''Morgenbladet'' is a Norwegian weekly,

newspaper A newspaper is a periodical publication containing written information about current events and is often typed in black ink with a white or gray background. Newspapers can cover a wide variety of fields such as politics, business, sports a ...

, covering politics, culture and science.

History

''Morgenbladet'' was founded in 1819 by the book printer Niels Wulfsberg. The paper is the country's first daily newspaper; however,

Adresseavisen ''Adresseavisen'' (; commonly known as ''Adressa'') is a regional newspaper published daily, except Sundays, in Trondheim, Norway. The paper has been in circulation since 1767 and is one of the oldest newspapers after Norske Intelligenz-Seddeler ...

was founded earlier. For a long time, ''Morgenbladet'' was also the country's top-ranking newspaper by circulation. Adolf Bredo Stabell, chief editor from 1831 to 1857, made ''Morgenbladet'' an important force of opposition, both in politics and literature. Among its writers during this period was the author

Henrik Wergeland Henrik Arnold Thaulow Wergeland (17 June 1808 – 12 July 1845) was a Norwegian writer, most celebrated for his poetry but also a prolific playwright, polemicist, historian, and linguist. He is often described as a leading pioneer in the develop ...

. The leadership of Christian Friele, from 1857 to 1893, turned ''Morgenbladet'' into the leading conservative news outlet in Norway. It was read by most people of authority and became the newspaper of high-ranking bureaucrats. It was soon challenged by new competition:

Aftenposten ( in the masthead; ; Norwegian for "The Evening Post") is Norway's largest printed newspaper by circulation. It is based in Oslo. It sold 211,769 copies in 2015 (172,029 printed copies according to University of Bergen) and estimated 1.2 million ...

(1860), catering to the merchant class, and

Verdens Gang ''Verdens Gang'' ("The course of the world"), generally known under the abbreviation ''VG'', is a Norwegian tabloid newspaper. In 2016, circulation numbers stood at 93,883, having declined from a peak circulation of 390,510 in 2002. ''VG'' is n ...

(1868) and

Dagbladet ''Dagbladet'' (lit.: ''The Daily Magazine'') is one of Norway's largest newspapers and is published in the tabloid format. It has 1,400,000 daily readers on mobile, web and paper. Traditionally ''Dagbladet'' is considered the main liberal newsp ...

(1869), representing opposition to the ruling classes. Connections to the conservative party grew even stronger after the turn of the century. C.J. Hambro, who later went on to be

chairman The chairperson, also chairman, chairwoman or chair, is the presiding officer of an organized group such as a board, committee, or deliberative assembly. The person holding the office, who is typically elected or appointed by members of the grou ...

of the

Conservative party The Conservative Party is a name used by many political parties around the world. These political parties are generally right-wing though their exact ideologies can range from center-right to far-right. Political parties called The Conservative P ...

for eight years and president of the

Storting The Storting ( no, Stortinget ) (lit. the Great Thing) is the supreme legislature of Norway, established in 1814 by the Constitution of Norway. It is located in Oslo. The unicameral parliament has 169 members and is elected every four years bas ...

for eighteen years, was editor of ''Morgenbladet'' in 1913-1919. After resisting the directions imposed by the occupants during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, its chief editor Olaf Gjerløw and news editor

Fredrik Ramm Fredrik Ramm (11 March 1892 – 15 November 1943) was a Norwegian journalist. Personal life He was born in Oslo as a son of chief physician Fredrik G. O. Ramm and Anna Margaretha Brinchmann. He was a nephew of pioneering woman physician Louise ...

were arrested by the Germans in 1941. When the new chief editor Rolv Werner Erichsen was sent to the

Grini detention camp '', '' no, Grini fangeleir'', location=Bærum, Viken, Norway, location map=Viken#Norway, built by=Norway, original use=Constructed as a women's prison, operated by=Nazi Germany, notable inmates= List of Grini prisoners, liberated by= Harry Söderm ...

by the German occupying force in 1943, the newspaper was discontinued for the remainder of the war. After the war Morgenbladet struggled to survive, partly because it refused to give in to commercialism and carry ads. The conservative and libertarian business organisation

