1. Introduction

The following paragraphs cover some institutional and structural aspects of the mass media
in Norway.

1.1 The Press

By European standards, Norway has a high consumption of printed media. Due to geographical conditions it maintains a considerable number of independent newspaper units and the consumption of daily newspapers is well above the European average.¹ Out of a total circulation of 1.7 million, 1.4 million are daily copies.₂ Other newspapers appear usually 3 or 4 times a week. A small number of newspapers account for a considerable amount of the circulation, but concentration has not gone very far compared to other European countries. The details of this development since 1950 appear in Table I.

Before 1900, the very few large newspapers were located in the four main towns. Since then, the number of larger newspapers has increased, but the trend in the central part of Norway has been different from the rest of the country. While the concentration of larger, daily newspapers in the central areas has taken place at the expense of the minor or medium newspapers, the periphery has to some extent maintained a local press of its own. Still, the larger and more varied newspapers are found in the central areas, while many communities in the periphery lack a local press of their own: the details of this appear in Table 111.

In more than 75 % of the households, more than one newspaper is available to the reader.

Districts differ according to newspaper coverage. A majority of the population has reasonable access to both national and local news through the press. Still, 17 per cent of the households are located in areas in which the press is predominantly local. The number of newspapers per household in these areas is significantly lower than the rest of the country: 1.14 on the average, compared to 1.60 in the remaining country. In Table IV the trade districts in Norway are stratified according to newspaper saturation from a low of 1 newspaper or less per household, to 1.5 newspapers or more per household.

The districts in which saturation is low represent the periphery of the communications system. Not only is the average consumption lower than in other districts, but the content of the press is different: in the lower stratum only one newspaper gives adequate national information, and only one-third of the newspapers in these districts are linked to the national wire service of the Norwegian Telegram Bureau.

This indicates the importance of the local press: as independent newspaper units, the local
press is still the largest and its circulation very significant.

Politically, the Norwegian press is varied. The initial conditions for the establishment of a political press gave the Liberal and Conservative press a dominant place, which they still occupy, but the Labor press has increased tremendously and is now the second largest (Table V).

The entire Norwegian press is privately owned. Although their party labels are more or less openly displayed, only two newspapers are owned by the parties: the Labor newspaper in Oslo (Arb eider bladet) and the only Communist paper still in existence, Friheten, Oslo. Except in these cases, no formal ties link the party press to their parties. Financial ties are strong, however Trade unions are often important stockholders in Labor newspapers, and for a long time technical and economic cooperation has taken place within the framework of a cooperative association, in which the Federation of Trade Unions (Landsorganisasjonen i Norge) is the dominant party.

Despite the large number of newspapers, journalists do not constitute a large professional group. The population census (1960) counts 1,811 journalists. This figure, however, is by far too large, since it includes apprentices, free-lancers, and others on the fringes of the profession. In the membership files of the Norwegian Union of Journalists, 1,452 persons are entered as having their main income from this activity. Professionalization has brought an increasing proportion of the journalists into the ranks of the national, professional union, and this membership should be considered the only reliable indication of the full time professonal.

Most of the minor newspapers are small-scale printing shops with minimal technical and editorial staffing, usually a two- or three-man enterprise. More than 2/3 of the journalists are employed by the larger wire-service bureaus or newspapers with a daily circulation above 10,000 (Table VI).

No formal education is necessary to enter the profession. College education is usual, but
the proportion of journalists with university education has decreased tremendously since the
beginning of the 19305. The details of this development are presented in Table VII.

Technical and professional cooperation takes place through several organizations. The
following list indicates the main activities and the relevant organizations:

1. Negotiations on wages and hours, interpretations of contracts, general assistance to members:

Editorial staff:

Norsk Journalistlag (Norwegian Federation of Journalists) vs.
Avisenes Arbeidsgiverforening (Association of Newspaper Employers).
All journalists outside the Labor press.

Arb eider partiets Presseforening (National Union of Labor Journalists) vs. Arbeiderpressens
Tariff-forening (Labor Press Association on Wages).

Technical staff:

Norsk Grafisk Forbund (Norwegian Union of Graphical Grafts) vs.
Grafisk Samarbeidsnemnd (Graphical Cooperation Committee).

2. Technical and economic development, statistics, general information.

Norske Avisers Landsforbund (Norwegian Association of Newspapers):
Avisenes Informationskontor (Norwegian Newspaper's Information Office.)

3. Professional relations, education, ethics:

Norsk Presseforbund (Norwegian Press Association): including several independent organizations
of editors, journalists, photographers, free-lancers, etc.

1.2 Magazines

Magazine circulation runs very close to 2 million copies a week. No reliable data are available
to measure the secondary readership. A study, however, indicates at least as many secondary

readers as the original 2 million: this gives a relatively high number of magazines
per reader, since not all adults are magazine readers.3

Few estimates indicate the size of the circulation before 1945. In the last "normal" year before the war, 1938/39, about 650,000 weekly copies were sold. The tremendous increase in circulation has taken place after the war. The peak was reached between 1957 and 1960. Thereafter a marked recess took place, partly due to the introduction of television, partly to the heavy competition from imported magazines.

Since the beginning of the sixties, the total weekly circulation has been about 1.7 million.4
No information is available on a number of minor magazines, collections of cartoons, strips,
etc.

The bulk of the circulation is accounted for by general interest, or family magazines, with
a circulation more than three times that of the next largest group: the teen-ager's magazines
(Table VIII).

