevin McGwin resumes his managing editor position ahead of becoming editorin-chief.

May 7, 1319: Hamilton’s first issue doesn’t go down well with some of the staff when he places a community photo on the front page: a cheeky shot of Irish Rover landlord Jono stealing an egg out of a woman’s hat. A revamped Community section meanwhile gets a complete photo event page along with a new column for Hasse Ferrold’s dignitary picks: About Town.

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June 11, 1323: CPH POST publishes a South Africa supplement – the first of many country-specific specials that the newspaper will go on to distribute. To this date it has published supplement for the likes of Australia, Bangladesh, China, France, Greece, India, Indonesia, Israel, Italy, Japan, Poland, Romania, Russia, South Korea, Thailand, Vietnam, Philippines and Ukraine.

July 9, 1327: CPH POST launches its first ever summer section – an eight-pager that gives visiting tourists useful information whilst taking the strain off the news team during the ‘cucumber’ silly news season. The sections continue for seven weeks.

Sep 7, 1337: CPH POST opens a page on Twitter.

Oct 19, 1343: After years of talking about taking the newspaper over from Quark Pages to InDesign, new layout whiz Justin Cremer accomplishes the feat in just one afternoon.

The Iowan brings such badly-missing clout to the newspaper shortly before the departure of fearless journalist Robert Cellini.

Nov 5, 1345: CPH POST publishes its first ever Education supplement. It quickly becomes a biannual fixture.

Nov 26, 1348: CPH POST runs an exclusive story that is republished on page seven of Ekstra Bladet – yes the page with the boobies. Editor-inchief Kevin McGwin says it is the first story in his time at the newspaper to be picked up by Danish media. Ben Hamilton’s story about a Canadian writer claiming his idea for a sitcom was stolen by the creators of TV2 Zulu show ‘Tung Metal’ includes a denial from the producer. Nevertheless, despite its popularity, a second season is not commissioned.

20-YEAR ANNIVERSARY

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2011

51 issues

Jan 7, 1401: The history piece returns to the back page, our news desk is Danish-Israeli / Faroese, and our online commenters are the most vicious in the country, so we give them their own permanent section in the paper – it’s fair to say 2011 starts with renewed determination following a year of quick staff turnover.

Feb 18, 1407: A page of photos taken on Burns Night by photographer Clive Thain includes irrefutable proof of what a Scotsman wears underneath his kilt.

March 4, 1409: “Has Battleaxe issued her last passport,” asks the front-page headline as Birthe Rønn Hornbech’s future as immigration minister hangs in the balance. Who said we didn’t do political analysis?

April 30, 1416: CPH POST runs a 25th anniversary tribute to Restaurant Hercegovina, an eatery that quickly becomes one of our best advertisers.

May 13, 1418: Ian Burns of That Theatre writes his irst ever An Actor’s Life column. Still ongoing, it’s the longest running in the history of the newspaper.

June 3, 1421: Former editor Jason Heppenstall lands a scoop that was sitting under CPH POST’s nose. His story that Denmark has banned Marmite goes viral in the Guardian and is quickly picked up by every British newspaper.

June 17, 1424: An intern impresses, grabs an opening and joins the team alongside Canadian journalist Jennifer Buley. Welcome aboard Peter Stanners!

June 24, 1425: The Children’s Fair, a new event organised by CPH POST in Valbyparken, is an enormous success despite a fair amount of rain.

July 29, 1430: Anders Breivik does his best to ruin the Scandinavian summer by killing 76 people in Oslo. It’s fair to say he succeeds as it transpires the attacks were directly responsible for a rise in PTSD disorders in Denmark.

March 11, 1410: Rather bizarrely a headline on the community photo page reads “Three minute networking: seconds out, it’s Tila from Malaysia.” Just four years later she will start working for us.

March 18, 1411: A homage to The Sun’s 1992 UK General Election warning, which featured prospective PM Neil Kinnock’s face in a lightbulb, puts the face of Søren Pind, the new immigration minister, in a balloon with the headline “Last one out, don’t forget the Pindprick.”

Aug 19, 1432: The wait is over. CPH POST gets its first proper makeover since its launch in 1998. Associate editor Justin Cremer is the architect of a revamp that also includes the introduction of a new team of columnists and a new-look In & Out with text finally big enough to read.

On ice: India freezes relations

3

Health clinic for illegal immigrants to open

6

COPENHAGEN

COOKING

Special section INSIDE!

WORTH THE EXTRA MILE!

AL FRESCO’S THE BEST, YO!

TASTY TREATS FOR TEENS AND TOTS

Copenhagen Cooking

19 - 25 August 2011 | Vol. 14 Issue 33

Festival - 19 - 28

August 2011

Denmark’s only English-language newspaper | cphpost.dk

The Copenhagen Post: New and Improved With a new look and a new focus, Denmark’s only English-language newspaper enters a new era

OPINION | 8

NEWS

A mural vandalised, a black eye: city not very welcoming for US artist

10

SPORT

Teenage brothers emerging as stars on the international scene

14

‘Reptilicus’ terrorises Copenhagen An ancient beast comes to life in Denmark’s only ever monster movie, which has a backstory as unbelievable as its script

HISTORY | 19

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March 25, 1412: A passing artist called Heiko generously depicts Colonel Gadaffi as King Kong for our front page. We decide to hold onto it in case he becomes famous one day.

Sep 7, 1433: “Incredibile India” might very well be the most unfortunate front-page headline on a supplement in the history of the newspaper. The special India section is otherwise a success.

Sep 23, 1438: Denmark’s wait for its first female PM is finally over as Helle Thorning-Schmidt triumphs with Socialdemokratiet.

Oct 28, 1443: Four CPH POST staff members enter Movember, the November moustache-growing charity that raises bristles and awareness of men’s health issues.

Dec 2, 1448: Just four months on from relaunching the newspaper, and CPH POST has a new website, which is made in-house. Unfortunately, though, it loses all its content – the oldest digital archive in Denmark and one that was increasingly being used by internationals and Danes to track down old news. And in the end, the website doesn’t last much longer than a year before being replaced by one made by JustWorks.

