“So what? We have a vendetta against Wennerström ourselves.”
Blomkvist turned away from her and lit a cigarette.
Their conversation had gone on for quite a while, until Berger went into the
bedroom, undressed, and climbed into bed. She pretended to be asleep when he
got in beside her two hours later.
This evening a reporter from Dagens Nyheter had asked her the same question:
“How is Millennium going to be able credibly to assert its independence?”
“What do you mean?”
The reporter thought the question had been clear enough, but he spelled it out
anyway.
“One of Millennium’s objectives is to investigate corporations. How will the
magazine be able to claim in a credible way that it’s investigating the Vanger
Corporation?”
Berger gave him a surprised look, as if the question were completely unexpected.
“Are you insinuating that Millennium’s credibility is diminished because a well-
known financier with significant resources has entered the picture?”
“You could not now credibly investigate the Vanger Corporation.”
“Is that a rule that applies specifically to Millennium?”
“Excuse me?”
“I mean, you work for a publication that is for the most part owned by major
corporate entities. Does that mean that none of the newspapers published by the
Bonnier Group is credible? Aftonbladet is owned by a huge Norwegian corporation,
which in turn is a major player in IT and communications—does that mean that
anything Aftonbladet publishes about the electronics industry is not
credible? Metro is owned by the Stenbeck Group. Are you saying that no
publication in Sweden that has significant economic interests behind it is
credible?”
“No, of course not.”