Magazines are spread almost evenly throughout all regions of Norway. Some differences appear between urban and rural districts, giving towns and townships a consumption above the average for the country. More significant differences appear between individual magazines or groups of magazines.

The greater proportion of frequent weeklies' readers are women: Surveys indicate that only one out of five women, in contrast to one of two men, never reads weeklies at any time. Readership patterns, however, are relatively invariant with age, income, and place of living.

About 15 % of the norwegian journalists have their daily work in publications outside the daily press. The greater proportion of these are affiliated with magazines. Compared to the rest of the profession, magazines employ a higher proportion of women: close to one-third of the staff are women, while the corresponding figure for the profession as a whole is 10 %. No information is available on the education of this group of journalists.

Magazines are organized much along the same lines as the newspaper industry. Organizations concerning wages and hours and professional relations are common for all journalists, while distribution and technical and economic development take place through Norsk Ukepresse (Association of Norwegian Magazine Publishers) and U kepr essens Injormas jonskontor (Information Office of the Norwegian Weekly Press).

1.3 Periodicals

The preceding paragraphs cover the publications for which we have relatively detailed statistics. For close to 200 newspapers and weeklies we can fine! information as to their circulation, geographical spread, and readership patterns. Out of the 1,500 publications listed by the postal authorities, 334 periodicals provide data only on their circulation. No information is available on their geographical spread and readership. Their total circulation exceeds 4 million copies, and most of them - 306 periodicals — are edited in Oslo.

Most of them are issued by national organizations and deal with subject matters accordingly;
details appear in Table IX.

1.4 Radio and television

By the law of June 24, 1933, Norsk Rikskringkastning (NRK), a governmental institution, assumed control of radio broadcasting in Norway. Several minor broadcasting companies were taken over: a policy was declared with the intention to include every Norwegian community in a national network. However, this goal was not reached until the late fifties.

When plans for a national television service were drafted in 1957, NRK was entrusted with
the monopoly of that as well much along the same lines as for radio: private activities in
this field have never had any significant support.

Commercials appeared for a short time in radio before 1940, but were later abandoned.
Radio and television are now entirely non-commercial.

Radio and television are led by a board of directors consisting of 5 members appointed
by the government. The daily administration is left to a General Director.

To act as advisory bodies in program matters a Broadcasting Council of 23 members is appointed for 4-year periods, 11 members by the Ministry of Education and 12 members by Parliament. The Council convenes three times a year, whereas 2 sub-committees of the Council have monthly meetings, with radio and television alternatively on their agendas for yearly periods.

NRK provides its own money: its financial status is based on a universal registration fee
on all radio and television sets, and annual licences paid by set owners. This yields about
170 millioner kroner (1967). The annual budget is subjected to Parliamentary sanction.

Even if NRK is subordinated economically to the legislature, it is allowed an entirely
free hand in programming policies. No authority, governmental or other, can intervene in
this process.

Radio is now in every Norwegian household. The prognosis adopted for the development of television has been revised several times, since no one was able to foresee the speed with which television has been adopted by Norwegian families. The details of this development appear in Table X.

Even though only one single national program is maintained, the number of hours of
broadcasting has increased greatly. In 1934, NRK was on the air a little more than 3,000
hours. For 1967 this number exceeded 5,700.

In 1966 the television program hours averaged 29 hours per week, 2}4 hours of which were
repeats. For the whole year transmissionhours totalled 1,507 hours, 117 hours of which were
repeats.

1.5 Film and cinema

PRODUCTION

Since 1945, Norway has had arrangements for state support of domestic film production. Throughout these years, producers have asked for increased subsidies, particularly since competition from television has increased. Still, about 50 % of the total production failed to cover costs. According to new regulations (1964) each Norwegian production above a certain length is entitled to state subsidy, provided a manuscript, budget, and production plan is approved by the authorized organ of the Department of Education.

In spite of this, Norwegian film production is rather limited. Since 1945, 160 commercial
feature films have been produced, almost exclusively for the domestic market. Film production,
however, has taken place since 1908 (Table XII).

Relevant organizations: Norske Filmprodusenters Forening (Association of Norwegian Film Producers), Norske Kortfilmprodusenters Forening (Association of Norwegian Producers of Documentary Film), Norske Filmkomponisters Forening (Association of Norwegian Film Composers), Statens Filmproduksjonsutvalg (Governmental Committee on Film Production).

IMPORT AND DISTRIBUTION

As a result of the limited domestic film production, more than 97 % of the films shown in Norwegian theatres originate outside the country, the USA being the most important contributor. More than 50 % of all films shown since 1945 were American. This proportion has gone down from a high of 60 % in 1950 to a more moderate, but still important 44 % in 1962. The 7 most important contributor countries are shown in Table XIII.

In 1966, 25 independent distributors submitted films to the Statens Filmkontroll (Public Censor). This includes most of the established distributors, although smaller companies or institutions will submit films occasionally. The most important distributor is Kommunens Filmsentral A/S, a limited company with a number of municipalities as stockholders.

Relevant organizations: Frie Norske Filmutleiebyråers Forening (Association of Independent
Film Distributors), Norske Filmbyråers Sammenslutning (Norwegian Association of
Film Distributors), Statens Filmsentral (Government Film Service).