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Justin Cremer News Editor 2010-2014 My history with CPH POST is also my history with Denmark. I moved to Copenhagen sight unseen in 2004, pursuing love. On my first trip through the airport, I picked up a copy, pleasantly surprised to discover a lifeline in my new, unknown home.

Through my initial stay in Denmark and then the next five years of visiting regularly from the US, I would grab CPH POST whenever I’d come across it. I appreciated the connection it provided, but I also thought that, frankly, it wasn’t very good. It had glaring errors and an amateur look.

When we moved back to Copenhagen in 2010, I walked into the newspaper’s Kødbyen offices and told them that I could help make the paper better. Luckily, Ben and the others agreed and I joined the team.

I’m biased of course but I feel like during my three and a half years at CPH POST there was a stretch in which the paper was at its best, both in terms of content and look.

But nothing lasts forever. In 2014, I decided not to be a part of the paper’s new direction. I left and for the next couple of years would compete against it at the helm of The Local.

Despite that (mostly) friendly competition, I’m glad to see CPH POST still alive and kicking at its 20-year anniversary. I hope it has many more years ahead of it.

Dec 16, 1450: The year ends in fine festive spirit as CPH POST organises a children’s Christmas party for internationals at the Marriott Hotel.

A fine turnout in the snow includes footballer Dennis Rommedahl, whose wife is Dutch.

20 20-YEAR ANNIVERSARY THE COPENHAGEN POST | CPHPOST.DK

2012

51 issues

Jan 6, 1501: The new year kicks off with perhaps the newspaper’s most serious ever supplement: a preview of Denmark’s EU presidency edited

by Peter Stanners.

Feb 24, 1508: CPH POST interview cult band The Tiger Lillies ahead of their new show at Republique.

Other interviews conducted during this golden era for the newspaper include Søren Pind, the immigration minister, city mayor Frank Jensen, NFL legend Morten Andersen, who takes issue with our reporter’s version of their conversation, Mikkeller’s Evil Twin, British comic Ross Nobel, Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, and the Danish guy in ‘Escape to Victory’.

March 30, 1513: “Copenhagen is the best city at being a best city,” reports CPH POST. Spot the date anyone?

March 30, 1515: CPH POST launches a couple of new columns. ‘A plan for all seasons’ aims to prepare readers for the forthcoming seasons – everything you might need to know about spring, summer, autumn and winter gardening, health, food and sport concerns. UK celebrity gardener Toby Musgrave is among those to contribute. And ‘Dating the Danes’ shares the highs and lows of two Antipodean girls in search of love in Denmark. While the Aussie, Jessica O’Sullivan, bows out at the end of the year after finding the ‘one’, Kiwi lass Emily McLean continues for several years, cementing the column as the newspaper’s most popular ever. Now back in Auckland, McLean is an entrepreneur in the world of dating apps, while O’ Sullivan remains married to her Mr Right.

June 8, 1523: CPH POST starts a tradition of making wallcharts for

major sports events – football mainly – which gives its staff an excuse to dress up in their national shirts.

Sadly for the Americans, they aren’t involved in Euro 2012 but new USDanish part-time journalist Christian Wenande makes an appearance.

June 22, 1525: CPH POST organises another well-received Children’s Fair.

Again the weather gods aren’t kind.

Aug 17, 1533: The number of columnists at the paper jumps from 10 to 15. Among the new additions is Denmark’s most successful English -language actor star Vivienne McKee. Sep 21, 1538: News editor Justin Cremer’s opinion piece “Back off, rugbrød fascists” is the newspaper’s best read ever. It resonates with readers who are increasingly regarding the CPH POST as a newspaper that reflects the struggle of starting a new

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life in Denmark. In its early years, the newspaper journalists were told to write as if they were Danes, but since the turn of the decade the focus has switched to writing as if they are Copenhageners.

Nov 2, 1544: CPH POST enters Movember again, this time with new journalist Ray Weaver involved.

Dec 7, 1549: CPH POST has a new distribution manager, Jim Lind. Within a few months of starting he can confirm our worst fears and more. For over a decade, his predecessors have been inheriting a database in chaos that they are afraid to fix. In some cases, Lind discovers recipients of the newspaper who are getting as many as 10 copies a week, all delivered separately by different distribution companies.

Peter Stanners Senior journalist 2011-2014 No-one told me it would be impossible to find work as a journalist.

Dozens of job applications went unanswered in the months after I qualified in early 2011. It felt hopeless. And then I landed an internship at CPH POST. I moved to the city when I was ten and despite originally existing within an expat ghetto had slowly grown deep roots here. If anywhere was home, it was here. And now I got to write about it.

I was soon offered a job and over the next three years, with Ben, Justin and Kevin as my editors, we added depth to our reporting. I understood the alienation that many internationals feel moving here and the dissonance they felt at feeling unwelcome in the happiest and most liveable country in the world. We introduced longer articles with more background on how and why Denmark works the way it does.

We hoped that treating readers like insiders, rather than tourists, might help their own sense of belonging.

We did our best with the resources we had available, but our wings were clipped and we were slow to pick up on our media’s digital future. After I left in early 2014, I had my own chance to make a newspaper but encountered the same problems – innovation is expensive and raising revenue in print media is challenging.

CPH POST’s existence today is a testament to the passion of several key staff members, not least Ben Hamilton, who have invested a large portion of their life into ensuring it continues.

It has an audience who are grateful for its existence, so I’m happy when I see that it still sits on café shelves 20 years on, providing much needed continuity for the city’s residents still struggling to gain entry into Danish society after decades in the country.

20-YEAR ANNIVERSARY

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2013

51 issues

Jan 18, 1603: Managing editor Ben Hamilton comes under fire for referring to Rihanna as “Chris Brown’s punchbag” in an online article. He uses his In & Out editorial to apologise for the insensitive comment, explaining he wanted to “express his contempt for the whole media circus that surrounds celebrity”, but concedes that he failed: “The critical question [for some media] becomes what paragraph they can squeeze in the obligatory domestic violence reference … I just cut to the chase.”

