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Aftenposten
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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 type = Daily newspaper |
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| Type | {{{type}}} |
| Format | Tabloid |
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| Owner | Schibsted ASA |
| Editor | Hans Erik Matre |
| Founded | May 14, 1860 |
| Political allegiance | Conservative |
| Language | Norwegian |
| Headquarters | Oslo, Norway |
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| Website: www.aftenposten.no | |
Aftenposten is Norway's second largest newspaper with a circulation of 256 600 for the morning edition, 155 400 for the separate evening edition and 232,900 for the Sunday edition (2003). With a long tradition of serious journalism, the paper was long considered the leading Norwegian newspaper. Strong competition in a shrinking market has made the paper opt for a broader appeal, however, as signified by the conversion from broadsheet to tabloid format in 2005. Aftenposten's two main competitors are the Oslo tabloids VG and Dagbladet.
Aftenposten is a private company wholly owned by the public company Schibsted ASA. Aftenposten has approximately 740 employees. Editor-in-chief is Hans Erik Matre (2005).
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Aftenposten publishes a separate evening edition (called Aftenposten Aften, from February 1, 2006 just Aften) from Monday to Friday. Formerly published on Saturdays as well, this was dropped with the introduction of the Sunday morning edition in 1990. The evening edition focuses more on local news for the Oslo area. Home delivery of the evening edition is limited to the local area and is generally not available at newsstands in other parts of the country. The evening edition has been printed as a tabloid since 1997. Starting in April 2006, Aften will print four localized editions on Thursdays, each focusing on a part of the city of Oslo.
Aftenposten was founded by Christian Schibsted May 14, 1860 under the name "Christiania Adresseblad". The year after it got the name Aftenposten. From 1885 the paper has printed two daily editions. The Sunday edition was introduced in 1990.
Historically, Aftenposten labelled itself as "independent, conservative", most closely aligning their editorial platform with the Norwegian conservative party, Høyre. This manifested itself in blunt anti-communism during the inter-war era. During the Second World War Aftenposten due to its large circulation was put under the directives of the German occupation authorities and a Nazi editorial management was imposed upon the newspaper. It was in Aftenposten that Knut Hamsun's infamous eulogy over Adolf Hitler was printed, on May 7, 1945:
Adolf Hitler
I am not worthy to speak his name out loud. Nor do his life and his deeds warrant an kind of sentimental discussion. He was a warrior, a warrior for mankind, and a prophet of the gospel of justice for all nations. His was a reforming nature of the highest order, and his fate was to arise in a time of barbarism which finally felled him. Thus might the average western European regard Adolf Hitler. We, his closest supporters, now bow our heads at his death.
Knut Hamsun
While traditionally seen as conservative, some external observers believe that Aftenposten has shifted its editorial line somewhat to the left after the end of the Cold War. Criticism of Israel, the 2003 Invasion of Iraq and the conservative candidate for bishop of Oslo are taken as evidence of this shift.
In general, Aftenposten articles do not explicitly endorse any political faction in Norwegian politics.
Aftenposten is published in Riksmål, an unofficial, but widely used, conservative form of the Norwegian language that is closer to its Danish roots than the Bokmål standard, which sometimes incorporates controversial elements from Nynorsk. In 1990, Aftenposten adopted the updated Riksmål spelling standard of 1986.
The online version of the paper has a large English section, and is one of the favourite sources for Norwegian news in English. These are typically aimed at people of Norwegian descent, especially from the United States, who are interested in Norway but are not fluent in the language.