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From Sweden's main newspapers , Svenska Dagbladet

https://www.svd.se/

https://www.svd.se/a/8qy3Mx/gad-ett-systemfel-tror-det-ar-rasism
Gad: "A system error - I think it's racism"

Magda Gad planned to enter Gaza via a tunnel from Egypt, but it didn't work because Israel bombed the tunnels and occupied the area where she would have arrived, she says.

Magda Gad planned to enter Gaza via a tunnel from Egypt, but it didn't work because Israel bombed the tunnels and occupied the area where she was supposed to have arrived, she says. Photo: Josefine Stenersen

War correspondent Magda Gad believes that Swedish media legitimizes genocide in Gaza. With her new site Gad, she wants to revolutionize the media industry – "like Spotify." The money will come from financiers who share her values.

Birgitta Forsberg

Published05:13

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Magda Gad apologizes for being late for the interview. A meeting with an investor interested in putting money into her news site dragged on.

– We are going to change the entire media industry, not just in Sweden.

The site, named Gad, will publish texts in both Swedish and English.

– You should think of this like Spotify. When Spotify came along, it wasn't just another record label, it was something completely new that revolutionized the music industry. And that's what we're going to do, she says.

War correspondent Magda Gad worked for Expressen until 2023 when she suffered terrible neck pain. She had surgery in Dubai, where she now lives. Since then, she has freelanced, including for SvD .

In October, the new site will launch with her as editor-in-chief.

Alexandra Urisman Otto, who has left her job as climate reporter at Dagens Nyheter, will be the editorial director.

Now they are both sitting at the kitchen table in Alexandra Urisman Otto's bright apartment on Södermalm in Stockholm.

Seeing system errors in media

They explain that they are dissatisfied with how the media describes reality.

"We discovered that we had seen the same system errors," says Magda Gad about how they found each other.

They think they see it in the reporting on Gaza and the climate crisis.

Magda Gad lists several examples of poor Swedish journalism about Gaza, but admits that, for example, Sveriges Radio's correspondent Cecilia Uddén reports skillfully about what is happening there.

War correspondent Magda Gad lives in Dubai, but is visiting Stockholm.

War correspondent Magda Gad lives in Dubai, but is visiting Stockholm. Photo: Josefine Stenersen

Uddén's son, Middle East reporter Edgar Mannheimer, becomes head of culture at Gad.

Edgar Mannheimer has argued that the media treats ethnic groups differently, with dead Palestinian children barely generating news coverage while dead Israelis or Ukrainians make big headlines. And that this is due to racism.

– Yes, I agree with that. I think it's racism. It's Islamophobia, definitely ignorance, definitely ideology, and definitely religion too, says Magda Gad.

But there is also good journalism about Gaza, according to Magda Gad.

How can you prove that it is a system error?

– It's a system error. Over 500 people have signed that this is how it is.

She is referring to a petition that she and Edgar Mannheimer initiated and that was published last week. It demanded, among other things, that international journalists be allowed into Gaza and that Israel's press freedom be improved. More than 500 journalists, authors and writers signed it, among them Cecilia Uddén.

Media legitimizes genocide

Demanding freedom of the press is uncontroversial. But the appeal also stated that Western media reporting "has been substandard and through its shortcomings has contributed to legitimizing" what a number of experts now describe as genocide.

This sparked debate because news reporters are supposed to remain neutral . According to the publicity rules that established Swedish media follow, news reporting should be accurate, factual, and comprehensive.

So has the Swedish media contributed to legitimizing a genocide?

– Absolutely, says Magda Gad.

At Alexandra Urisman Otto's kitchen table, they talk about their media criticism.

At Alexandra Urisman Otto's kitchen table, they talk about their media criticism. Photo: Josefine Stenersen

How then?

– Among other things, by uncritically spreading a lot of Israeli propaganda.

Magda Gad says that Israeli deaths are reported to a much higher degree, and are described as "slaughter" or "massacre" – while Palestinians "have perished." She refers to a review in Dagens ETC.

– When it comes to figures from Hamas, it has been shown historically that they are accurate or even on the low side. According to studies in, among others, the Lancet, the real death toll is likely much higher, says Magda Gad.

But Magda Gad points out that it is not possible to trust numbers from either side in a war.

Hamas is classified by many countries as a terrorist organization, and it was Hamas's attack on Israelis on October 7, 2023, that triggered Israel's current warfare in Gaza. But the conflict has been going on for many decades.

"Our call has changed that"

Regarding the reporting on the Palestinian victims in Gaza, she says that there are many horrific photos on Instagram of "piles of dead children."

– Then you open a newspaper and it's not visible.

According to Swedish publicity regulations, media outlets must carefully consider publishing names and images out of consideration for the victims and their relatives. Therefore, media outlets are often cautious about publishing images of the dead.

But Swedish media, including SvD, have published pictures of dead children in Gaza.

However, Magda Gad does not believe that the Swedish media has shown enough images and points out that 18,000 children have been killed in Gaza.

– We know that dehumanization is the most important factor for genocide to be completed.

Now the appeal will go out globally, says Magda Gad.

– A lot has happened since our call and it probably also meant a lot that so many of us came together.

But was it your call that changed this, wasn't it the images of starving Palestinian children?

– I think it's our call that has changed that, absolutely.