Jan 18, 1605: A well-known fashion company owner agrees an advertising deal with CPH POST to publish a pink wrap-around ahead of Copenhagen Fashion Week. He then refuses to pay his bill because it is the incorrect shade of pink (see front cover).

Feb 15, 1607: Readers are finally treated to a headshot of long-term InOut and Community Section contributor Dave Smith, when he pens a savage review of Die Hard 5. But there’s something familiar about both his prose and his face.

March 14, 1611: A cover story draws attention to mixed-nationality children and how their divorced parents are increasingly warring over their custody – a common theme throughout the year.

March 22, 1612: New Danish intern Sigrid Neergard makes an immediate impact when her exclusive story about Danes getting caught up in trouble in the Central African Republic is picked up by multiple Danish news sources. Neergard is one of six interns working in the spacious CPH POST offices – some full-time, some part-time – without whose help the paper would struggle to publish 40 pages every week. In return the interns are given feedback on their work and many leave the paper fully equipped to succeed in journalism and do so.

May 3, 1618: CPH POST launches an English-writing contest for high school contestants entitled ‘Text Factor’.

May 17, 1620: In & Out celebrates its 15th birthday with a party attended by 50 staff and former contributors.

Founder Thomas Fleuquin-Dalvang is touched by the adulation, but unfortunately none of his original guide workers attend. During Ben Hamilton’s editorship the number of attached writers increased ten-fold, and with a regular turnover, hundreds of people out there can claim they used to work as a ‘journalist’ for CPH POST. The truth might be that they only wrote a couple of shopping columns.

June 14, 1624: Finally some sunshine for the Children’s Fair! Our best-attended but last such event. In truth, the organiser of the first festival, Brandi Lebetsamer, did such a good job that subsequent events just followed her blueprint. Meanwhile, Ray Weaver reports on his first Følkemodet, the Roskilde Festival of politics – an event where the popular pub singer also works as a musician. He does such a good job he covers the next three editions.

Aug 16, 1634: The TV listings, forever a bane of the journalist or intern assigned to do them, are discontinued and replaced by a page more geared towards modern streaming habits.

Sep 6, 1636: An online article “Hamas TV to broadcast from Copenhagen” is an exclusive. News editor Justin Cremer makes the realisation that AlAqsa TV is the official Hamas station while routinely editing a translated story – a connection overlooked by all Danish media. CPH POST is once again cited across the board.

Sep 13, 1637: Sad news as the English pub The Red Lion closes despite CPH POST’s efforts to champion its cause. A number of bad decisions are to blame – including buying four full-page ads from CPH POST in exchange for a 10,000 kroner bar tab – but ultimately they pay the price for buying a pub that did most of its business during the julefrokost season and aiming the bar at internationals, rather than at everyone.

Oct 11, 1641: They should have learnt from Michael Booth, who writes a guest column ahead of the early 2014 publication of his book ‘The Almost Nearly Perfect People’ in English. A Danish-language version was the first to appear – in September 2013.

Oct 25, 1643: CPH POST publishes a guide to the municipal and regional elections – after all, the majority of its readers are eligible voters.

21

Nov 1, 1644: The CPH POST Facebook page adds around 2,000 likes thanks to its coverage of some particularly ferocious late-October storms.

Dec 6, 1649: Some 60 children from Copenhagen International School visit CPH POST to find out more about the business and investigate why the newspaper’s Vin Diesel lookalike sales manager Phil Donahue attacked newspaper editor Montel Williams.

The visit comes as the staff digest the news that editor-in-chief Kevin McGwin will be leaving in December after nine years of service, and that chief executive Jesper Nymark will be departing in the early spring after 12 years. Not only that, but the newspaper’s long-term accountant Helge Badsted has died, it is confirmed.

Dec 20, 1651: Despite the top management shake-up, it is the Christmas present nobody anticipated getting .

CPH POST owner Ejvind Sandal gives the entire staff three months’ notice.

April 1 will be the last day of business unless he can be persuaded the newspaper has a viable future. “Since I did not know who might be needed, I fired everyone,” he later explained to journalisten.dk. Besides a golden period between 2002 and 2004 and the two weeks of COP15 in 2009, the newspaper has consistently struggled to find advertisers amid disappointing subscription figures. Furthermore, news deals with the likes of Denmark. dk and Jyllands-Posten have long since expired.

22 2014

THE COPENHAGEN POST | CPHPOST.DK

50 issues

Jan 10, 1701: Talk about a bombshell. The staff are divided on the issue: some want to fight for their jobs, others can’t wait to leave. Following a row with sales over media access at an event, senior journalist Pete Stanners embarks on stress leave. He doesn’t return after CPH POST confirms it won’t be renewing his contract, but will pay him until the end of March. Within months, he launches the English-language publication The Murmur. News editor Justin Cremer, meanwhile, counterresigns so he can leave at the end of February. Around three month later, he launches a Danish version of news site The Local. Part-timers Ray Weaver and Christian Wenande aren’t showing their hands yet, but managing editor Ben Hamilton is. Together with owner Ejvind Sandal and sales manager Mark Millen, they hatch a plan to save the paper. Hans Hermansen, who has been overseeing supplement development, confirms he intends to return to full-time duty.

Feb 14, 1706: Six issues in and Hamilton and Millen are offered a bonus to print a new-look newspaper on

1998 - 2018

February 28 in A4 format with a focus on shorter stories. Aviaja Bebe has designed a new template, partly based on the free Danish newspaper Metroxpress, but suddenly she takes stress leave as well.

Feb 21, 1707: CPH POST prints its last ever newspaper in tabloid format. It will be the last weekly InOut after it is agreed to make the long-running supplement monthly. Its editor Ben Hamilton pays a rare compliment to the contributors: “I’ve had some really talented people work for me – although unfortunately their talent was rarely in writing.” Meanwhile, anxious to replace Bebe, he hires a graphic design student, Johan Karpantschof, within five minutes of their interview starting.

Feb 28, 1708: The first issue comes out on schedule. Just 24 pages long, it has four pages of business – a new focus for CPH POST as it identifies the highly-skilled international as its target reader. Christian Wenande steps up to become the news editor and Andreas Jakobsen, who impressed on a recent internship, joins Ray Weaver as the other part-time journalist.

