The story
Founded by Pål Steigan on Feb 1969.1
1969–1972: Monthly paper for the marxist-leninist movement
Klassekampen was initiated in 1968 by a group of young communists, members of SUF(m-l), the youth organization of the socialist Sosialistisk Folkeparti (SF). Pål Steigan, Tron Øgrim and Sigmund Grønmo were key figures, The first issue was published on February 7, 1969, coinciding with the annual convention of the SF, at which a left-wing opposition broke with the party, as did SUF (m-l). In the first period the paper was published as a monthly periodical by "a group of marxist-leninists". According to Steigan, the name was proposed by Øgrim, the name indicating that it intended to play a larger role than being the monthly periodical of a youth organization. The newspaper's stated goal was to strengthen the Marxist–Leninist movement and lay the foundations for a new communist party in Norway. At the same time, it set itself the goal of becoming a working class newspaper.
As a monthly, Klassekampen had no paid staff. The editorial work, the printing as well as sales were carried out by volunteers. The first printing press was financed mostly by young people taking summer jobs or being newspaper couriers (for other newspapers) before school hours. Due to the progress of the m-l-movement and its high level of activity, sales and circulation increased rapidly: the first issue in 1969 was printed in 3,500 copies. The circulation passed 10,000 in 1970, and 20,000 in 1971. Labour Day was always an important sales day, and the May 1st issue of 1972 was published in 45,000.
During the period as a monthly newspaper, Klassekampen also published a number of extra issues on current issues and leaflet-like printed matter. From 1972 the paper was officially linked to the Marxist–Leninist Groups (MLG), which was a forerunner of the Workers' Communist Party (AKP (m-l)). At the same time, fundraising and recruitment of subscribers was started with a plan of weekly publication.
1973–1976: Weekly newspaper for AKP(m-l)
In January 1973, Klassekampen became a weekly newspaper. Shortly afterwards, it became the formal party organ for the newly formed AKP (m-l).
As a weekly, Klassekampen got its own editorial offices in Oslo for the first time, as well as a paid editorial staff. Still, much of the volunteer spirit continued, with groups of party members and sympathizers contributing in special editorial fields. In 1974, a campaign was launched to link "workers' correspondents" to the newspaper. After two years as a weekly, it was summarized that a third of the newspaper was written by the permanent editorial staff, a third by the volunteer staff and a third by workers' correspondents and readers. The proportion of workplace reports doubled from 1973 to 1974.
The winter of 1973 the weekly newspaper had a circulation of 13,000. The fall of 1974 it had increased to 19,000 and two years later 27,000. During the years 1973–1976 11,000 new subscribers were enrolled, and door-to-door sales were effectively organized. From January 1976, Klassekampen was published twice a week, as an escalation before the transition to daily publications. In order to prepare for this transition, a major fundraising campaign was also carried out for investing in the paper's own rotary printing plant. The "rotation campaign" started little by little in 1974 and was not completed until just before the daily newspaper was launched. At that time, NOK 5,631,000 had been collected.
In the pre-daily period, Klassekampen disclosed several classified military documents. In May 1971, it was shown that a NATO exercise had exemplified revolutionary groups, Vietnam War activists and trade unionists as enemies of the state. During an exercise in 1973, the paper disclosed that opponents of NATO membership and student groups had been "assigned" this role. In 1976, the paper carried a series of articles by Jon Michelet about the Soviet presence at Svalbard, suggesting that the Soviet Union might be constructing a military base at Cape Heer, thus violating the Svalbard Treaty. These reports were later developed into Michelet's novel Orion's Belt and a movie with the same name.
1977–1991: Daily newspaper for AKP (m-l)
From April 1, 1977, Klassekampen switched to daily publication (except Sundays). At that time, the rotary press and editorial offices were installed on Bryn in Oslo. In the first years as a daily newspaper, Klassekampen was edited strictly according to party guidelines.
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The operation of the daily newspaper was more resource-intensive than anticipated, not least financially. Income from advertising was scarce. In addition, AKP (m-l) had adopted a policy of "self-support" and therefore did not accept the state support that Klassekampen was entitled to. The newspaper was to be built entirely on the support of the readers. This policy hit the wall in 1978, and bankruptcy was just around the corner. A new fundraiser avoided immediate collapse, but the party had to accept state aid. In November 1979, Klassekampen could announce that "the daily is saved!" This of course had a cost: The paper was cut from 16 to 12 pages most days, and the staff was reduced heavily. District offices in Bergen, Trondheim and Tromsø had to close, and special editions in Sàmi, English and Spanish were stopped, as were publications aimed specially at immigrant workers and at farmers/fishermen.
