Introduction This essay will outline the way journalism is practiced and how the media in Norway is organised. It will start with stating the political system in Norway, and the constitutional pledge of freedom of the press. It will also give attention to the self-regulation of the press. The essay will also include information about legislation around the press and media in Norway. It will include a description of the main press and media including TV, radio, newspapers and online publications. The media will be dealt with in terms of ownership, size and nature. Attention will be given to the government owned media company NRK, as well as the privately commercially owned media. It will also mention the Norwegian news agency NTB, and outline the structure of ownership and services. The essay will also highlight the different media coverage in districts and in cities. Norway is a monarchy governed by a liberal democratic elected government. According to �100 in the Norwegian Constitution of 1814 the press and media are free to criticise and comment on the society as they wish, as long as they do not commit any offences or libel anyone. (Norske stat, 2002) There are no specific laws aimed at restricting the press, but the media have issued regulations called the �Vaer Varsom� regulations to govern themselves. These regulations are written and executed by the press itself, and has a governing body called �PFU�, which the public can complain to if they feel mistreated in the media. (Pressens Faglige Utvalg, 2002) The �Vaer Varsom� regulations includes ethical guidelines to protect the common man from injustice and harmful publicity, and defines the medias role as the 4th power of state, and outlines the duties the press has to uphold the democracy. All research and interviews must be carried out within the guidelines of the regulations, and it is common practice to both schedule interviews and conduct �on the spot� interviews over the phone. Questions are not revealed before the interview. The regulations apply to the whole of the article including layout, pictures and headlines. (Norsk Presseforbund, 2002) PFU received in 2001, 216 complaints against the media, and 134 of these led to a disciplinary action towards the media in charge. 48 of these cases were deemed as breaches of the �Vaer Varsom� regulations. (PFU, 2002) Norwegian journalists and the public have open access to all official state documents, and can not be denied this right to view any documents published by the government or other organisations. All government branches, including local governments, have to issue reports concerning all matters. This makes it possible for the press to exercise its role as the 4th power of state. (Offentlighetsloven, 2002) Editors have a separate set of regulations, in addition to the �Vaer Varsom� regulations, to keep them reminded of their duties as editors in a country with free speech, freedom of the press and protection of the common man. Editors are, according to the regulations, the responsible person for the publication, and must stride to make the content clear, true and emphasise the difference between the newspaper�s opinions and editorial facts. The �Vaer Varsom� and �Redaktoerplakaten� regulations are written by and for the press, and are revised every two years. (Norske avisers landsforbund, 2002) The media in Norway is mainly comprised of TV, radio, newspapers and more recently online newspapers. There are, in terms of ownership, two categories of Norwegian media. The government owned and the commercially owned media. The Norwegian government owns a public broadcaster company NRK, which runs two national TV stations NRK and NRK2, and three national radio stations NRK P1, NRK P2 and NRK P3, and a range of local stations. NRK is a public service, which means that their broadcasts must be available to the whole of the Norwegian population, also those in less populated areas. It must include a variation of programmes with something for everyone, and generally contribute to strengthen the Norwegian language, national identity and culture. This includes having broadcasts with sign language and catering for the Sami population in the north of the country. (TV2, 2002) The NRK are not allowed to use advertisement in its broadcasts, so to be able to fund the organisation, they receive licence fees paid by the Norwegian citizens. Everyone who owns a TV or a radio set have to pay a license fee to the governing body of Media and Culture. This is to ensure that the channels always have the means to make quality, informative and educational programs, without having to worry about viewing rates. This also means that the public have to pay the license fee whether or not they actually use the channels. A topic, which is under intense discussion every year. (Norges Riks Kringkasting, 2002) NRK is claimed to be independent, but this is continuously a subject of discussion as the Media and Culture department employs the head of the organisation. The following statements are taken from a media discussion on the Internet and show both sides of the ongoing discussion about NRK�s independence. NRK are less independent than any other station because they have only one sponsor; the government. NRK are therefore vitally dependant on the cooperation of politicians in higher positions. (Ukjent, 2002) �How many sponsors the channels have are not the crucial factor when it comes to independence, other channels are also biased in their coverage� (Gloersen, 2002) However NRK are freely allowed to criticise the government and any other issues, and are frequently used as forums for political debate. Both in the news programmes and on specific news related discussion shows. The basic rules of balanced coverage apply to all political related subjects. I.e. all political views have to get an equal amount of attention. It is argued that even though the channels are dependent on governmental decisions and funding, the government is a democratically selected forum that exercises the will of the public; NRK�s audience. The NRK had a broadcast monopoly from the beginning in 1933 to the commercial