March 21, 1711: CPH POST rethinks its

Facebook strategy and it pays instant dividends, doubling the number of its likes to 20,000 in just one year before the social media platform changes its algorithm to award media that treat their FB pages like secondary news sites and share the majority of their stories. CPH POST reasons that Facebook is a comic and certainly not a serious source of news, even though increasing numbers are using it as their primary source.

It accordingly stops sharing its serious news stories, instead opting for lighter fare that is either useful, funny or jaw-dropping. ‘Only in Denmark’ becomes a recurring theme as the weird and wonderful replaces the banal, and this is also reflected in the newspaper, which contains far fewer political stories. For a long time the news desk was dominated

by Americans who followed Danish

politics as a substitute for US sports.

Accordingly, the 1,000-word articles about a proposed bills in which every single party gets their say become a thing of the past.

March 28, 1712: The crossword is long gone – in fact, CPH POST probably ended up publishing every edition three or four times, and on occasion the entire team had to solve it ahead of next week because they had mislaid the answers – but the newspaper now has its own monthly quiz, Brian’s Brainteaser in association with the Globe Pub Quiz. Ben Hamilton ensures it isn’t easy.

April 4, 1713: A story about Copenhagen Zoo slaughtering four lions ends up with the CPH POST being cited by 455 different foreign media because it identified them as the four

23

1998 - 2018

Sep 7, 1735: Ben Hamilton’s world exclusive about 19th century king Frederik VII having a legitimate daughter who he wanted to protect from growing up in a world gone mad is a global hit. Newspapers in Denmark, the Nordic region, the UK and further afield all publish versions.

who ate Marius the giraffe, another story to generate the wrong kind of headlines for Denmark.

Oct 19, 1741: Victoria Steffensen, a former community editor now occasional reviewer, incurs the wrath of the Danish media when she asks the queen a question about her set design for a forthcoming production of ‘The Nutcracker’ and addresses her as “du”, instead of the formally correct “de”.

April 11, 1714: CPH POST leaves Kødbyen after nearly five years to set up shop at International House Copenhagen.

Dec 12, 1749: Blimey! Sales are going well. Since the summer, CPH post has been hitting our weekly targets and more. It would seem that for the first time in its history, with the exception of 2003-04 and the last two weeks of 2009, this newspaper has reached a self-sustainable plateau …

May 9, 1718: There have been a few practical jokes over the years, mostly involving telephone calls made from the toilets regarding sports stories, but none have been better than the one played on GermanRussian intern Alina Shron. “Baltic and Scandinavian forces are on full alert following reports of a Russian invasion force,” reads out Ben Hamilton from an apparent report on Twitter. And just then, the annual May 7 siren test starts, oh so perfectly timed.

Dec 19, 1750: An early final issue sees the newspaper take a two-week holiday – a sign of things to come as the business increasingly chooses to take holidays in accordance with the rest of the country. And the staff need it to come to terms with what is probably the most jaw-dropping moment in the newspaper’s history. One of the salespersons has been exposed as a conman and left the company. It transpires he has been making his own ads and placing them in the newspaper – unknown to the supposed clients.

Besides taking a salary, he hasn’t cost the company a great deal, but the revelation has turned the 2014 accounts into a bombsite. Budgets, pay rises and future plans had been decided upon based on the turnover the newspaper supposed it was generating. To rub salt into the wound, the management named him ‘Employee of the Year’ at the newspaper’s Christmas party! By that time suspicious, the management wanted to see if there was any guilt Reef N’Beef excels at Fasterpussycat is back on his face. a flicker! opening upNot city diners’ with ‘Finding Sophie’, an

May 16, 1719: CPH POST launches a new magazine for tourists called the Visit Post, which is distributed three times a year at all the city’s four and five-star hotels. In accordance with a new strategy, the company is calling itself (when it remembers) THE POST so the newspaper becomes the WEEKLY POST, the first of a long list that also includes daily, online, Greater Copenhagen, kids and various calendars. Eventually, the newspaper becomes CPH POST WEEKLY. The result is that the staff have to deal with increasing confusion over who is publishing the WEEKLY POST. June 6, 1722: Ray Weaver’s story about Parliament approving dual citizenship smashes the CPH POST Facebook record, notching up over 250,000 page impressions.

DANISH NEWS IN ENGLISH CPHPOST.DK VOL 17 ISSUE 36 12-18 SEPTEMBER 2014

RESTAURANT

INOUT

senses to the pleasure of authentic Aussie grub 28

adrenaline rush that isn’t afraid to bite 29

COCKTAIL HOUR IN COPENHAGEN Enjoy a drink with an international twist.

SALT bar is located in the lobby of Admiral Hotel in central Copenhagen and is always buzzing with Danish and international guests. Our skilled bartenders offer a wide variety of modern and classic cocktails, and if you want to stay for dinner, the bar menu includes a mouthwatering selection of light, delicious meals.

The Lost Princess

June 20, 1724: Salesman Mark Millen leaves to join forces with Peter Stan3 ners at the Murmur. He had been at CPH POST since 2005. Back to the Cold War NEWS

Three arrested for selling stickers supporting IS

NEWS

Fears mount as Russian planes appear in Danish airspace

Aug 15, 1732: CPH POST launches 6 business columns in line with its plan to target highly-skilled internationals, taking the total number of its columnists to 20.

NEWS

Pension-pooping Roskilde breaks a generation’s hearts

info@salt.dk · www.salt.dk

Frederick VII had a legitimate daughter 4

9

BUSINESS

Serious challenges ahead Denmark scaring off foreign investment, warns AmCham

13

9 771398 100009

Toldbodgade 24-28, 1253 Kbh. K · 33 74 14 44

Vestager appointed European Commissioner for Competition Expert calls her the new overlord of the inner EU market CHRISTIAN WENANDE

M

ARGRETHE Vestager has been appointed the next European Commissioner for Competition, it was confirmed on Wednesday.

Vestager, who stepped down as the Danish economy and internal affairs minister and the

battle against those seeking to monopolise the EU industrial sector.