PUBLIC CENSOR

Every film distributed for public performances is subject to censorship by a governmentally appointed Public Censor. His decision either classifies the film in one of four categories, according to which different age-groups (down to 7 years) can be admitted, or releases it contingent on cutting, or refuses public performance of the film.

Of 1,391 films submitted to the Public Censor between 1963 and 1966, 14 were vetoed.

CINEMAS

583 theatres are available for regular performances throughout the country (1966). Of these, 199 were municipal cinemas. These, however, dominate more than this figure indicates. They include more than 50 % of the total seating capacity, and more than 80 % of the total income from admissions (1966) fell to them. In addition to this, Norsk Bygdekino, a government institution running mobile cinemas according to pre-announced itineraries, covers localities without permanent theatres and accounts for about 4 % of the total boxoffice income (Table XIV).

Admission prices are uncontrolled, but subject to taxation.

2. Survey of Statistical Sources

2.1 Introduction

The following survey is an inventory of statistical sources for newspapers, periodicals, film, radio, and television in Norway. The bibliographical data and notes on the information contained are chronologically arranged: bibliographical information and notes on content are entered by year or period of years.

The following current publications are included:

Innenrikske blatt og tidsskrifter.

Utgitt av Postverket.

(Domestic newspapers and periodicals. Published by the postal authorities. Published since 1862 under various titles as an official inventory of periodicals entitled to low postal rates. This is the only published source including all newspapers and most of the important periodicals before 1920. No tables. Annual since 1939, with supplements. Quarterly since 15/2 1954.

Norsk Aviskatalog.

Utgitt av Norske Avisers Landsforbund.

(Norwegian Newspaper Directory. Published by the Norwegian Association of Newspapers
Proprietors.) Vol. I appeared in 1939, publication was discontinued during the war. Annual
since 1948.

Ukepressekatalogen. Utgitt av Norsk Ukepresse i samarbeid med Norske Annonsørers Forening. (Norwegian Magazine Directory. Published by the Association of Norwegian Magazine Publishers, in cooperation with the National Association of Advertisers.) Published since 1957. Annual.

Billedpressen.

Utgitt av Norsk Illustren Presse.

(Dictionary of the Pictorial Press. Published by the Association of the Norwegian Pictorial
Press.) Published since 1965, much along the same lines as Ukepressekatalogen. Annual.

Utgitt av Institutt for markedsføring.
Reklamekatalogen.

(Dictionary of Norwegian Advertising. Published by Institute of Marketing, Oslo.) Published
since 1962. Biannual.

Fakta om tre typer media. Utgitt av FAKTA A/S, Instituttet for markedsforskning, Oslo. (Facts on 3 types of media, published by FAKTA Ltd., Institute of Market Research, Oslo.) Readership data for a number of newspapers and magazines, data on movie attendance. Published since 1958. Annual.

Gallups Mediabarometer.

Utgitt av Norsk Gallup Institutt A/s.

(Gallup's Media Rating. Published by the Norwegian Gallup Institute Ltd., Oslo.) Readership
data for a number of newspapers, magazines and periodicals, and movie attendance.
Published since 1960. Annual.

Diesen, Emil: Norske Aviser og Tidsskrifter.

Kristiania 1920.

(Norwegian Newspapers and Periodicals.) Intended as a series, but only first volume issued.

Film og kino.

Utgitt av Norske Kinematografers Landsforbund.

(Film and Cinema. Published by the Association of Municipal Cinemas.) Information on
producers, distributors, films and seating capacity of municipal (greater part) and private
cinemas in Norway.

Statistisk Årbok for Norge. (Statistical Yearbook for Norway.) Published by the Central Bureau of Statistics. For newspapers and cinemas: summaries of statistics published elsewhere. Radio and television: original data and summaries from mimeographed (not public) sources in NRK. Annual.

Statistiske översikter 1948 og 1958. (Statistical surveys 1948 and 1958.) Published by the
Central Bureau of Statistics. Contents: as for Statistisk Årbok.

Norsk Rikskringkasting, årsberetning. (Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation, annual report.)
Annual summaries of statistical distributions for radio and TV.

2.2 Newspapers 1920-

Norske Aviser og Tidsskrifter, by Emil Diesen, Kristiania 1920
1920 First publication to give circulation figures for newspapers as standard information.
No. of newspapers included: 228. Total circulation of 125 newspapers included:
719,675. Place of publication and political affiliation.

Norsk Aviskatalog, published by Norske Aviseieres Representantskap, Oslo

1939 Vol. 1: Account of newspapers affiliated with Norske Aviseieres Representantskap (later: Norske Avisutgiveres Landsforbund, Norske Avisers Landsforbund). Net circulation, place of publication and party affiliation. List of non-affiliated papers, no further information given. Annual.

Publication of series discontinued during the war 1940-45.

1948- Vol. 4-6: As for Vol. 1.

1952- Vol. 6-7: As for Vol. 1. Includes also account of magazines and periodicals. Distribution
by territorial units given for 73 newspapers, including only part of their
circulation. No exact information on delimitation of territorial units.

1954- Vol. 8: As for Vol. 1. Also distribution of circulation for 93 newspapers by newspaper
districts inside home province. Varyirig specifications outside home province.

1956— Vol. 9—13: As for Vol. 1. For each newspaper district, population size, no. of households
and average personal income is, from this volume on, standard information.

1958- Vol. 14-16: As for Vol. 1. Details on distribution of Oslo papers.

