Sýn has ended nearly 40 years of television news broadcasting in Iceland, leaving public broadcaster RÚV as the country’s sole national television news provider. The company said the television news operation was economically unsustainable because audiences and advertising have shifted toward digital platforms and global technology companies, although its overall media revenue had recently increased. Sýn will continue journalism through the Vísir digital platform and Bylgjan radio, while more than 10 positions have been lost. Iceland’s Journalists’ Union and the Nordic Journalists’ Federation warn that the decision will reduce news diversity, public oversight, and democratic accountability, highlighting the fragility of independent journalism in a small, concentrated media market.

Iceland is approaching a referendum on whether to resume membership negotiations with the European Union. Prime Minister Kristrún Frostadóttir argues that voters should authorize negotiations first and decide later whether any eventual agreement benefits Iceland. At a Reykjavík rally, former prime minister Katrín Jakobsdóttir and former president Ólafur Ragnar Grímsson urged a NO vote, citing threats to Icelandic agriculture, food security and national decision-making. A final Gallup poll reported a very narrow lead for NO at 51.6%, compared with 48.4% for YES, though the margin was statistically inconclusive. The article also notes shifting preferences among younger voters and reports that Foreign Minister Þorgerður Katrín Gunnarsdóttir had received threats.

In the final episode of the Medyada İnovasyon podcast series, journalist and IPI Türkiye Committee vice-chair Gülsin Harman discusses her career, her work with the International Press Institute, and support for young journalists. The conversation considers how journalism’s core principles endure while formats and presentation evolve, alongside the relationship between traditional and emerging journalism, influencers and journalists, media literacy, impartiality, ethics, and innovation.