Libertas Libertas (Latin for 'liberty' or 'freedom', ) is the Roman goddess and personification of liberty. She became a politicised figure in the Late Republic, featured on coins supporting the populares faction, and later those of the assassins of Jul ...

owned the newspaper in the period 1983-87. It was relaunched as an independent commentary newspaper in 1987 under editor Hans Geelmuyden, who resigned along with most of the editorial staff after numerous conflicts with the owner

Hroar Hansen Hroar Anton Hansen (24 April 1947 – 31 October 2015) was a Norwegian industrial leader and politician. Hansen was known for having been the owner of the newspapers ''Morgenbladet'' and ''Søndag Søndag''. He was a known entrepreneur during the ...

. From 1988 on, Hansen aligned the newspaper with the Norwegian Progress Party. This era came to an end in 1993, when ''Morgenbladet'' was bought by

Truls Lie ''Ny Tid'' (English: ''Modern Times Review'') is Norway's largest international quarterly review of non-fiction books – up to 50 in each issue. It is currently owned by Ny Tid & Orientering AS. ''Ny Tid'' is headed by the newspaper founder Tr ...

. Lie turned the newspaper back into a

broadsheet A broadsheet is the largest newspaper format and is characterized by long Vertical and horizontal, vertical pages, typically of . Other common newspaper formats include the smaller Berliner (format), Berliner and Tabloid (newspaper format), ta ...

weekly newspaper, now more

highbrow Used colloquially as a noun or adjective, "highbrow" is synonymous with intellectual; as an adjective, it also means elite, and generally carries a connotation of high culture. The term, first recorded in 1875, draws its metonymy from the pseudo ...

in tone, with emphasis on culture, art, literature and anti-

neoliberal Neoliberalism (also neo-liberalism) is a term used to signify the late 20th century political reappearance of 19th-century ideas associated with free-market capitalism after it fell into decline following the Second World War. A prominent fa ...

politics, in the style of French monthly newspaper

Le Monde diplomatique ''Le Monde diplomatique'' (meaning "The Diplomatic World" in French) is a French monthly newspaper offering analysis and opinion on politics, culture, and current affairs. The publication is owned by Le Monde diplomatique SA, a subsidiary com ...

. In 2003 ownership once again changed, when the newspaper was bought by the Freedom of Speech Foundation, Forlagskonsult AS/Bjørn Smith-Simonsen and

Dagsavisen ''Dagsavisen'' is a daily newspaper published in Oslo, Norway. The former party organ of the Norwegian Labour Party, the ties loosened over time from 1975 to 1999. It has borne several names, and was called ''Arbeiderbladet'' from 1923 to 1997. ...

. Alf van der Hagen became publisher, and the newspaper reintroduced the tabloid format. Anna B. Jenssen replaced van der Hagen as publisher in September 2012. In the period 2003-2014, the circulation more than trebled, reaching 29,382 in 2014, which makes it the largest weekly newspaper in Norway by circulation, and the ninth largest of all newspapers. In a string of purchases from 2013 to 2016,

NHST Media Group NHST Media Group AS (previously Norges Handels og Sjøfartstidende AS) is a Norwegian media conglomerate that publishes a number of newspapers and online tools. The company dates back to 1889 when it started the predecessor of ''Dagens Næringsliv ...

bought more than 90 percent of the shares in Morgenbladet AS. From 2016, ''Morgenbladets headquarters are co-located with

and

Dagens Næringsliv ''Dagens Næringsliv'' (Norwegian for "Today's Business"), commonly known as ''DN'', is a Norwegian newspaper specializing in business news. , it is the third-largest newspaper in Norway. Editor-in-chief is Janne Johannessen, who was appointed i ...

at Akerselva Atrium.

Current profile

On its front page, ''Morgenbladet'' describes itself as «an independent, weekly newspaper about politics, culture and academics». It has been described as similar in character to the German ''

Die Zeit ''Die Zeit'' (, "The Time") is a German national weekly newspaper published in Hamburg in Germany. The newspaper is generally considered to be among the German newspapers of record and is known for its long and extensive articles. History The ...

