Genre: | Documentary Investigative journalism |
Creator: | Gerhard Helskog |
Country: | Norway |
Language: | Norwegian |
Num Seasons: | 4 |
Num Episodes: | 36 |
Channel: | TV 2 |
Related: | Dokument 2 |
Rikets tilstand ("State of the Realm") is a Norwegian investigative documentary series that aired on TV 2 from 1999 to 2002.[1] The host was Gerhard Helskog, former host of Dokument 2.[1] The series premiered on 30 September 1999.[1]
Rikets tilstand won a SKUP diploma and the Gullruten award for best documentary for the two-part episode Norske jenter omskjæres (2000), about Norwegian Muslim girls being subjected to female genital mutilation with the secret approval of imams.[2] [3]
The series became subject to a scandal in 2002 after an episode made unsubstantiated allegations of doping in the Norwegian national skiing team.[4] The series was also tarnished for sparking a moral panic following an episode in 2001 alleging the now-discredited link between the MMR vaccine and autism.[5] [6] Helskog was himself sued for libel (although eventually acquitted)[7] by Jan Simonsen, who claimed the series had directly resulted in him being expelled from the Progress Party.[8]