In a post on his blog titled “Norway is not honest enough”, Jørgensen writes her frustration after participating in Aftenposten’s web-TV series “sweatshop”.
Jørgensen was one of three fashion-conscious young bloggers who were put to work in a textile factory in Cambodia.
Jørgensen claimed that Norway’s largest newspaper Aftenposten tried to deny her to talk to the press about the conditions for textile workers in Cambodia.
The blogger further suggested that the newspaper feared that she would mention Hennes & Mauritz (H & M) by name as an example of a business that is often accused of using underpay workers.
– We were told that we were not allowed to mention in the newspapers nor in the media after the series, ” writes 17-year-old on the blog.
She writes that the relationship between her and Aftenposten deteriorated after she showed up at NRK Morning News in April about her experiences. During the program she had explicitly stated that clothing chain H & M is the world’s worst working conditions for textile workers in Cambodia.
Talking to NRK, Jørgensen said Aftenposten asked her not to mention H&M in several contexts.
– For me it was all very strange. Norway’s largest newspaper should not feel pressured by a clothing chain. It is so wrong, says Jørgensen.
Disappointed by the Norwegian media
Jørgensen is now very disappointed and thinks that neither mainstream or other media has taken the matter seriously enough.
The young blogger says that the meeting with the workers in Cambodia changed her life, and says that she will never be able to forget their conditions. Particularly she had strong impression in her meeting with a 18 year old girl who had had to work in the factory since she was nine years old.
O the other hand, H&M writes they are trying to enable a fair living wage for the workers through their suppliers.
– H & M agrees that the wage level in manufacturing countries like Cambodia is too low. H & M, as a buyer, does not pay the workers directly, but we are working intensively to enable a fair living wage through our suppliers, writes press office of H & M in Norway to NRK.
