Erling Hall-Hofsø (11 January 1917 – 20 May 2010) was a Norwegian newspaper editor and politician for the Labour Party. In his young days he was a

boxer Boxer most commonly refers to: * Boxer (boxing), a competitor in the sport of boxing *Boxer (dog), a breed of dog Boxer or boxers may also refer to: Animal kingdom * Boxer crab * Boxer shrimp, a small group of decapod crustaceans * Boxer snipe ee ...

for the workers' sports club Harstad AIF. He became a member of the central board of the Workers' Youth League in 1938. In 1946 he was hired as a journalist in the Labour newspaper in

Harstad ( se, Hárstták) is the second-most populated municipality in Troms og Finnmark county, Norway. It is mostly located on the large island of Hinnøya. The municipal center is the Harstad (town), town of Harstad, the most populous town in Centra ...

, '' Folkeviljen''. He was promoted to editor-in-chief already in 1947. He remained here until 1956, when the newspaper was incorporated by

Tromsø Tromsø (, , ; se, Romsa ; fkv, Tromssa; sv, Tromsö) is a List of municipalities of Norway, municipality in Troms og Finnmark county, Norway. The administrative centre of the municipality is the Tromsø (city), city of Tromsø. Tromsø lies ...

-based newspaper ''

Nordlys ''Nordlys'' is a Norwegian newspaper published in Tromsø, covering the region of Troms, and the largest newspaper in Northern Norway. History and profile ''Nordlys'' was founded in 1902 by Alfred Eriksen, who also was its first editor-in-chie ...

''. Hall-Hofsø became famous in 1953. His newspaper printed a short piece about an attempted

rape Rape is a type of sexual assault usually involving sexual intercourse or other forms of sexual penetration carried out against a person without their consent. The act may be carried out by physical force, coercion, abuse of authority, or ag ...

which had occurred in Harstad. The police demanded that Hall-Hofsø unveil his

source Source may refer to: Research * Historical document * Historical source * Source (intelligence) or sub source, typically a confidential provider of non open-source intelligence * Source (journalism), a person, publication, publishing institute o ...

for the news story, but he refused. He was sentenced to jail for maximum three months, with the option of being released if he unveiled his source. The case went all the way to the

Supreme Court of Norway The Supreme Court of Norway (Norwegian Bokmål: ''(Norges) Høyesterett''; Norwegian Nynorsk: ''(Noregs) Høgsterett''; lit. ‘Highest Court’) was established in 1815 on the basis of section 88 in the Constitution of the Kingdom of Norway, whi ...

, who sided with the prosecutors. After seventeen days of imprisonment, Hall-Hofsø was released on 3 March 1953 because the source stood forward. A chapter in Martin Eide's book ''Den redigerende makt'' is devoted to the incident. After ''Folkeviljen'' was amalgamated into ''Nordlys'', he became leader of the newspaper's Harstad office. He retired in 1987. He was also involved in politics, as a member of the

municipal council A municipal council is the legislative body of a municipality or local government area. Depending on the location and classification of the municipality it may be known as a city council, town council, town board, community council, rural counci ...

of Sandtorg Municipality from 1948 to 1960, the municipal council of

Harstad Municipality ( se, Hárstták) is the second-most populated municipality in Troms og Finnmark county, Norway. It is mostly located on the large island of Hinnøya. The municipal center is the town of Harstad, the most populous town in Central Hålogaland, ...

from 1960 to 1978, and the

Troms Troms (; se, Romsa; fkv, Tromssa; fi, Tromssa) is a former county in northern Norway. On 1 January 2020 it was merged with the neighboring Finnmark county to create the new Troms og Finnmark county. This merger is expected to be reversed by t ...

county council A county council is the elected administrative body governing an area known as a county. This term has slightly different meanings in different countries. Ireland The county councils created under British rule in 1899 continue to exist in Irela ...

from 1968 to 1972. He also chaired the local school board for four years, and was an honorary member of the Labour Party. He co-founded the

Festival of North Norway The Arctic Arts Festival ( no, Festspillene i Nord-Norge) is a festival based in Harstad, Norway. It was first held in 1965, and consists of music, theatre and art performances. The festival lasts one week and is held in June. The Arctic Arts Fes ...

in 1963, and was chairman of its board for the first six years. He died in January 2010.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hall-Hofsoe, Erling 1917 births 2010 deaths People from Harstad Norwegian newspaper editors Labour Party (Norway) politicians Troms politicians Norwegian prisoners and detainees Prisoners and detainees of Norway Freedom of expression