Over the years, Tore Strømøy (63) has become one of the most popular and high-profile journalists in the country. In the successful series “Tore på sporet” he helped families reunite, and in “Gåten Agnes” he pointed out a number of mistakes that are made in society.
The material Strømøy dives into is heavy. During his career, he has spoken to several people with sad fates, and told stories that have no “happy ending”. He says that he feels responsible for conveying it in the right way.
– They didn’t want me
– You know those accidents where people have been trapped in mines far underground, and then they have a small, thin way out? I feel like I’m sitting at the top and keep in touch with “Teddy Bear” down in the mine via the internet. That I am his only hope and contact with the outside world and the only one who has taken him seriously. It is clear that I feel the responsibility, because I am involved in it, he says to Dagbladet.
Was fed up and tired
“Bamsegut” is the person about whom the 63-year-old’s upcoming series “No one loves Bamsegut” is about. Strømøy’s goal has not been to be objective in this matter. He is clear that he is on “Teddy Bear’s” side.
THE STREAM ISLAND: Tore is named after his hometown on Frøya, Strømøya. Here is the family farm he grew up on, the school he attended, and he still has a house he visits as often as he can. Photo: OLE MORTEN MELGÅRD Show more
– But I was discouraged and tired, and I have many times wanted to end the project and thought: “I can’t take it anymore”. But then I try to figure it out and understand why he reacts the way he does, and why he’s upset. I’ve become better at listening, even though I’ve had episodes where I’ve wanted to ask “Teddy Bear” to move a certain place. But I soon regret it afterwards.
It all started with a message on Facebook from a person who wanted to say that he was fond of “Tore on the track”.
Make an NRK comeback
– He would like to thank me that there was someone who helped people. He wanted to give me a present, and it was a boat he owned. But he had no idea where the boat was, so the catch was that I had to find it myself, says the 63-year-old with a laugh.
Ask for help
Eventually Strømøy and “Bamsegut” began to talk together, and the latter’s story unfolded. He said that he, together with his Filipino wife and son, traveled to the Philippines in 2012. The plan was to be there for a few months before they were to return home to Norway – that was not the case.
After 12 years, “Teddy Bear” and his family still live in the slums outside Cebu City in the Philippines, and do not have the finances to return home.
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– He says he is ill, that his son no longer goes to school, that they are starving and unwell. He is on disability benefits and the benefits are cut and cut and cut when you live abroad. I understand that this is a real crisis, and I understand that this is a man who has sent so-called prayers for help to many.
Strømøy also understood that “Bamsegutt” had probably sent out requests for help to many people – but he writes poorly, which has probably stuck in his tracks.
-Absolutely something we have discussed
– I reckon that most media houses and newspapers in Norway have received an email from him, but threw it away. We see emails that are poorly written and think: “what kind of nonsense is this”. But I thought I’d give him a chance and find out what this was. It has ended with the series “Ingen elsker Bamsegut”, the story about him and his life and the way Norway treats the weakest.
Strømøy describes the series as a kind of continuation of “Gåten Agnes” – the series about “Bamsegut” is also about pointing out mistakes in society.
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– We are somewhat in the same conundrum and it is the same way of making TV. In many ways I’m still on the “track”, but I’m not on the track of missing relatives – this time I’m looking for injustice and wrongdoing. I try to see things and listen to them that are never listened to, and it has been very interesting and exciting. It has also been rewarding, terrifying and sad in many ways. You really have the whole spectrum there.
– I think it’s strange
The biggest difference between “Gåten Agnes” and “No one loves Bamsegut” is that in the former series he could not talk to the person he made the program about.
Do you recognize the celebrity daughter?
– It is still possible to do something about his case, for Agnes it was too late. She was dead. If we are to look at similarities, no one spoke for Agnes, and there is almost no one who speaks for “Teddy Bear”. We can state that there is a difference between people. It’s tough not being able to speak for yourself, it’s tough to be poor – you have to be resourceful to be resource-poor in Norway.
– You have had difficulties in getting answers from public bodies in this process?
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– Yes, I think it’s strange. You are not allowed to speak to the person in question, you are only referred to advisers and press officers. The person responsible could have responded straight away, but instead I was sent into a system and they put a press officer in front of them, he says and explains further:
– It has become a thing if you ask me. I call them breakwaters, these press officers. There are many agencies and managers who have breakwaters in front of them, which prevent you from talking to the person in question. This applies to both public agencies, ministries and ministers
– Why do you think it has become like this?
Make change in “New again”
– That is a good question. Why has it become so that those in charge no longer dare to answer for themselves, why don’t you dare to stand up and say what it is instead of having many excuses? I do not know. It’s really a disclaimer, you’re mostly concerned with saying that you haven’t done anything wrong and throwing stones at those who sit at the bottom. There is a great lack of empathy and heart – the system should suit the people, it is not the people who should suit the system.
– Want people to feel
– Have you always been keen to help, even as a child?
– When I was little, I helped animals. I rescued birds that had crashed and brought them into the house, and frozen mice and everything. I was a member of WWF, you have no idea how many birds we saved and got back into the air. But as a journalist, I have come across many different cases and it has occurred to me that I should use the “journalism” to speak for those who cannot speak for themselves.
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And it is with that group that he finds the stories he is looking to tell.
– I’m not going to claim that I’m a wonderfully kind person, I’m not sure I am, but it’s very easy for me to do this. Telling good stories that touch people – it is of course a goal that people should be engaged. Whether you are moved, pissed off or laughing – it doesn’t matter. I want people to feel. If the listeners and viewers are indifferent, then I have lost. I have been lucky to meet a large group of people, i.e. most people.
He must do this now
Strømøy believes that “Ingen elsker Bamsegutt” will engage and interest people in the same way as “Gåten Agnes” – the viewer will probably get closer to this subject as “Bamsegut” himself takes part.
At the very end, the undersigned dares to ask the question several TV viewers might want before the program rolls across the screen.
– Why is he called “Teddy Bear”?
– It is simply because his father was a big man and was called “Bamsen”. So then they started calling him “Teddy Bear Boy” because he was the son of “Teddy Bear”, so it’s no worse than that, says Strømøy.
2023-10-07 09:59:27
#real #crisis