Expected to deliver “IN THESE unprecedented times, Europe's citizens expect us to deliver,” European Commission president Jean-Claude Juncker explained.

“After years of economic hardship and often painful reforms, Europeans

protection, safer borders, energy security and digital opportunities. Today I am presenting the team that will put Europe back on the path to jobs and growth.”

Position of power AS PART of her tasks, Vestager will be in a position to stop mergers that hinder competition, prevent governments supporting their own indus-

up to 10 percent of their annual turnover.

Marlene Wind, the head of the Centre for European Politics at the University of Copenhagen, described the position as being the "overlord of the inner market".

“It’s one of the areas where all nations have given up power to ensure that the inner market works and where the EU decides supremely without the meddling

24 2015

THE COPENHAGEN POST | CPHPOST.DK

1998 - 2018

47 issues

Jan 10, 1801: A visibly shocked staff welcome a new salesperson, ‘Tila from Malaysia’, on the first working day of the year as they try to heal the wounds. Matters aren’t helped by the ex-salesperson continuing to use the company’s name to order goods to his home address. The police are informed, but soon they will be preoccupied by the terror threat and the case won’t be looked into until mid2017, after which it is dropped.

Feb 14, 1807: A global story will stretch the resources of a small operation, and the terror shootings that claimed the lives of two Copenhageners on February 14 was one such occasion. Breaking on a Saturday afternoon, it was down to luck not design that we were able to move fast, and we gained an unfair headstart by jumping the gun and calling the attack terror-related from the off, even though we knew it was not of the same magnitude as other major attacks. This was reflected in our next front-page headline “Shaken but not too disturbed” – like we told France 24, Copenhageners were more afraid of their kids having a tantrum

because they couldn’t go out and celebrate Fastelavn, than encountering a gunman on the street. For the printed edition, we wanted to reflect the momentousness of it all – particularly as the scene of the first shooting, Krudttønden is the spiritual home of English-language theatre – and we were proud of the eventual collage we produced.

Feb 28, 1809: Sad news as it is confirmed that former journalist Robert Cellini has lost his battle with cancer.

As many as ten past and current employees attend his funeral, and an obituary is published in the newspaper, lamenting but celebrating his contribution to all our lives. He is much missed!

March 13, 1810: The CPH POST story of the year turns out to be ‘Atlas of Evil’ by Pia Marsh and Magnus Rasmussen, an exploration of racism on the doors of the city’s nightclubs. The pair are just two of a long procession of top-rated interns in 2015, which also includes Ella Navarro, Luisa Kyca, Joe Morel and Jenna Kleinwort.

April 2, 1813: “Let’s get physical” shouts our intern from the front cover as she embarks on a weekby-week attempt to get into shape.

Unfortunately, though, she misses out on being included among the top interns of 2015 when she’s caught lying that she’s too ill to go to Roskilde when then management knows she’s already at the campsite.

It follows a similar incident involving an intern who attended Fashion Week whilst on her deathbed.

Nørregade 43-45, 1165 København K www.the-globe.dk www.facebook.com/globeirishpub

April 16, 1813: CPH POST launches a new website, which is made in-house with help from India. According to senior management, it should be a portal – not dissimilar to the cockpit of a 747 – and not show any news. Unfortunately, within minutes of takeoff the rest of the plane crashes. Visitor numbers fall 90 percent overnight and the news page is quickly restored as the homepage. Additionally, in the process of retaining all of the stories on the old website (dating back to November 2011) all the photos are lost and the links broken,

which means it will have to start from scratch with Google.

June 26, 1825: Lars Løkke Rasmussen is back as PM thanks to DF! Aug 21, 1830: CPH POST is again invited to compete in the BBCD Golf Tournament at Ledreborg Golf Club – and this time it’s a celebrity golf day.

Due to a last-minute change, journalists Christian Wenande and Philip Tees end up playing with legendary heavyweight boxer Brian Nielsen, and Ben Hamilton is the only non-celebrity in a trio that includes three-time Eurovision entrant Kirsten Siggaard.

Aug 28, 1834: CPH POST compiles a wallchart for a sport other than football for a change: rugby! Employees representing seven teams, including Uruguay and Canada, adorn the pages. But a cock-up with the Scotland page leads to the wallchart being reprinted in the following issue.

Oct 9, 1840: A social media intern, Viktorija Gaizutyte, does an exemplary job at transforming the Instagram account, increasing the number of followers ten-fold in a matter of weeks. But nobody can really work out how CPH POST can financially capitalise.

Dec 4, 1845: Apparently there are untold riches in running an online Sports Calendar, drawing attention to both amateur international sport and professional Danish sports – for the good of sports players and watchers.

A lot of time and effort is spent on filling the calendar with volleyball match details – December seems an unusual time to launch – and the initial results aren’t good. Despite numerous plugs via the website and newspaper, visitor numbers peak at 30 a week and it is eventually discontinued later in 2016.

25

1998 - 2018

2016

34 issues

Jan 8, 1901: CPH POST’s first cover story of 2016, “Expect the unexpected”, looks prescient in hindsight, but it doesn’t see Trump’s victory or Brexit in its crystal ball. Still, it does predict Denmark will win two Olympic golds and that Nielsen will overtake Jensen as the country’s most common surname – so all the important stuff then.

Jan 29, 1904: Irish filmmaker David Noel Bourke (‘Bakerman’) writes a touching account of losing his father in his column ‘The Director’s Cut’ – a poignant insight into what it can be like to suddenly lose a parent as an international abroad.

Feb 19, 1907: Miraculously the Sports Calendar is still going … wrong.

Meanwhile, Danish comedian Sophie Hagen takes issue with CPH POST after she refuses to comment on whether some of her material might make fun of fat people, and the same question is asked to the National Association for Overweight People. Yes, is their resounding answer.

space of just six weeks, he comes up with 11, including slipping on some ice, his bathroom flooding (twice) and all seven of his alarms failing to wake him up.

Feb 26, 1908: CPH POST runs a spiritual healing column. Enough said.

