Morgunblaðið

Morgunblaðið (Icelandic pronunciation: [ˈmɔrkʏnˌplaːðɪθ], The Morning Paper) is an Icelandic daily newspaper. Morgunblaðið's website, mbl.is, is the most popular website in Iceland. It is currently the country's only daily printed newspaper.^[3]

Morgunblaðið

Front page for October 18, 2018
Type	Daily newspaper
Format	Tabloid
Owner(s)	Árvakur hf
Founder(s)	Vilhjálmur Finsen Ólafur Björnsson
Editor	Davíð Oddsson and Haraldur Johannessen
Deputy editor	Karl Blöndal
Staff writers	150 news staff (2023)[1]
Founded	February 11, 1913; 111 years ago (1913-02-11)
Political alignment	Centre-right
Headquarters	Hádegismóar 2, Reykjavík, Iceland
Circulation	50,000[2]
Sister newspapers	Iceland Monitor
ISSN	1021-7266
Website	www.mbl.is

History

Morgunblaðið was founded by Vilhjálmur Finsen and Ólafur Björnsson, brother of Iceland's first president, Sveinn Björnsson. The first issue, only eight pages long, was published on 2 November 1913.^[4]

On 25 February 1964, the paper first printed a caricature by Sigmúnd Jóhannsson which featured the first landings on Surtsey.^[5] He became a permanent cartoonist for Morgunblaðið in 1975 and worked there until October 2008.^[6]

In a controversial decision, the owners of the paper decided in September 2009 to appoint Davíð Oddsson, a member of the Independence Party, Iceland's longest-serving Prime Minister and former Governor of the Central Bank, as one of the two editors of the paper.^[7]

In May 2010, Helgi Sigurðsson was hired as the papers cartoonist. He became known for controversial drawings on topics such as immigration, refugees and COVID-19.^{[8][9][10][11]} His last drawing was published on 14 December 2021. On 7 January 2022, it was reported that Helgi had resigned from Morgunblaðið, following editorial requests that he would tone down his latest submissions.^[12][13]

See also

• List of newspapers in Iceland
• List of non-English newspapers with English language subsections

References

1. "Ritstjórn". Mbl.is. Morgunblaðið. Retrieved 18 December 2023.
2. Merskin, Debra L. (2019-11-12). The SAGE International Encyclopedia of Mass Media and Society. SAGE Publications. pp. 781–782. ISBN 978-1-4833-7552-6.
3. "Mbl.is Traffic, Topplisti innlend umferð - Gallup". topplistar.gallup.is (in Icelandic). Retrieved 2018-10-18.
4. "Morgunblaðið". National and University Library of Iceland. Retrieved 22 April 2022.
5. Guðni Einarsson (16 December 2004). "Spegilmyndir samtímans". Morgunblaðið (in Icelandic). pp. 32–33. Retrieved 7 January 2022.
6. "Sigmund sendir kveðju í lit". Morgunblaðið (in Icelandic). 29 November 2008. Retrieved 7 January 2022.
7. (24.9.2009). Davíð og Haraldur ritstjórar. MBL.
8. Þórarinn Þórarinsson (16 August 2018). "Ný Moggabomba: "Mynd dagsins er ógeðsleg"". Fréttablaðið (in Icelandic). Retrieved 7 January 2022.^{[dead link]}
9. Jakob Bjarnar (5 October 2018). "Hin meinta drátthaga langatöng bláu handarinnar skilur ekki lætin". Vísir.is (in Icelandic). Retrieved 7 January 2022.
10. Bjartmar Oddur Þeyr Alexandersson (18 August 2020). "Skopmyndateiknari Morgunblaðsins segist vita um lækningu við Covid: "Ég er náttúrulega ekki læknir"". Stundin (in Icelandic). Retrieved 7 January 2022.
11. Birgir Olgeirsson (1 September 2015). "Skopmynd Morgunblaðsins afar umdeild". Vísir.is (in Icelandic). Retrieved 7 January 2022.
12. Bára Huld Beck (7 January 2022). "Helgi Sig hættur að teikna fyrir Morgunblaðið". Kjarninn (in Icelandic). Retrieved 7 January 2022.
13. Jakob Bjarnar (7 January 2022). "Umdeildur skopmyndateiknari Moggans hverfur á braut". Vísir.is (in Icelandic). Retrieved 7 January 2022.

External links

• Morgunblaðið website
• Morgunblaðið in the VESTNORD project - Archive with all issues from 1913 to 2017