1962
1963- Vol. 17-: From now on, newspaper statistics on distribution are brought in accordance
with standard definitions of territorial units in Norway. Statistical information
on circulation given for newspapers within trade areas. Breakdowns by trade districts.
For most of the newspapers giving this information, only part of the total circulation
is accounted for (see: Basis of figures and estimates, below). From 1969 on, newspaper
coverage is given by commune.

Statistisk Årbok for Norge, published by the Central Bureau of Statistics

1957 Number of newspapers published by frequency of publication. Daily net circulation.
Breakdowns in subscription, street sale for daily newspapers. Data for 1956.

1958 As for 1957. Data for 1956-57.

1959- As for 1957. Data for 3 preceeding years.

EXPOSURE DATA

Fakta om tre typer media, published by FAKTA, 010

1958 Standard tabulations. Readership - yesterday for newspapergroups by: region, type
of district (urban/rural), age, family income, for both males and females.

1959 As for 1958. Also analysis of housewives readership, cumulative readership, trend
of readership in bimonthly periods, and single coverage of Oslo newspapers.

1960 As for 1959, except analysis of housewives readership.

1961 Readership for newspaper groups by: sex (Oslo separately), region, type of district (urban/rural), age, family income, cumulative readership (Oslo figures separately), trend of readership in bimonthly periods. All tables by sex, except for cumulative readership.

1962 As for 1961. Separate Tables for «Oslo» and «remaining country» for age, family
income, cumulative readership.

1963 As for 1962. No trend analysis.

1964 As for 1963. Additional breakdown on duplicate readership by sex and type of district.

1965 Rearrangements of tabulations. Tabulations of readership by: sex, tråde districts (specifications for Oslo, towns except Oslo, remaining country), size and no. of children in househould, education, occupation, cumulative readership, readership trends in bimonthly periods. All tabulations by sex.

1966 As for 1965, except trend Table, and occupation replaced by housing condition.
1967- As for 1966 including small changes.

Gallups Mediabarometer, published by Norsk Gallup Institutt A/S, Oslo
1960- Not accessible.

1963
1963- Readership for groups of newspapers by: 1) urbanization, age, marital status, family

1965 income, occupation, branch of activity, social status, place of residence (by province),
consumption goods in household, housing; 2) readership: Newspaper groups/ Weeklies;
— /other periodicals (very few); — /movic attendance; - /newspaper groups.

2.3 Magazines 1920-

Nor ske Aviser og tidsskrifter
1920 (See reference under newspapers). Also accounts for 107 rmigazines, periodicals, and
tråde journals.

Ukepressekatalogen, published by Norsk Ukepresse

1957- Distribution of circulation by territorial units: by province; tråde area - region - district. Specification for net sale in towns of more than 2,000 inhabitants. No. of copies per 100 households by territorial unit. Includes between 20 and 24 affiliated magazines. Annual.

EXPOSURE DATA

Fakta om tre typer media

1958 Readership - regular readers - for each weekly separately by: region, type of district,
age, family income. All Tables for males and females, and in addition total
Tables for occasional reading, last week, and cumulative readership.

1959 As for 1958. Also analysis of housewives' single readership, cumulative readership,
and trend of readership in bimonthly periods.

1960 As for 1959, except for analysis of housewives. In addition also analysis for «last
week»-readership as regular readers.

1961- Readership for each weekly separately by: 1) frequency of reading, region, type of

1963 district, age, family income; 2) cumulative readership analyses: separate Tables for regions, type of district, age groups, and family income; 3) readership trend Tables. All Tables given for males and females, regular and last week's readers separately.

1964 Minor rearrangements of Tables, but same details.

1965 Rearrangements of statistics: now single (last 4 issues) and cumulative readership by:
tråde district, age groups, size and no. of children in household, education, urbanization.
Readership trend analyses.

1966- As for 1965, except trend Tables. Occupation replaced by housing condition.

Gallups Mediabarometer
1960- Not accessible.

1963
1963- Readership for individual periodicals and weeklies, separately by: 1) urbanization,

1965 age, marital status, family income, occupation, branch of activity, social status, place of residence (by province), consumption goods in household, housing; 2) cumulative readership: newspaper groups/weeklies - /other periodicals (very few) - /movie attendance - /newspaper groups.

2.4 All printed media 1862-

INNENRIKSKE BLAD OG TIDSSKRIFTER 1862 Title: Fortegnelse over de i Norge i Aaret 1862 udkommende Aviser og Tidsskrifter, ordnede efter Udgivelsesstederne, Christiania 1862, 8 pp. Accounts of subscription rates, frequency, and place of publication for 113 publications.

1863 Title: Opgave over Antallet af de i Aaret 1863 med Posterne befordrede Aviser og Tidsskrifter, udarbeidet efter Foranstaltning af Marine- og Post-Departementet, Christiania 1863, 31 pp. As for 1862. The only publication to give information on distribution of publications: here given by 48 local post-offices. Same information on 49 Swedish and Finnish, 57 Danish, 96 German, 38 French and Belgian, 58 English and American, and 2 other publications.

1867- Title: Norske Aviser. Opgave over Pris m. v. Udgiven af Christiania Post-kontor i

1885 November 1867, Christiania 1867-85. Accounts of newspapers only. Periodicals excluded
until 1886. Information as for 1862 for a number of newspapers, varying
between 93 and 200, annually except for the years 1868, 1871, 1873, 1880.