May 6, 1917: CPH POST thinks it has a world exclusive about a pizza delivery man, who “bikes, breaks and bakes”, who gets a royal note of thanks after giving a Margherita to Queen Margrethe. But nobody wants to know.

March 11, 1910: One of the CPH POST interns stretches believability to its absolute limits, turning excuses for being late into an artform. In the

March 18, 1911: Pure fear-mongering from CPH POST as it explores the possibility of Donald Trump and Brexit coming true.

June 10, 1922: This time CPH POST dedicates its football wallchart to its readers. Among the 2016 fans is Coogan, the founder of international football club Copenhagen Celtic.

Aug 12, 1927: CPH POST faces up to reality. It can no longer afford to publish a weekly newspaper. Every issue without a supplement is sustaining a heavy loss, so the obvious solution is to only print a newspaper when there is an extra in the offing.

After all, who would really miss us?

CPH POST remains confident that internationals will continue to pick the paper up when they see it, but with subscriptions levels at an all-time low and yielding very little profit, it seems like a sensible move Oct 14, 1930: The newspaper’s Facebook page smashes its record, grabbing three quarters of a million page impressions as a post about Denmark facing its worst win-

July 8, 1926: Mark Walker, CPH POST’s longest serving film reviewer, writes his last articles as the newspaper elects to stop publishing content that could just as well appear in any media in the world.

ter for a century goes viral. Nearly 2,000 people share the story, but in the end Denmark ends up having another extremely mild winter.

Dec 16, 1934: CPH POST co-hosts a fun Christmas party for its readers with International House Copenhagen, where for once Santa doesn’t need a fake beard.

Magnus Rasmussen Editorial intern & salesman 2015 - 2016 Looking back, I only have fond memories from my time at CPH POST. Starting out as an intern and budding journalist, the freedom I was given to explore my own leads was invaluable. Later when I moved into sales, I was thankful for the help and support when learning to navigate a challenging landscape.

There was something unique about the place that is difficult to describe, but if I had to use one word, it would be fun. Coming into the office, you always knew laughter would never be in short supply. I hope this still holds true today and for the next 20 years.

Happy birthday!

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26 20-YEAR ANNIVERSARY

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THE COPENHAGEN POST | CPHPOST.DK

Jan 13, 2001: Two front-page stories, “A tale of two cities” in January and then “År: Half Empty; Hus: Nearly Full” in May draw attention to Aarhus’s status as the European Capital for Culture for 2017.

Jan 27, 2002: Almost a decade on from its first disastrous attempt, CPH POST makes another podcast, and the general consensus is the hosts Ray Weaver and Timea Hoka do a great job with their irreverent news and on-air antics. Eleven more weekly editions follow as listener numbers climb to 4,000, but funding is an issue and it stops. Episode 12, which remains on the homepage, has been listened to over 60,000 times.

PRINT VERSION ISSN: ONLINE VERSION ISSN:

NEWS

2

2446-0184 2446-0192

Fast start in 2018

Feb 24, 2003: CPH POST publishes its first Diplomacy magazine. Seven years of comprehensive coverage of the diplomatic corps pays off with a magazine dedicated to the sector. A second issue is printed in the autumn and a third in February 2018.

Assessing the Danes poised to strike this winter 9 771398 100009

4 issues so far

Jan 26, 2102: She’s only gone and done it! Numerous articles bigging up her chances finally come true as Caroline Wozniacki wins her first grand slam title, the Australian Open.

Our reporter chokes up during at the end of his live feed, but Little Miss Sunshine is all smiles.

HE SAW

HE CAME

TAKE YOUR

HOLIDAY

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FREE PAPER priciest pints Planet’s More expensive than Oslo!?!?

visitors – it shot up to number one for both high and average earners as the city with the highest cost of living.

“For example, if a pint of beer costs US$10 in Los Angeles and the local tax rate is 50 percent, it would be necessary to earn US$20 to purchase that beer out of employment income,” explained Sovereign.

C

OPENHAGEN is the priciest city in the world to live in and order a beer once you factor in how much the purchaser had to earn to buy it, according to a Sovereign Group study.

Yes, even more expensive than Oslo (!) and topping a top ten followed by New York, Tokyo, Osaka, Paris, Reykjavik, Seoul, London, Brisbane and Geneva.

Good for immigrants MEANWHILE, another study has assessed Denmark to be the 10th best country in the world Factoring in income tax to be an immigrant, although USING data provided by the it finished last in Scandinavia Economist Intelligence Unit behind Sweden (1) and Norway cost-of-living league, the Sover- (6), and also behind Finland (9). eign Group applied high earner The US News and World and average earner tax rates to Report study looked at measures such as economic stability, the figures. equality and job marWhile Copenhagen rated incomeIA SUPPLEMENT AN interviewing YOUR 21,000 10th TAKE on the EIU overall list – Mkets, RO Romania – an indicator of its high costs to people worldwide. (BH) proud history and modern democracy

4-5

Mystery of the deep

1

Death do us part!

18 set INSIDE AGATHA Christie murders onboard planes, trains and cruise ships, but never on a submarine.

The world has been gripped by the story of Peter Madsen, a well-known rocket enthusiast who has been charged with the manslaughter of a female journalist who joined him onboard last Thursday and disappeared. It is believed Madsen sank his sub on purpose on Friday to wash away evidence.

INSIDE FOR SUCH a simple story it generated an awful lot of interest. In a nutshell, Prince Henrik, 83, does not want to be buried with his wife, the queen, despite a nice sarcophagus waiting for the couple in Roskilde.

“Is this because he was never made king?” the media asked in chorus. “Is their marriage happy? Is he going senile?” they ventured as the column inches reached the stratosphere.

