News of Norway, issue 8, 1996
She and another reporter, Gunnar Myklebust, cover the entire nation. After Bryn became a news anchor for NRK in Norway, almost the entire population of the nation watched her every night. She soon became recognized throughout the country. Last fall, the chairmen of NRK decided she was ready for the Washington assignment--one of few Norwegain woman to hold this prestigious position.
"Of course the days are busy," she said in her speech at the Norwegian Embassy. "I’m working hard, sending back stories home both for television and radio. Most of all the stories are my own ideas, so I have to be creative all the time. I want to be a good journalist and do a good job." Bryn started her career many years ago as a journalist for a small local newspaper in her home village of Voss. "At that time, right after high school, I decided I wanted to work as a journalist for the rest of my life."she said. Later she went to journalism school and studied political science at the University of Oslo. She has worked in Bergen and Oslo, and has a two-year assignment in Stockholm behind her. There she covered not only Sweden but the three Baltic states, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, as well. "It was stressful, but I also loved it" she said. "I think Stockholm is the most beautiful city in Scandinavia and I hope I will be able to go back there to work later on in my life." And now she is in Washington D.C. "It was a very hard decision for me to know if I should accept or not," she said of the four-year posting. "You know, I’m not in my early twenties any longer. But, then I thought that if I did not go I would always regret it, so here I am." Bryn lives in an apartment in Georgetown, a charming older neighborhood in northwest Washington. " People are friendly and helpful here," she said. "But, of course I miss all my friends, family and the Norwegian nature. What has been your most exciting story so far? one in the audience asked. "My trip to Tahiti to cover the nuclear test protests was something I never will forget. I was told to go there after only a few weeks in Washington, and I could not believe it. Where is Tahiti? ‘Is that part of America now?’ she said jocosely. A few other events rival that one for sheer drama. She was in Los Angeles for the O.J. Simpson Trial. More recently she covered the crash of TWA Flight 800, and a hurricane that killed several people and destroyed many homes. Much what she brings to the air is not good news, of course. The Republican convention in San Diego was another event she will also remember. "Down there it was much easier to get access to important people." I was possible to get hold of celebrities like Larry King, Jack Kemp and Pat Buchanan "I could just run around and try to grab them. The big advantage was that none of the interview subjects knew in advance which journalists they were speaking to. Before they had the chance to discover I was from Norway [and not significant in terms of reaching American voters], it was too late. I had already started the interview," Bryn recalls. Bryn tries to cover more than pure politics. "You know, the election campaign is a bit more boring now than in ‘92," she says. "Very few people back in Norway think that Dole represents a challenge to Clinton. They think Dole looks too old and out of touch to have any chance of becoming the new President. Clinton is surely a popular candidate for Norwegians--maybe because he is a democrat like our Prime Minister." After this four-year assignment is over, Bryn will head back across the Atlantic. She would then like to work in Norway again or somewhere closer to home in Europe.