1886- Title: Fortegnelse over Tidender og Tidsskrifter, der udkomne i Norge og kunne

1893 bestilles på norske Postanstalter. Udgivet af Poststyrelsen under Departementet for
det Indre, Christiania 1886-93.
Periodicals included. Information as for 1862. Annually.

1894- Title: Fortegnelse over Tidender og Tidsskrifter, der udkomme i Norge og kunne

1939 bestilles på Norske Postanstalter, Christiania-Oslo 1894-1939. From this year on, the series introduced as the first publication a regularly appearing measure of size: the weight of one year of publication. Annually except for the years 1903, 1904, 1933, 1934, 1936, 1938.

1939- Title: Innenrikske blad og tidsskrifter, som utkommer i Norge og som kan bestilles ved norske poststeder. Utgitt av Poststyret, Oslo 1939-. Title, size, and content standardized from now on. Information as earlier. Annually except for the years 1940, 1941, 1942, 1943, 1947, 1950. Quarterly since 1954.

Reklamekatalogen, published by Insdtutt for markedsføring, Oslo

1962- Vol. 2-: No. of publications included: 359. Total circulation for 353 periodicals:
6,623,720. Distribution by territorial units: not standard information, available for
6 periodicals by province or region. Readership data for a limited no. of publications.

2.5 Film 1946-

Film og Kino, published by Kommunale Kinomatografers Landsforbund

1946 Producers: annual production of films. Distributors: number, country of origin, and titles of films reviewed by cencor. Total import of films by agency and country of origin. Cinemas: no. of cinemas by commune: seating capacity, no. of performances, attendance (adults/children). Box-office income by country of origin. (This information also for the 1940-45 period.)

1947 As for 1946. Also box-office income by municipal and privaite cinemas. Tabulations
of seating capacity by no. of performances.

1948- As for 1946. Also information by province of no. of cinemas, seating capacity,
1952 attendance, box-office income (home produced films and others separately).

1953 As for 1948. Also tabulations for the whole country of no. of cinemas, box-office
income by type of cinema (communal/private) and origin of film (home-produced/
other).

1954— As for 1948. Also tabulations by province of seating capacity per capita and box-1955
office income per seat. Graphs of attendance 1940-53.

1956 As for 1948. Additional information on box-office income 1937-55. Graphs.
1957- As for 1948. Additional tabulations and graphs of performances per week, attend-1963
ance per type of cinema, and various distributions of box-office income.

Publication discontinued 1963, to be restarted 1968
Reklamekatalogen

1963-64 Tabulations of annual attendance and seating capacity 1961 and 1962 for each
1964-65 cinema (respectively, 646 and 687 cinemas).

Statistisk Årsbok for Norge

1943- Total no. of cinemas, no. of municipal cinemas. Income from admittance by mun-1951
icipal and other cinemas. Annual.

1952- Additional information on seating capacity by types of cinemas.

1956

1957- Additional information on admissions (adults and children).

EXPOSURE DATA

Gallups Mediabarometer
1960- Not accessible.

1963

1963- Movic attendance last 30 days, last 8 days, last 3 days by: urbanization, age, marital

1965 status, family income, occupation, branch of activity, social status, place of living
(by province), consumption goods in household, housing.

Fakta om tre typer media

1958 Visiting frequency by: region, type of district, age, family income, for both males
and females.

1959 Time since last visit by: region, type of district, age, family income, for housewives,
males, and females.

1960- As for 1959 but only males and females, and in addition trend of last visit in bi-1962
monthly periods.

1963 As for 1960 except trend Table.

1964 Time since last visit by: region, type of district, age in each of the districts, family
income in each of the districts, for both males and females.

1965- As for 1964, but in addition also visiting frequency and type of district in each region.

2.6 Radio and TV

Statistisk Årbok for Norge

1943- No. of registered radio owners. No. of program hours by 9 types of programs.
1949

1950- Additional information on local station contributions to national program.
1960

1961- TV-opening year 1960, information as for radio.
1963

1964- As for 1963. Information on no. of persons employed in radio and TV.

Norsk Rikskringkasting, Melding om virksomheten, Oslo

1959- Standard tabulations: Transmission time by month, years. Composition of programs
19601 in the following program categories: music and song, addresses and education, sports
oral programs, news and current events, theatre and plays, religious programs,
children and youth programs, school broadcasting, entertainment, miscellaneous;
in pet., of effective transmission time, by methods of transmission (details for 1948-59)
by contributions of local/foreign stations. Distribution of program hours over a
24 hour period, by program categories (cumulative figures for 1947-60). Distribution
of programs by oral and music transmission. Not standard tabulations: Detailed
accounts of program hours by 302 subcategories (not repeated in volumes later than
1961). Similar details for short wave (overseas) programs (18 subcategories).

196011 (July 1- December 31) Standard tabulations: As for 1959-60 except accounts of

distribution of program hours over a 24-hour period, by program categories
1961 As for 1959-60.

1962- As for 1959-60. No breakdowns by language forms and contributions from local
1965 stations.

1966 As for 1962. Also distribution of programs by oral and music transmissions, breakdown
in language forms. Marginal distribution (program hours) of 59 program
subcategories.

2.7 Basis of Figures and Estimates

A. NORSK AVISKATALOG

This publication gives statistical information of affiliated newspapers: only members of Norske Avisers Landsforbund who bind themselves to follow certain accounting rules, can have their circulation figures registered in Norsk Aviskatalog as net totals, including 1) all subscriptions individually paid for; 2) free subscriptons equivalent to paid subscriptions, i.e. copies regularly delivered to people affiliated with the newspaper, advertisers and advertising agencies, low-rate subscriptions to special institutions, and a limited number of gift copies; 3) average street sale between October Ist and September 30th.