Scandinavian channel TV3 started to broadcast in 1988. TV3 is a fully commercialised entertainment channel, and are now only available through cable and satellite. They do, however, play a big role in the Norwegian broadcasting as they are viewed by 62,4 % of the Norwegian population. They are currently broadcasting from London to escape some of Norway�s strict advertising regulations. (TV3, 2002) Other national TV channels include TV2 and TV Norway. TV2 is also regarded as a public service. They have a substantial news service and own their own scientific weather observation centre. As they have national coverage they are obliged to follow broadcasting rules concerning advertisement and they have to have well researched and thorough news bulletins. TV Norway is owned by TV2 (49,3%) and the American company SBS (50,7%). They also run local TV stations across the country, and provide a news service. (TVN, 2002) Newspapers are frequently read in Norway, and to ensure that the Norwegian press is varied and broadminded the government subsidises most newspapers that would otherwise not survive economically. This subsidising scheme was implemented in 1969 and is still today vital for a lot of relatively small newspapers in the districts across the country. The papers gets subsidised no matter what ideology, religion or political comments they publish or support. The only criterion of the subsidising is that the papers need the money to be able to be published at all. (MedieNorge, 2002) Newspapers are one of the most used mediums in Norway, and a large percentage of the Norwegian public reads at least one newspaper a day. (MedieNorge, 2002) The largest national newspapers in Norway are Verdens Gang with a daily distribution of 387 508, Aftenposten with 262 632 and Dagbladet with193 637. (Institutt for Journalistikk, 2002) They are commercially owned by various media groups in Norway. Today there are also 201 online news publications available. One of the major Norwegian Internet news related web portals are Scandinavian OnLine (SOL), which has a female director. (Avisregisteret, 2002) To be able to get news from the whole country most media in Norway subscribe to the Norwegian news agency NTB. The agency is privately owned and is set up as a cooperation with its shares owned by the Norwegian media. NTB covers all areas like general news, culture, economics, politics, features and sports. They have their own wire service, picture service and news archive. NTB does not receive any subsidising from the government, and takes pride in being independent. NRK do own shares in the company, but have to share their power with the other owners. To be able to own shares in NTB you have to be an owner of other media, or have your workplace in the media. Ownership of NTB Orkla company (through its newspapers) 26,1% Schibsted (through Aftenposten and Verdens Gang) 20,6% A pressen and its newspapers 20,5% NRK 10,5% Adresseavisen (newspaper) 7,8% Other newspapers, TV2, P4 14,0% NTB's employees 0,5% (NTB, 2002) Ownership is something that always is under debate as there are a few strong media companies like Orkla, Shibsted and A pressen who tries to get control over more and more media outlets in the country, and already do have a lot of control over NTB. However, the government has laid down legislation to prevent a too narrow base of owners and to support a diversity in the media, and the media itself regularly has heated debates on the issue. (Njaastad, 2002) Another strong medium in Norway is the radio. As TV was not introduced in Norway until 1960 (NRK, 2002) the radio, as a medium, has strong traditions amongst Norwegians. In addition to the radio stations of NRK, there is one privately owned national radio station called P4, and multiple local and regional commercial radio stations across the country. In 1998 there were 319 radio stations available in Norway. (Statens medieforvaltning, 2002) To be able to broadcast in Norway the stations need a licence from the governing body of Media and Culture. The licences are reviewed on a regular basis and are up for revision this year, and a discussion about P4�s future is currently going on. The government are also considering releasing a new licence for a new frequency now called P5. (Nomeland, 2002) Norway is a scarcely populated country with a population density of 11.7 people per km�, and most people live out in the districts and not in the main cities. (VisitNorway, 2002) Because of this the regional media is particularly strong in Norway. When it comes to news most people rely on their regional newspapers for local news, and turn to the national papers and TV channels to get input on international news and news from the capital Oslo. The main national media is situated in Oslo, and to get regional news, NRK and TV Norway have local branches across the country. However, there is a continuous discussion on how well the districts are covered in the national news, and the main issue is that there is not enough coverage from the districts in the national news bulletins. (Sparre, 2002) Conclusion This essay has outlined the way journalism is practiced and how the media in Norway is organised. It has stated that the press and media are free to publish what they want as long as they don�t libel anyone. This right is stated in the Norwegian constitution. It has also stated that the press has worked out self-regulations to not only protect the public against harassment, but to maintain their own credibility. Complaints can be made to the PFU, and statistics has shown that they do take action against the press when they see fit. The essay has also described the main press and media, within the government owned and the commercially owned. Ownership and the means to keep the press differentiated and varied have also been highlighted. The essay has stated that the Norwegian press agency NTB is owned by various media groups in Norway, and claims its independence on these grounds. The essay has also stated that local and regional press is just as important as the national press, as most Norwegians live outside the main cities. |
| Media in Norway |