Media of Norway
Encyclopedia
Press
Reporters Without BordersReporters Without Borders
Reporters Without Borders is a France-based international non-governmental organization that advocates freedom of the press. It was founded in 1985, by Robert Ménard, Rony Brauman and the journalist Jean-Claude Guillebaud. Jean-François Julliard has served as Secretary General since 2008...
ranks Norway
Norway
Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...
1st in its Worldwide Press Freedom Index, the same level as Iceland
Iceland
Iceland , described as the Republic of Iceland, is a Nordic and European island country in the North Atlantic Ocean, on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. Iceland also refers to the main island of the country, which contains almost all the population and almost all the land area. The country has a population...
and Luxembourg
Luxembourg
Luxembourg , officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg , is a landlocked country in western Europe, bordered by Belgium, France, and Germany. It has two principal regions: the Oesling in the North as part of the Ardennes massif, and the Gutland in the south...
. Freedom of the press in Norway dates back to the constitution
Constitution of Norway
The Constitution of Norway was first adopted on May 16, 1814 by the Norwegian Constituent Assembly at Eidsvoll , then signed and dated May 17...
of 1814. The Norwegian press is privately owned and self-regulated; however, the state provides press support
Press support
Press support is a Norwegian state subsidy available for newspapers. The subsidy is twofold; the first part is a direct subsidy of the second- largest, by circulation, newspapers in each city...
.
Television
The two companies dominating the Norwegian terrestrial broadcast television are NRK (with four main services, NRK1NRK1
NRK1 is the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation's main television channel. Test broadcasts started on 12 January 1954, regular test broadcasts started on 13 April 1958 and regular broadcasts started in 20 August 1960. It is Norway's oldest and largest television channel...
, NRK2
NRK2
NRK2 is one of the TV channels of the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation . It was launched in 1996. It has traditionally concentrated on more on cultural and in-depth programmes than its mother channel NRK1 and has also shown drama series, comedies, and news. When not broadcasting regular...
, NRK3
NRK3
NRK3 is a digital TV channel aimed at youth and young adults and produced by the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation.Launched on 3 September 2007, and on air from 19.30 each evening, the channel features such British and American shows as Sugar Rush, Heroes, Third Watch, The Daily Show, True Blood,...
and NRK Super
NRK Super
NRK Super is a Norwegian TV & radio channel aimed at children, run by the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation. The TV channel is broadcast on the digital terrestrial network, on the same frequency as NRK3 from 7am to 7pm, and was launched 1 December 2007. The NRK Super radio channel is broadcast on...
) and TV2
TV 2 (Norway)
TV 2 is the largest commercial television station in Norway. Over 30% of the time Norwegians spend watching TV is spent watching TV 2. The station has 65% of the market for TV commercials in Norway....
(with TV 2 Filmkanalen, TV 2 Nyhetskanalen
TV 2 Nyhetskanalen
TV 2 Nyhetskanalen is a Norwegian language television news channel which started broadcasting on January 15, 2007. It is Norway's first national news network in Norwegian, although Nyhetskanalen did exist from 1997 to 1998....
, TV 2 Sport
TV 2 Sport (Norway)
TV 2 Sport, stylized as TV 2 SPORT 1 to 5, is a Norwegian pay-TV channel that shows sports . It heavily features soccer, including the Norwegian Premier League. This channel also broadcasts some international matches form Norway and also from the World, like som Friendly matches...
, TV 2 Zebra og TV 2 Bliss). Other, long-running channels are TVNorge
TVNorge
TVNorge is a Norwegian television channel.TVNorge went on the air December 5, 1988 and was the first advertising-supported Norwegian channel. The channel was started with 50 000 NOK...
and TV3
TV3 (Norway)
TV3 Norway is a commercial television channel targeting Norway owned by Viasat, which is a part of the Swedish media group Modern Times Group...
.
Radio
National radio is dominated by the public-service company NRK, which is funded from the television licence feeTelevision licence
A television licence is an official licence required in many countries for the reception of television broadcasts...
payable by the owners of television sets. NRK provides programming on three radio channels – NRK P1
NRK P1
NRK P1 is one of three nation-wide analogue radio channels operated by the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation . It is the direct descendant of NRK's first radio station which began broadcasting in 1933...
, NRK P2
NRK P2
NRK P2 is one of three nation-wide analogue radio channels operated by the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation . It was established as NRK's second radio channel in 1984, and focuses on culture and current affairs – news, debate, analysis, science, society.In 1999 its employees were...
, and NRK P3
NRK P3
NRK P3 is one of three nation-wide analogue radio channels operated by the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation . It was established as NRK's third radio channel in 1993, and focuses on youth culture: principally music, together with humour, entertainment, and health education.Over the years NRK P3...
– broadcast on FM
FM broadcasting
FM broadcasting is a broadcasting technology pioneered by Edwin Howard Armstrong which uses frequency modulation to provide high-fidelity sound over broadcast radio. The term "FM band" describes the "frequency band in which FM is used for broadcasting"...
and via DAB
Digital audio broadcasting
Digital Audio Broadcasting is a digital radio technology for broadcasting radio stations, used in several countries, particularly in Europe. As of 2006, approximately 1,000 stations worldwide broadcast in the DAB format....