Since 1936 these rules have been included in an agreement between the main newspaper organizations on newspaper circulation control. The figures on circulation registered in Norsk Aviskatalog are notarized, net totals. The complete text of this agreement is regularly printed in Norsk Aviskatalog.

Since not all newspapers are members of Norske Avisers Landsforbund, or prefer not to report on their circulation figures, some estimates are included in a number of the volumes. For the earlier editions, estimates come to a considerable part of the total circulation. Since 1960 the larger part of the circulation is accounted for: the proportions of notarized to estimated figures (1948-1964) appear in Table XV.

The concept of net, total circulation used throughout this series is; not an average of daily copies: since Sunday editions are prohibited, newspapers appear maximally 6 times a week. A number of newspapers appear less frequently than this. In terms of circulation the nondailies make up the smaller part of the total.

Since 1952 attempts have been made to allocate the sale of newspapers by different localities. For 1952 and 1953 the arrangement is purely tentative: no exact information on the definition of districts and localities is available. The next 2 volumes (1954-55) give distributions in home province (fylke) by a number of localities, of which towns, market towns (ladesteder) and some rural communes are discernible. From 1954 to 1961 distributions are given by newspaper districts, clusters of communes including one population center and roughly corresponding to trade districts. There are minor changes in definitions of the units from one volume to the next. From 1962 on distributions by territorial units are given by trade districts. This is the first attempt to present an inclusive registration of the spread of newspapers in accordance with official statistics.s This registration has improved greatly since 1962. Before 1955, no information or insignificant details are available. By now, about 92 % of the circulation is accounted for, but the standard residual category, papers sold "outside districts", still remains. Details by years will be found in Table XVI. From 1968 on coverage data are presented by commune.

Circulation figures for non-registered newspapers - about 30 non-daily locals - are estimated separately, but no data on individual newspapers are registered. Estimates are based on a general knowledge of the actual newspaper and checked against newsprint consumption, market conditions and calculation of return copies from retailers.

B. UKEPRESSEKATALOGEN

The dictionary gives as standard information: 1) audited accounts of average net sale per issue for affiliated weekly and other magazines; 2) distributions of the average weekly, net sale with all copies accounted for by the following territorial units: a. Trade districts as defined in Standard for handelsområder, Kjenn ditt marked, Statistisk Sentralbyrå, Oslo

1958; b. province; c. towns and townships with a population above 2000; 3) for each magazine,
half-yearly breakdowns of average, net sale; 4) specifications of subscribers and number
of copies sold outside Norway.

The estimates for the net sale inside each trade district are based on net total sale last
year. This is allocated to the districts in the same proportion as a selected issue current year.
(No. 5 of the weeklies and a corresponding issue of fortnightlies and monthlies.)

C. BILLEDPRESSEN

Standard information much along the same lines as Ukepresskatalogen: 1) audited accounts of average net sale for 2 pictorial weeklies, Nå and Aktuell; 2) distributions of average net sale by trade areas, no information on the smaller district unit. All copies accounted for; 3) survey of data based on Fakta om tre typer media (see reference) giving readership by age, income, education, occupation, place of residence, family size, family life cycle. All variables cross-tabulated by sex.

D. REKLAMEKATALOGEN

Includes all printed media not registered in the two foregoing publications, provided they
appear 4 times a year or more, that the weight of one year of publication is more than 500
grammes and that they accept advertising. Also a number of audiovisual media, see reference.

The dictionary includes the following sections of main trade groups: Trade Associations

etc; Mining and Quarrying; Transportation; Building and Construction; Finance and Economy; Fishing, Sealing and Whaling; Defence, Armed Forces; Trade; Public Health and Veterinary; Hotel, Restaurant and Tourism; Housing; Manufacturing; Electricity and Water Supply; Art, Culture and Religion; Agriculture, Forestry and Related Trade; Government Services; Politics; Justice and Police; Water Transport; Sports and Hobbies; Entertainment; Education; Publications sent free of charge (mass distributed); Miscellaneous.

Standard relevant information for each publication (printed media only): Issues per year; Date of publication; Editor's name and address; Area of printed space in millimeters; Number of columns per page; Number of pages; Ratio editorial/advertising space; Circulation; Audited circulation.

For a number of publications the dictionary gives readership data. This is left to the wish
of the party in question. No standard tabulations and no information on source of data.
Very few details.

3. Annotated bibliography

3.1 The Press

Surprisingly few monographs deal with statistics of the mass media: estimates of size, circulation, and readership are usually left out or stated in broad terms, even if sources would have permitted analysis along these lines. Most work up to the present decade has been written by journalists or by people somehow linked to the profession: professional historians have neglected press history. Most monographs deal with the early history of the press, rather limited in scope and often presented in commemoration of the founding of a newspaper. Or, as very often is the case, as content analyses in a political or literary context.

Consequently, no single work can be said to be a convenient introduction to the structural
and institutional history of the Norwegian press.6

Apart from the few basic, although not exhaustive, accounts of Norwegian press history,
the following bibliography includes only those works which contain more specific references
of statistical relevance or inventories of mass media or media personnel.