Gonna need a better joke

Summer soaking

TWO GREY sharks were found dead on beaches in Hvidovre, a southwestern suburb of Greater Copenhagen, in early July. But before you tell your children that it’s not safe to go into the water, there may be another explanation. Henrik Carl, a specialist at the Swedish National Museum of Natural SUPPLEMENT History, reckons some fisherPlay on! man left them there as a joke. with our CPH Stage supplement

THE SUMMER of 2017 won’t be remembered fondly by those who spent it in Denmark. Last month came within two days of becoming the first July since 1979 to make it through without a single summer’s day – temperatures of above 25 degrees. The rain was a constant though, with several SUPPLEMENT days seeing in excess of 30 mm Let Relocation in some parts. help you find your feet in Denmark

ARNIE VS PREDATOR PAPER Third worst asylum approval rate in EU G BACK

OF YEARS ON 100 TION CO-OPERAMARK WITH DEN

INSIDE

A DOUBLE CPH POST SPECIAL T-SE ARE A MUS

'S E MOR ROMANIA ITIES OFFERS

DEDUCATION & DIPLOMACY SUPPLEMENT! ECONOMY NT OPPORTUN INVESTME THAN EVER

ENMARK is one of the toughest countries in the EU in which to be granted Expat community out in asylum, according to figures force at the Snowball published by Eurostat.

15 In the second quarter of Aug 18, 2010: A INTERVIEW ‘world exclusive’ 2017, only 26 percent of the applications were successful – about Alfred the Great meddling with down from 82 percent in the Hooked NEWSon fish 'n' chips? same period in 2016. the writings of Julius Caesar doesn’t Seafood restaurant’s secret Only Bulgaria and the Czech Widespread shock as jetskier even get picked up byistwo the Danish weapon a Brit, innit students Republic had lower figures, kills American media, let alone internationally. 2 while the EU average was 46 17 percent, and Sweden and GerMeanwhile, it looks like submariner many both accepted 48 percent.

NEWS COMMUNITY VOL 20 ISSUE 07

INSIDE

SAXON ACULAR THE SPECTFIED CHURCHES FORTI SYLVANIA OF TRAN E

LOOKIN

CPHPOST.DK 19 May - 9 June 2017

difficulty satisfying the asylum criteria than those, for example, fleeing warzones.

The authorities expect the rate to increase again in 2018.

was saddened. “We should be a pioneer country,” she said. “We should show that we can take refugees and treat them well.”

ÅR: HALF EMPT Y

VERSION 2446-0184 Peter Madsen hasPRINT killed aISSN: journalist, ONLINEInto VERSION theISSN: woods! 2446-0192 but where is the body?

No goblins or gnomes, but plenty of giants

Nov 17, 2015: CPH POST publishes a supplement for the Local Elections and is pleased to see9 occasional con771398 100009 tributor David Zepernick elected in Frederiksberg.

4-5

Waiting for deportation Mixed views AS OF THE beginning of SepDANSK Folkeparti, which re- tember, there were 921 people cently suggested that rejected awaiting deportation and almost asylum-seekers could be placed half were not imminently schedon one of the country’s 300 un- uled to be deported. inhabited islands while they wait A number of these live at to go home, is happy with the Kærshovedgård, a deportation development. centre near Ikast that was for“The best part is that fewer merly a prison. Nearby residents are now seeking asylum in Den- have complained that the local mark,” its immigration affairs crime rate has increased, and DF spokesperson, Martin Henrik- think its island idea would solve sen, told altinget.dk. the problem.

“It's definitely moving in the “Maybe we can find an island right direction. Let's now see if we with some buildings on it, but can get the other parties to agree if not, the centre could be made to tighten the legislation further.” up of anything: from containers However, his Alternativet for people to live in, or tents,” YOUR counterpart Josephine Fock TAKE suggested Henriksen. (BH)

HUS: NEARLY FULL

A matter of quotas?

IMMIGRATION Services said the low approval rating was caused by a high number of applications from Iranian, 8 Afghan and stateless seekers.

Although the authorities did not blame quotas, the three groups tend to encounter more

www.cis.dk

White Xmas isINSIDE 50/50 DENMARK’S chances of having a White Christmas are 50/50 according to DMI. If 90 percent of the country is judged to have at least 5 mm on December 24, it will only be the tenth all-white affair since 1900, and the third this century after 2009 and 2010.

However, TV2 rate the chances at just 12 percent, and Danske Spil bookmakers at 20 percent.

Peru quite the coup

BARELY days after drawing France, Peru and Australia in what is a relatively easy 2018 World Cup group, Denmark got even better news. Peru’s star striker Paolo Guerrero will miss the tournament after failing a drugs test. But the omens are not so good for FC Copenhagen, who on Monday drew favourities Atletico Madrid in the last MAGAZ SPECIAL EDITION 32theoffascinating the Europa League.

Read Interv

4-5 FREE INSIDE OUR NEXT ISSUE, OUTPAPER 11th JANUARY! Too many holidays HISTORY

2018

... BUT HE TAMPERED

FREE INSIDE OUR NEXT ISSUE, OUT 31st AUGUST! DANISH NEWS IN ENGLISH

March 31, 2005: CPH POST owner Ejvind Sandal informs his employees that the newspaper will close down on June 30. For several, it is the second time they have been handed their notice. Meanwhile, CPH POST pays tribute to the Irish Rover’s popular landlord Jono after he dies tragically aged just 45. And an April Fools’ story that golfer John Daly, a buddy of Donald Trump’s, is set to become the US ambassador in Denmark, is swallowed hook, line and sinker by most of the Danish staff at the US Embassy, along with several other media.

9

INSIDE

Onișor

17 issues

June 10, 2008: After months of neDANISH NEWS IN ENGLISH CPHPOST.DK gotiations, CPH POST owner 18Ejvind VOL 20 ISSUE 10 - 31 August 2017 Sandal agrees to sell 72 percent of the company to three employees for a nominal fee. Salesman Hans Hermansen and journalists Ben Hamilton and Christian Wenande know the future will be NEWS hard, but they are Shootings in Nørrebro up for the challenge and June, their becoming a familia story first month of operations, is a suc2 cessful one. When the newspaper NEWS resumes business after the summer break, it only has one employee: the EMA favourites? supplements editor, Stephen Gadd.