. A number of further specialist channels are broadcast exclusively on DAB, DVB-T
DVB-T
DVB-T is an abbreviation for Digital Video Broadcasting — Terrestrial; it is the DVB European-based consortium standard for the broadcast transmission of digital terrestrial television that was first published in 1997 and first broadcast in the UK in 1998...
, and the internet
Internet radio
Internet radio is an audio service transmitted via the Internet...
.
Additionally, there are a number of commercial radio stations as well as local radio stations run by various non-profit organizations.
Media bias
As with other related countries, the Norwegian media is often criticized of being biased towards the political left. This has been proven by political scientist Frank AarebrotFrank Aarebrot
Frank Henrik Aarebrot is a Norwegian political scientist from Bergen. He is professor of comparative politics at the University of Bergen and professor II of democracy development at the Örebro University. He regularly lectures at Institut des Sciences Politiques and at the Humboldt University...
as being clearly true, in terms of both Norwegian journalists and editors. Aarebrot has said that "it is serious when Norwegian journalists massively support the political left, but it is a bit more serious when it actually to a greater degree applies to Norwegian editors than among the journalists". He also expressed concern that journalists who sympathise with the Progress Party may have a lesser chance to get hired than journalists with political sympathies close to editors.
For instance, in the actual 2009 election
Norwegian parliamentary election, 2009
The 2009 parliamentary election was held in Norway on 14 September 2009. Elections in Norway are held on a Monday in September, usually the second or third Monday, as determined by the king. Early voting was possible between 10 August and 11 September 2009, while some municipalities held open...
, the Progress Party received 41 mandates, while by journalists it would have received none. The Christian Democratic Party and Center Party would also have been left without representation, while the revolutionary socialist party Red would enter parliament with 9 mandates. The Socialist Left and Liberal Party would also receive significant gains. In 2003, as much as 36% of Norwegian journalists said they would vote for the Socialist Left Party alone, with only 25% saying that they would vote for any of the right-of-center Liberal, Christian Democratic, Conservative or Progress Party combined. News commentator Frank Rossavik
Frank Rossavik
Frank Rossavik is a Norwegian journalist.Rossavik graduated from the University of Bergen in 1986 with a bachelor's degree in comparative politics. In 2004 he took the master's degree in international politics from the Centre Européen de Recherches Internationales et Stratégiques...
once said that if a journalist would stand forward as a Progress Party voter, it would have been "social suicide", and more devastating than withdrawing from the Norwegian Union of Journalists.
Norwegian editors have as well been proven to have leftist political views, with a 2008 survey showing that the Labour Party would have been given a majority in parliament alone with 85 representatives.
The notion of political bias based on the sum of individuals' party selection has been criticized. Among others, conservative historian and politician Francis Sejersted
Francis Sejersted
Francis Sejersted is a Norwegian history professor and former chairman of the Norwegian Nobel Committee.Sejersted was educated in history as well as nordic language and literature at the University of Oslo and achieved a candidatus philologiæ in 1965 and a doctorate in 1973.From 1971 to 1973...
holds that the general media is neither left-slanted nor right-slanted, but "media-slanted". This means that media across the political spectrum have a tendency to choose the same angle on a case, focusing on personification and dramatic events.
Social media
As of August 2009, it was estimated that 1,156,000 Norwegians use FacebookFacebook
Facebook is a social networking service and website launched in February 2004, operated and privately owned by Facebook, Inc. , Facebook has more than 800 million active users. Users must register before using the site, after which they may create a personal profile, add other users as...
. For comparison, the total number of inhabitants is about 4,830,000.
Institutions
Institutions within organized labour are the Norwegian Union of JournalistsNorwegian Union of Journalists
The Norwegian Union of Journalists is a trade union in Norway. It consists of editorial personnel in newspapers, magazines, television and radio, as well as freelance journalists....
, the Association of Norwegian Editors and the Norwegian Media Businesses' Association
Norwegian Media Businesses' Association
The Norwegian Media Businesses' Association is an employers' organisation in Norway, organized under the national Confederation of Norwegian Enterprise.The current CEO is Arvid Sand. Chairman of the board is Ivar Rusdal....
—these are organized in the umbrella Norwegian Press Association
Norwegian Press Association
The Norwegian Press Association is Norwegian association established in 1910, for press people with journalism as their main profession. Among its members are the Norwegian Union of Journalists, the Association of Norwegian Editors, Norsk Lokalradioforbund and the Norwegian Media Businesses'...
. The Press Association is responsible for Pressens Faglige Utvalg, which oversees the Ethical Code of Practice for the Norwegian Press
Ethical Code of Practice for the Norwegian Press
The Ethical Code of Practice for the Norwegian Press is a code regularing journalism ethics and standards in Norway.It was first written in 1936. In 1956 it was rewritten for the first time, with important contributions from Verdens Gang editor Christian A. R. Christensen...
. The Broadcasting Council oversees the state-owned Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation. The Norwegian Media Authority contributes to the enforcement government regulations.
Lists
- List of Norwegian newspapers
- List of Norwegian magazines
- List of Norwegian television channels
- List of Norwegian language radio stations
- List of Norwegian writers
- List of Norwegian companies
Further reading
EncyclopediasBooks