Standard works dealing with the founding and early history of the press are:

Øjvind Davidsen: Pressen fra Griffenfelt til Struensee i dens forhold til Norges næringsliv,
Oslo 1943.

Haakon Fiskaa: "De skrevne nyhetsblad", Norvegica, Oslo 1932.
Ludv. Saxe: Norsk Prcsseforbund gjennom 25 år, Oslo 1935.

Rolv Werner Erichsen: For ytringsfrihet under ansvar. Norsk Presseforbund 1910-1935-1960,
Oslo 1960.

- : Samarbeid og konkurranse i norsk presse gjennom femti år, Oslo 1960.

Short historical reviews of the Christian press and congregational newsletters in Norway are
given by:

Ola Rudvin: Den kristelige presse i Norge, Oslo 1947
and

Sverre Barstad: Menighetsblad i Norge, Flisa 1935.

with annotations of more than 200 newspapers and periodicals in addition to publishers and
editors in this field since 1760.

A history of the Labor press in Norway is written by:
Ole Kirkvaag: Arbeiderpressen i Norge, Oslo 1935,
containing a number of references of statistical relevance.

Occasional references to personnel, circulation and management of individual newspapers
or groups of newspapers are found in:

Kristian Fahlstrøm (ed.): Pressen i Buskerud, Drammen 1947. Evald O. Solbakken: Hamar Arbeiderblads Festskrift, Hamar 1955. Chr. I. Rieber-Mohn: Hamar Stiftstidende 1847-1947, Hamar 1947. Per Grambo: Østlendingen gjennom femti år, Elverum 1951.

Kaare Fasting: Den gamle by og den unge boktrykker, Bergen 1965.
Gunnar Christie Wasberg: Aftenposten i hundre år, Oslo 1960.
Wilh. K. Stølen: Adresseavisen i 200 år, Trondheim 1967.
Ragnar Vold: Dagbladet i tigerstaden, Oslo 1949.

Ole Øisang: Arbeiderpressen i Trøndelag, Trondheim 1950.

A number of historical works apart from press histories include references, annotations and
analyses of interest. The most important is:

Sverre Steen: Kristiania Postkontor 1647-1921: et stykke av Postverkets historie i Norge,
Kristiania 1923.

A series of bibliographies of Norwegian journalists are of considerable interest to students
of the newspaper profession. Published first in 1934, the first volume has been followed by
three revised editions:

Ludv. Saxe: Pressefolk 1930, Oslo 1931.
- : Pressefolk 1938, Oslo 1939.

John Solheim: Pressefolk 1950, Oslo 1950.

Kåre Kleivan og Simen Kr. Hangaard: Pressefolk 1966, Oslo 1967.

One of the volumes was made the basis for a scholarly inquiry into the profession of the
journalist:

Anita Werner: "Norske journalister", Tidsskrift for Samfunnsforskning, 1/1966.
tracing education and careers of all members of the professional organization of Norwegian
journalists.

Drawing on data from official statistics, Herbert Tingsten in Sweden surveyed the Scandinavian
press and correlated votes cast in recent elections with numbers and circulation of the
party press:

Herbert Tingsten: "The Press", Scandinavian Democracy, Copenhagen 1958.
This type of study had been followed up in more deatil by:
Stein Rokkan and Per Torsvik: "Der Leser, der Wähler und die Parteipresse", Kölner Zeit

schrift fiir Soziologie und Sozialpsychologie, 2/1960,

with special reference to the Labor press in Norway. This study is based on a sample survey
of the Storting elections in 1957.

Svennik Høyer has made inquiries into the relations between political content, readership,
and market conditions of the political press:

Svennik Høyer: Enkelte stiltrekk ved avisenes ledere foran to stortingsvalg, Oslo 1960
(mimeo).

- : "Pressens sociale og økonomiske struktur", Tidsskrift for sarnfunnsforskning, 4/1964.
- : Audience Coverage and Political Commitment. Paper presented to the UNESCO

seminar, Bergen 1961 (mimeo).

- : Politisk engasjement som determinant ved avisvalg. Paper presented to the first Nordic
Conference in Political Science, Oslo 1966 (mimeo).

- : "The Political Economy of the Norwegian Press", Scandinavian Political Studies, 111/
1968.

Newspaper choice has been analyzed in an ecological frame of reference by:

Per Torsvik: The "Minority Choice" of Newspapers. Paper presented to the UNESCO

seminar, Bergen 1961 (mimeo).

Analysis of surveys of content in newspapers have been relatively frequent, although not all
should be classified as content analyses in a proper sense. The most important of the latter
type are included here.

Tensions in the communications system was made the object of study by Tore Lindbekk,
who analyzed the debate in Oslo papers on Norwegian defence and foreign policy between
1947 and 1952:

Tore Lindbekk: Et kommunikasjonssystem under krise. En empirisk og teoretisk studie over

pressedebatten 1947-52 om Norges forsvars- og utenrikspolitikk. Oslo 1959 (mimeo).

The same problems appeared in:

Harald Rønning: Verdi, loyalitet og konflikt, Oslo 1962,

a study of the main conservative and the communist organs during the Hungary and Suez
conflicts.

In an attempt to study the biases in presentation of foreign news,

Johan Galtung and Mari Holmboe Ruge: "The Structure of Foreign News: The Presentation
of the Congo, Cuba and Cyprus Crises in Four Norwegian Newspapers", Journal of
Peace Research, 1965

discuss the concept of "newsworthiness" in a theoretical frame of reference, and test the
theory out on the news in four Norwegian dailies.