Capital in pole position as Paris opts for EBA Meanwhile, it moves to a smaller office at CPH International House, 3 and several months later to an even smaller one! The takeover comes too late to save the jobs of several employees. Meena Krishnamurthi, the IT manager, has already left, as has layout editor JohanSPORT Karpantschof CPHPOST.DK and DANISH NEWS IN ENGLISH VOL 20 ISSUE 17 15 Dec 2017- 11 Jan 2018 Second in Euros, long-term journalist RaybestWeaver, who champions in our hearts is replaced by Stephen Gadd. Also 7 departing is office administrator BUSINESS Dorte Elkjær and long-time columnist Stephanie Brickman, but mad among A market gone the new recruits to Thethe minefiCPH eld thatVOICES is finding NEWS accommodation is well-known comedian Adrian Police using drones to catch Mackinder. cannabis buyers 8

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Feb 23, 2103: An eagle-eyed Forget 1848! Thproofe closest we camePost to revolution 1918 reader notices that the Boxwashas a line in it reading: “To subscribe –20 email subs@cphpost.dk”.

INOUT Nobody in the office ever recalls seeing the email June’s juggernauts address before, although it has been Distortion & Guns N’ Roses busy month for culture in every issue going– aback several years. It’s particularly galling as CPH 21-25 POST decided to end all subscriptions PRINT VERSION ISSN: 2446-0184 VERSION ISSN: 2446-0192 in 2016-17. NumbersONLINE had dried up to the point there were barely 200

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A SCHOOL WHERE BILITY, SUSTAINA ITY CE COMMUN C EXCELLEN AND ACADEMI IN HAND GO HAND

Reprieve for the rich: But is it legal? private subscribers, and with the cost A CPH SPECIAL of postage the profit POST was extremely A loophole enables the wives of high earners to bypass strict immigration laws, low-margin. but lawyers question it will lead to discrimination

DANISH NEWS IN ENGLISH CPHPOST.DK VOL 21 ISSUE 03 23 February - 15 March 2018

ments,” Socialdemokratiet spokesperson Mattias Tesfaye told industry group Dansk Industri.

“The rule change will only benefit highly-paid people. We NEWS N RESPONSE criticism To must ensure Th that craftsmen and at was fast!

Street Food March 23, to2104: mark its 20th fi nds new home and pressure from Social- all other Danes also have the opanniversary, CPH POST to 2 demokratiet, the government portunitydecides to bring their spouses has introducedan a one-year loop- home.”

FEATURE publish anniversary supplement. hole into its strict legislation First new, then a muse Givenimmigrating the impending lawsuits, it warned regarding spouses. Party was Five authors recall how Those married to a Dane or BEFORE Denmark the concession, inspired them to might be the last thing it ever pubwrite foreigner earning more than Politiken reported that Social4-5 408,800 lisheskroner annually can demekratiet received a legal now reside here without having opinion that stated “it can’t be to worry about passing a Danish ruled out that the law proposal could lead to discrimination.” language test.

The Institute for Human Low paid left out Rights concurred that it was NEWSEuropean Con“WE WANTED to find a so- “doubtful” the Danish classes to bite lution so that well-functioning vention onFreeHuman Rights the dust in sweeping tax business systems are not mixed would find itreform “a reasonable basis 7 with other integration require- for discrimination because of the

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citizen being highly-qualified or highly-paid labour”.

LIBERAL Alliance wants to scrap the May 1 holiday for public workers and institutions. Due to the lateness of Easter, most people will have almost a week off over May and early June. Following May 1 and Big Prayer Day on May 12, there are holidays on Ascension Day (May 25 – the majority tend to take May 26 off too!) and Whit Monday (June 5).

ropean Commission against Racism and Intolerance has called on the government to scrap the controversial Jewellery Law – which gives the police the power to confiscate valuables worth more than 10,000 kroner from Towering over the city asylum seekers – and deplored the introduction of more strin- PLANS have been announced for gent family reunification laws. a 6.5 billion kroner HC AndersAnd 75.4 percent of the en-themed amusement park in an Danish public has rejected 85,000 sqm area in the city disParliament’s controversial state- trict of Nordhavn. Bjarke Ingels Mettethatin immigrants the mixer from over north asylum plan Nuclear w Group’sAfrican design includes a proposal ment ACCORD non-Western countries and to build a 280-metre adventure Tunisia and Morocco both shoot realistic), asylum-seekers will that it too would not entertain survey for their descendants couldno never tower, which would the longer be able to apply in the notion become of hosting asylum cent of D down asylum centre ploy Denmark, lessening building the centresin within borders. tensions b the itsNordics. become Danish, according totherebyhighest BEN HAMILTON incentive to traverse treacherand the U approved City a YouGov poll for Metroxpress.

Need the Hall, power it could ous waters and allIfthe way across by use of nuc OCIALDEMOKRATIET Europe.

FREDERIKSEN has since the next (CPH POST) open as early as 2025.

AU REVOIR, HENRI

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leader Mette Frederiksen may be the bookies’ favourite to form a government following the next general election, which will take place no

Instead the application will need to be made at a centre in another TH country – north Africa was mentioned as a possible location. But that strategy doesn’t

SO MUCH TO LOOK FORWARD TO IN OUR NEXT ISSUE - OUT 9 Don’t miss CPH:DOX and a The promise of spring

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ambas Kham and f Mog

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Scrap Jewellery Law! CHINA SUPPLEMENT! IN RELATED news, the Eu-

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inside story of CIS – the most sustainable school in Denmark

JUNE!

countered that some other country, not situated in north Africa, could be a prudent host for the asylum centres, as long as they have a democratically-

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firmly bel imminent nuclear wa vehementl

1998 - 2018

20-YEAR ANNIVERSARY

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THE COPENHAGEN POST | CPHPOST.DK

1998 - 2018

WELCOME HOME

Since 2004, we’ve worked to cherish that special feeling of ‘home’. Without boasting too much, we can say we’ve succeeded rather well. Today, we are Denmark’s largest housing agency. We rent everything from the small, one-room flats in town to the 500 sq metre villa on the coast. Furnished or unfurnished. On a monthly or yearly basis. We know for sure that a new existence away from familiar surroundings requires tranquillity on the home front. That applies whether you are the landlord, who is moving on – or the tenant who just wants to settle in comfortably.

It’s all about making you feel right when you step inside the door.

Welcome Home to Denmark’s largest housing agency housingdenmark.com

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