Seeing anxiety in Swedish media

Alexandra Urisman Otto sees the same "system error" in climate journalism.

"We are moving at record speed towards destroying the life support systems on Earth," she says.

She emphasizes that the UN climate panel believes that sweeping societal changes are needed to halt global warming.

But that does not reflect journalism, she believes, and compares it to the pandemic where journalists immediately began to act according to a new reality.

– When you opened a newspaper and looked online, you saw that yes, this is an emergency. I have to change my behavior.

Alexandra Urisman Otto dreamed of becoming a criminal lawyer and trained as a lawyer, but eventually became a journalist.

Alexandra Urisman Otto dreamed of becoming a criminal lawyer and trained as a lawyer, but eventually became a journalist. Photo: Josefine Stenersen

But a major transformation is taking place within the EU, isn't it?

– You don't really count all the emissions then. A lot of the emissions occur abroad and very large amounts are also bioenergy, for example, which are emissions that we don't count.

Alexandra Urisman Otto also addresses the anxiety she sees in Swedish media.

When she was on leave to write a book, she commented on the situation in Gaza on the social media site Bluesky.

Among other things, she wrote: "A child is killed every ten minutes in Gaza. More and more experts are warning that each of us is now witnessing an incipient or ongoing genocide. We who see must demand that this stop immediately."

Because of her statements about Gaza, Alexandra Urisman Otto was banned from writing about the situation in Gaza when she returned to DN, she claims. The fact that there was no journalistic discussion about the matter in the newspaper upsets her.

– I perceive that anxiety as very, very problematic for journalism.

DN's editorial director Anna Åberg does not comment on the discussions the newspaper has with employees and points out that Alexandra Urisman Otto was a climate reporter and did not cover the Middle East.

"But generally we are strict that news reporters should not take a position on social media. If you do, it can affect which topics you can cover," Anna Åberg emails.

Must share their values

Magda Gad and Alexandra Urisman Otto are leaving large established newspapers for the new site.

– Initially, we will have half a million readers. We will be bigger than Svenska Dagbladet, says Magda Gad.

SvD had an average of 725,000 readers per day in the first four months of 2025, according to the Orvesto consumer survey.

But Gad will also have the articles on its site locked and only available to subscribers, although perhaps with different price levels to attract young people, they say.

How will you report differently from other media?

– If you open an Expressen or a DN or whatever it is, it's what has happened in Sweden and it's Melodifestivalen or what has Bianca Ingrosso done and what has that politician said and what is happening with Putin, says Magda Gad.

Editor-in-chief and editorial director will be their respective titles on the Gad site.

Editor-in-chief and editorial director will be their respective titles on the Gad site. Photo: Josefine Stenersen

Gad will not have that mix, but the site will take a greater grip on geopolitics, among other things, she says. They will announce later how many people will work for the site and who – if anyone – will be the responsible publisher.

The idea is that funding will come partly from readers, and partly from investors and advertisers who share their values, according to Magda Gad.

– We will say no to investors. We will also say no to advertisers. If BP were to come and want to have an ad with us, it's no.

Normally, news reporters try to avoid valuations, but that is not the case here.

What are those values?

– That when we report on war, we should report based on international law. We should report clearly about human rights, says Magda Gad.

In Gaza, for example, they can collect information and then submit it to the International Criminal Court in The Hague, says Magda Gad.

Have you abandoned neutrality and taken a position then, if you go to The Hague?

– No.

Magda Gad adds that she takes a stand for international law.

"Will come across as radical"

Other values that they both share are equality, that more women must advance to important positions, and protecting the climate.

– What is neutral in a climate crisis is to start from science and portray it from there, says Alexandra Urisman Otto.

Alexandra Urisman Otto warns about Lego pieces on the floor, which her three children may have accidentally dropped there.

Alexandra Urisman Otto warns about Lego pieces on the floor, which her three children may have accidentally dropped there. Photo: Josefine Stenersen

She continues:

– Unfortunately, you will appear to be increasingly radical as the clock ticks on the climate crisis.

Aren't you afraid of being classified as left-wing?

– No, I think it's crazy. How did international law become left-wing? I don't define myself as left-wing, says Magda Gad.

Denies that she is an activist

Magda Gad herself is a big profile on social media, where she often has a harsh tone. She has almost 184,000 followers on Facebook, just over 90,000 on Instagram and more than 80,000 on X. But she denies that she is an influencer or activist.

– I am not an activist and I am not leftist and we are not going to make a leftist newspaper. We are going to make a newspaper that is not ideological, that is independent and that is based on international law, that is based on facts and that is based on what the experts say.

Most other media also say they engage in neutral, investigative journalism?

– Then I think they should do it.

But activists should be allowed to make podcasts on your site?

– Yes, just like editorial writers have an editorial page in Svenska Dagbladet. In all newspapers there is an editorial board and there are people who drive opinion, and we will have that too.

The news site's target audience is young people, and anyone else who "longs for" this kind of journalism, says Magda Gad.

The site's name Gad was chosen for several reasons, according to Magda Gad. The word gad means committed in Arabic, she says. In addition, her name is short and well-established.

– I don't have any children and my brother doesn't have any children either and we have no family. So when we die there will be no Gad left. My mother never had any grandchildren, but now she got a newspaper.

Magda Gad has reported from many wars and remained in Afghanistan's capital, Kabul, when the Taliban took over.