Reactions to the formation of a Norwegian Peace Corps is studied by

Ingrid Eide Galtung: Pressereaksjonen på opprettelsen av et norsk fredskorps, Oslo 1962.

3.2 Other printed media

Children's reading habits and content of several magazines and comic strips have been the object of investigations from semi-official committees. Quite a number of reports and recommendations have been delivered, but only exceptionally have the collected data been analyzed and presented in a condensed, statistical form, as is the case in a report from an advisory committee on comic strips:

Det rådgivende utvalg for tegnerserier: Statistisk undersøkelse av leserinteresser hos elever i
6. og 7. klasse i folkeskolen. Report to the Department of Education, Oslo 1960 (mimeo).
A comprehensive bibliography is presented in:

Kari Skjønsberg: Fortegnelse over litteratur på norsk, svensk og dansk over barns og unges

fritidslesning. Norges Almenvitenskapelige Forskningsråd, Oslo 1964 (mimeo).
Structural aspects of magazines are reviewed by:

Ivar Loge: Den norske ukepressens utvikling i opplag 1950-58. Norges Handelshøyskole,
Bergen 1960 (mimeo),

Per Torsvik: "Magazines in Norway", Gazette, Amsterdam, 2/1960,

and studies of the distribution of content categories in weeklies between 1939 and 1964 are
analyzed by:

Per Torsvik: Innholdet i ukeblad i 1939 og 1964. Rapport om en innholdsanalyse. Institutt
for presseforskning, Oslo 1966 (mimeo).

Only one study has concentrated on the trade and organization press in Norway. Studying
a number of journals, Dahl Jacobsen and Egil Fivelsdal reported on neutrality and engagement
in the trade union and the white collar organization press:

Egil Fivelsdal og Knut Dahl Jacobsen: Interesseorganisasjoner og stortingsvalg. Institutt for
samfunnsforskning, Oslo 1962 (mimeo).

3.3 Radio and television

Introduction of television gave impetus to the debate on the electronic media in society. A
great number of articles appeared in the daily press or in periodicals. Only one collection of
articles representative of this debate should be mentioned here:

Minerva's kvartalsskrift 4/1966 (Radio og TV edition), Oslo 1966.

Reviews of popular attitudes to radio and television based on survey data, licence statistics
and Gallup polls are:

Per Torsvik: "Radio og fjernsyn", Norske meninger, Oslo 1969.

- : "Fem år med fjernsyn", Markedskommunikasjon, Oslo 1965.
- : "Folk og fjernsyn", Minerva's kvartalsskrift, 1/1967.

Some references to content categories in television are included in a research report by:
Anita Werner: Barn og fjernsyn, Institutt for presseforskning, Oslo 1966 (mimeo).

Audience research is not a current activity of NRK (Norwegian Broadcasting Corp.), but
three reports on listening and viewing habits have been published:

Lyttervaner, NRK, Oslo 1955,

Radio- og fjernsynsundersøkelsen april 1967, 1968, 1969, Statistisk Sentralbyrå, Oslo
1967-69.

More particularly dealing with a campaign situation, audience groups were analyzed by:
Per Torsvik: "Valgkampen i radio og fjernsyn 1965", Tidsskrift for samfunnsforskning, Oslo

2/3 1967,

while the effect of television on voting turnout was analyzed in an article by:
Henry Valen and Per Torsvik: "Økningen i valgdeltakelsen ved kommunevalget i 1963 og

stortingsvalget i 1965", Tidsskrift for samfunnsforskning, Oslo 2/3 1967.

3.4 Film and cinema

The standard work on Norwegian film is written by:
Sigurd Evensmo: Det store tivoli, Oslo 1967.

This is a review of the past 70 years of the industry including a complete filmography, and
other information of statistical significance.

A less complete dictionary on film appeared in 1943;
A. H. Heltberg (ed.): Norsk film gjennom 35 år, Oslo 1943.

A government committee reported on the state subsidies of Norwegian film production.
The report contains useful information and summaries on the production side:

Tilråding om stønadsordning til norsk filmproduksjon. Fra Filmstønadskomiteen av 1961,
til Kirke- og Undervisningsdepartmentet, Oslo 1962 (mimeo).

A short, but convenient review of important figures in film production appear in English
in:

Alf Heltne: Some brief information about cinemas, film distribution and state support to the
national film production in Norway 1961-63, Kirke- og Undervisningsdepartmentet, Oslo
1964 (mimeo).

A few notes on Norway are included in an international publication by UNESCO,
Film industry in 6 European countries, UNESCO, Paris 1950.

University of Oslo

Per Torsvik

---

NOTES

1 UNESCO rates Norway as no. 6 on the world statistics by this measure. (World Communications, UNESCO, Paris, 1964.)

2 Since Sunday newspapers are prohibited, this means newspapers issued 6 times a week.

3 Reference: Egil Nilsen: Interesser hos voksne, Oslo, 1958.

4 This figure includes only affiliated magazines, i.e. members of Association of Norwegian Magazine Publishers and Norwegian Pictorial Press, for which statistics are available.

5 For definitions of trade districts, see: "Standard for handelsområder", in Kjenn ditt marked, Statistisk Sentralbyrå, Oslo, 1958, and Markedstall, Oslo, 1962.

6 The first volume of the history of the Norwegian press is excepted to be in print in 1969.