Vårt Land (Norwegian newspaper)
Encyclopedia
Vårt Land is a daily newspaper published in Oslo
Oslo
Oslo is a municipality, as well as the capital and most populous city in Norway. As a municipality , it was established on 1 January 1838. Founded around 1048 by King Harald III of Norway, the city was largely destroyed by fire in 1624. The city was moved under the reign of Denmark–Norway's King...

. It has a nationwide target audience. Its average daily circulation in 2007 was 27.146, it was Norway
Norway
Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...

's 23rd largest newspaper. It is by far the largest Norwegian newspaper with a Christian editorial outlook.

History

The founding meeting for Vårt Land was September 28, 1944, but the first edition was not published until August 31, 1945, with Bjarne Høye as the general editor and John Nome responsible for "spiritual and church-related matters." The newspaper was initially published as a section in Morgenbladet
Morgenbladet
Morgenbladet is a Norwegian weekly newspaper. It was founded in 1819 by the book printer Niels Wulfsberg, and was the country's first daily newspaper. For a long time, it was also the country's biggest newspaper. It was closed down by the German Wehrmacht during World War II...

, was subsequently issued as a standalone broadsheet paper, and in 1968 went to a tabloid format. It is owned by Mentor Medier (former Mediehuset Vårt Land
Mediehuset Vårt Land
Mediehuset Vårt Land AS is a Norwegian media company.It owns 100% of the newspaper Vårt Land, 66% of Dagsavisen, 20% of Korsets Seier and 100% of the magazine Programbladet. In addition it owns 100% of the company Mentor Medier and 90.1% of Sunnmørsavisene. Mediehuset Vårt Land is owned 10.0% by...

), which also owns several related media properties. Vårt Land includes editorial material written in both Bokmål
Bokmål
Bokmål is one of two official Norwegian written standard languages, the other being Nynorsk. Bokmål is used by 85–90% of the population in Norway, and is the standard most commonly taught to foreign students of the Norwegian language....

 and Nynorsk
Nynorsk
Nynorsk or New Norwegian is one of two official written standards for the Norwegian language, the other being Bokmål. The standard language was created by Ivar Aasen during the mid-19th century, to provide a Norwegian alternative to the Danish language which was commonly written in Norway at the...

.
Nobody knows who made up the name that means "Our Country", but it was not new.
The name had been previously used for a newspaper during the second world war.
The offices of the newspaper has moved many times. In 1983 the newspaper moved its offices to Tveita in Oslo and it was one of the first Norwegian newspapers to use digital technology daily. It is now based in Grubbegata 6, downtown Oslo.

Today

The chief editor is Helge Simonnes
Helge Simonnes
Helge Simonnes is a Norwegian editor.He is the current editor-in-chief of Vårt Land, and has been the chair of the Norwegian Press Association and the Norwegian Media Businesses' Association. A siv.øk. by education, he has also minored in political science and law.He hails from Vanylven.-References:...

. Vårt Land has been published on the internet since 1996. Vl.no got its own editor in 1999. Today, Vårt Land is not only a newspaper, but a part of whole media house called Mentor Medier (former Mediehuset Vårt Land).

Circulation

Circulation grew through years and peaked at about 30,000 in the beginning of 1950s. It sank to 18,500 in 1972. It has grown modestly since then, but has recently seen some decrease. The newspaper is determined to invest in future growth.

Numbers from the Norwegian Media Businesses' Association, Mediebedriftenes Landsforening.
  • 1980: 24 204
  • 1981: 24 391
  • 1982: 25 554
  • 1983: 26 130
  • 1984: 24 986
  • 1985: 26 132
  • 1986: 27 957
  • 1987: 28 011
  • 1988: 27 370
  • 1989: 27 455
  • 1990: 27 014
  • 1991: 27 050
  • 1992: 27 232
  • 1993: 29 095
  • 1994: 30 219
  • 1995: 30 056
  • 1996: 30 005
  • 1997: 30 292
  • 1998: 30 085
  • 1999: 29 373
  • 2000: 29 578
  • 2001: 29 131
  • 2002: 27 770
  • 2003: 26 782
  • 2004: 27 880
  • 2005: 29 158
  • 2006: 27 422
  • 2007: 27 146
  • 2008: 26 344
  • 2009: 25 557
  • Circulation for Vårt Land 1980 - 2009.
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