'' and Danish ''

Weekendavisen ''Weekendavisen'' (meaning ''The Weekend Newspaper'' in English) is a Danish weekly broadsheet newspaper published on Fridays in Denmark. Its circulation (as of 2007) is approximately 60,000 copies, about ten per cent of which cover subscription ...

''. Its target demographic is the well educated and culture-oriented, with 68% of readers having more than four years of university or college education. According to editor Anna B. Jenssen, the newspaper aims to be “a meeting place for ideas, a room for reflection and debate, and a place for the long thoughts that are a necessary part of a critical, public debate, but that falls outside of the rhythm of daily newspapers and online outlets”. The newspaper is divided into four major sections: current events, ideas, culture and books. ''Morgenbladet'''s online version is for the most part equal to the print version. It was the first major news website in Norway to make the switch to encrypted-only access, through

HTTPS Hypertext Transfer Protocol Secure (HTTPS) is an extension of the Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP). It is used for secure communication over a computer network, and is widely used on the Internet. In HTTPS, the communication protocol is enc ...

. It was also the first to sell individual with

Bitcoin Bitcoin ( abbreviation: BTC; sign: ₿) is a decentralized digital currency that can be transferred on the peer-to-peer bitcoin network. Bitcoin transactions are verified by network nodes through cryptography and recorded in a public distr ...

European Newspaper Award European Newspaper Award is a design competition for European newspapers. The competition was founded and is organized by newspaper designer Norbert Küpper from Meerbusch, Germany. He co-operates with the journalist magazines '' Medium Magazin'' ...

named it weekly newspaper of the year for 2018, the jury commending its “unmistakable profile content- and designwise”. The newspaper is dependent on economic support from the Norwegian Government.

Circulation

Numbers from the Norwegian Media Businesses' Association,

Mediebedriftenes Landsforening The Norwegian Media Businesses' Association ( no, Mediebedriftenes Landsforening, MBL) is an employers' organisation in Norway, organized under the national Confederation of Norwegian Enterprise. The current CEO is Arvid Sand. Chairman of the board ...

. * 1995: 5,057 * 2000: 6,022 * 2005: 13,870 * 2010: 23,637 * 2015: 29,046

Chief editors

* Niels Wulfsberg (1819-1821) *

Rasmus Hviid Rasmus may refer to: People * Rasmus (given name) * Rasmus (surname) Arts and entertainment * The Rasmus, a Finnish rock band formerly called Rasmus ** The Rasmus (album), ''The Rasmus'' (album), a self-titled studio album by the Finnish ban ...

(1821-1831) * Adolf Bredo Stabell (1831-1857) * Christian Friele (1857-1894) *

Nils Vogt Nils Vogt may refer to: * Nils Vogt (comedian) (born 1948), Norwegian comedian * Nils Vogt (civil servant) (1926–2000), Norwegian civil servant and diplomat *Nils Collett Vogt (1864–1937), Norwegian poet * Nils Vogt (journalist) (1859–1927), ...

(1894-1913) * C.J. Hambro (1913-1919) * Olaf Gjerløw (1919-1941, 1945-1949) * Rolv Werner Erichsen (1941-1943) *

Birger Kildal Birger Kildal (15 April 1849 – 13 December 1913) was a Norwegian attorney and businessman. He served as politician with the Liberal Party and was appointed District Governor in Romsdal. Background Kildal was born at Christiania (now Oslo), Nor ...

(1958-1963) * Christian Christensen (1963-1982) * Sverre M. Gunnerud (1982-1984) *

Odd Gisholt Odd means unpaired, occasional, strange or unusual, or a person who is viewed as eccentric. Odd may also refer to: Acronym * ODD (Text Encoding Initiative) ("One Document Does it all"), an abstracted literate-programming format for describing X ...

(1984-1985) * Paul Einar Vatne (1985-1987) * Hans Geelmuyden (1987-1988) *

(1988-1993) *

(1993-2003) * Alf van der Hagen (2003-2012) * Anna Børve Jenssen (2012-2019) * Sun Heidi Sæbø (2019-)

References

External links