Thor Gjermund Eriksen (born 2 October 1966) is a Norwegian journalist and editor who has been

Director-General A director general or director-general (plural: ''directors general'', ''directors-general'', ''director generals'' or ''director-generals'' ) or general director is a senior executive officer, often the chief executive officer, within a government ...

of the

Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation NRK, an abbreviation of the Norwegian ''Norsk Rikskringkasting AS'', generally expressed in English as the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation, is the Norwegian government-owned radio and television public broadcasting company, and the largest ...

from 2013 to 2022.

Career

Journalistic career

Born in

Oslo Oslo ( , , or ; sma, Oslove) is the capital and most populous city of Norway. It constitutes both a county and a municipality. The municipality of Oslo had a population of in 2022, while the city's greater urban area had a population of ...

, he was hired as a journalist in ''

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 ...

'' in 1995, and later became chief editor from 2003 to 2006. After leaving, he was hired in

A-pressen Amedia AS is the second largest media company in Norway (the largest is Schibsted and the third largest is Polaris Media). The company is whole or partial owner of 50 local and regional newspaper with online newspapers and printing presses, and ...

where he was CEO from 2010 until January 2013. He is also chairman of the board of ''

Nettavisen ''Nettavisen'' is a Norwegian online newspaper, launched in 1996 as the first online-only newspaper in Norway. The current editor is Gunnar Stavrum. As of 2015 it was one of Norway's most popular news websites. History The online newspaper (its l ...

'' and was a board member in TV 2 until December 2012.

Political career

He has had a political career in the Socialist Left Party and the Labour Party. He was a member of the central board of their youth wing Socialist Youth, worked as a personal advisor for then-party leader

Erik Solheim Erik Solheim (born 18 January 1955) is a Norwegian diplomat and former politician. He served in the Norwegian government from 2005 to 2012 as Minister of International Development and Minister of the Environment, and as Under-Secretary-General of ...

and worked as secretary for

Raymond Johansen Raymond Johansen (born 14 February 1961) is a Norwegian politician for the Labour Party who has been Governing Mayor of Oslo since 2015. A former member of the Socialist Left Party, Johansen previously served as the Oslo city commissioner for tr ...

when the latter was Oslo city commissioner for transport and the environment. He terminated his membership in the Labour Party when he was appointed director-General of NRK.

Director-General of the NRK

He was appointed Director-General of the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation on 11 December 2012 and started in the position on 12 March 2013. On 11 October 2021, Eriksen announced that he was intending to step down as director-general over the course of 2022. He stated that it was time for a change. His successor, Vibeke Fürst Haugen, was nominated on 17 March 2022 and became the first woman to hold the position.

References

1966 births Living people Dagbladet people Norwegian newspaper editors Norwegian chief executives Socialist Left Party (Norway) politicians Politicians from Oslo {{Norway-politician-1960s-stub