Erling Hall-Hofsø was a Norwegian newspaper editor and politician for the Labour Party

Norwegian Labour Party

The Labour Party is a social-democratic political party in Norway. It is the senior partner in the current Norwegian government as part of the Red-Green Coalition, and its leader, Jens Stoltenberg, is the current Prime Minister of Norway....

.

In his young days he was a boxer

Amateur boxing

Amateur boxing is practised at the collegiate level, at the Olympic Games and Commonwealth Games, and in many other venues sponsored by amateur boxing associations. Amateur boxing bouts are short in duration and fighters wear head protection, so this type of competition prizes point-scoring rather...

 for the workers' sports club Harstad AIF. He became a member of the central board of the Workers' Youth League

Workers' Youth League (Norway)

The Workers' Youth League is Norways biggest political youth organization, and is affiliated with the Norwegian Labour Party.AUF took its current form in April 1927, following the merger of Left Communist Youth League and Socialist Youth League of Norway corresponding with the merger of its...

 in 1938. In 1946 he was hired as a journalist in the Labour newspaper in Harstad

Harstad

is the second largest city and municipality by population, in Troms county, Norway – the city is also the third largest in North Norway. Thus Harstad is the natural centre for its district. Situated approximately north of the Arctic Circle, the city celebrated its 100th anniversary in...

, Folkeviljen

Folkeviljen

Folkeviljen is a former Norwegian newspaper. Labour Party organ and was established by parish priest and later Member of Parliament Kristian Tønder in Sjøvegan 1911, and published in Harstad from 1917. Among its later editors were Harald Langhelle, Alfred Skar, Sigurd Simensen, Alfons Johansen and...

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

Tromsø

Tromsø is a city and municipality in Troms county, Norway. The administrative centre of the municipality is the city of Tromsø.Tromsø city is the ninth largest urban area in Norway by population, and the seventh largest city in Norway by population...

-based newspaper Nordlys

Nordlys

Nordlys is a Norwegian newspaper published in Tromsø, covering the region of Troms, and the largest newspaper in Northern Norway. Chief editor is Anders Opdahl. Nordlys was founded in 1902 by Alfred Eriksen, who also was its first editor-in-chief. Among the later editors are Ivan Kristoffersen, who...

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

Rape

Rape is a type of sexual assault usually involving sexual intercourse, which is initiated by one or more persons against another person without that person's consent. The act may be carried out by physical force, coercion, abuse of authority or with a person who is incapable of valid consent. The...

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

Journalism sourcing

In journalism, a source is a person, publication, or other record or document that gives timely information. Outside journalism, sources are sometimes known as "news sources"...

 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

Supreme Court of Norway

The Supreme Court of Norway was established in 1815 on the basis of the Constitution of Norway's §88, prescribing an independent judiciary. It is located in Oslo and is Norway's highest court...

, 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 Sandtorg

Sandtorg

Sandtorg is a village and a former municipality in Troms county in Norway. It is located in the southern part of the present-day municipality of Harstad.A large feature of Sandtorg is also the mountain Sætertind, which is high and located at...

 municipal council from 1948 to 1960, Harstad municipal council from 1960 to 1978 and Troms

Troms

or Romsa is a county in North Norway, bordering Finnmark to the northeast and Nordland in the southwest. To the south is Norrbotten Län in Sweden and further southeast is a shorter border with Lapland Province in Finland. To the west is the Norwegian Sea...

 county council

County council (Norway)

A County Council is the highest governing body of the county municipalities in Norway. The county council sets the scope of the county municipal activity. The council is led by a chairman or county mayor...

 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

Festival of North Norway

The Festival of North Norway is a festival based in Harstad, Norway.It was first held in 1965, and consists of music, theatre and art performances. The director of the festival is Birger Carlsen....

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