The party had also decided that the paper should build up its own courier service. Unpaid volunteers delivered the newspaper to the subscribers in major cities every evening or night. This was partly for economic reasons, partly as a security measure – AKP did not want to hand over the list of subscribers to someone else. (The parliamentary "Lund Report" concerning the Norwegian secret services later confirmed that subscribing to Klassekampen could be a reason for registration.) The courier system meant great strain on the party organization that, literally, carried the newspaper. From late 1979 the system was discontinued in most of Norway, but in some parts of Oslo it was effective for a decade.
In 1977, criminal charges were brought against then editor Finn Sjue for the paper's disclosures of secret NATO exercise telegrams. Two years later he was sentenced to ten days in prison or a fine of NOK 2,500. The sentence was later confirmed by the Supreme Court with a 3–2 vote.
During the 1980s, Klassekampen managed to get national acclaim for its journalism in certain focus areas. Journalist Per Bangsund specialized in the growth of right wing extremism and neo-Nazism in Norway and had contacts regarding this within the secret services. A group for investigative journalism (with among others Alf R. Jacobsen) was established, possibly the first in Norway. A focus area for this group was tax evasions among business people and top politicians. Finn Sjue, now as a journalist, dug into illegal or semi-illegal surveillance practices by the secret services towards organizations, politicians and activists on the left. Furthermore, the paper had broad international coverage, partly through AKP's party contacts, but through the years also through extensive travel activities by its own staff. The Middle East, Horn of Africa, Eastern Europe, Central America and Northern Ireland was prioritized. In 1983, journalist Kjell Gjerseth received the Narvesen Prize, at that time the highest ranked journalism award in Norway, for his reports from Afghanistan in the early years of the Soviet occupation.
The Lund Report in 1996 stated that the telephones in Klassekampen's offices had been tapped by the Secret Services from 1976 until 1979. Furthermore, the names of employees, contributors, subscribers and street vendors had been registered.
In 1979, Sigurd Allern was hired as editor for a new period. He held this position until 1995 and was vital in the editorial development of the daily. Also being a member of the AKP central committee, he managed pragmatically to professionalize the paper without creating too much discontent in the party. The editorial directive was in effect discontinued. Still, there were some conflict points between the party and the staff. In 1984–1985 this culminated, when a group of journalists organized a strike protesting on the paper's employment policy. The strike lasted only a couple of hours, but led to a long-lasting internal conflict in the paper and the party. At the same time, the Norwegian Graphical Union decided to exclude all members at Duplotrykk, Klassekampen's print shop, on the grounds that they had accepted hours and pay grade outside of the tariff regulations.
The Allern years
The process of liberating the paper from party ties, peaked in April 1991, when Klassekampen no longer reckoned itself party organ of AKP. A new purpose clause stated that the paper should carry serious critical journalism with "disclosures of all kinds of exploitation, oppression and environmental destruction" as well as inspire and contribute to "ideological criticism, organizing and political struggle" from a "revolutionary, socialist viewpoint". This change had been approved by the party, that however still would own 80 percent of the shares in the publishing company with the same name. This "liberation process" followed the general line among Norwegian papers, as also conservative and Labour media gained more independence in these years.
Helped by state support, frequent fundraising campaigns and an increasing circulation, the 1980s had passed without any financial catastrophes, but the economy was still tight. A system with regular contributions from the readers had been started in 1983 (Else Berg memorial fund). In late 1991 this was formalized into the support organization Friends of Klassekampen, that was given the remaining 20 percent of the shares and a seat in the company board. Together with a big fundraiser this provided means for a renewal in design and editorial focus. The circulation increased to more than 10,000 in 1992, but then Klassekampen lost momentum. It did not manage to use the 1994 referendum on EU membership, where the paper was among with a clear stand against, for increased growth. In early 1995, Duplotrykk – the paper's own printing company – went bankrupt. After this, Klassekampen has been printed by commercial suppliers.
Internal conflicts in the staff were frequent. Editor Sigurd Allern had a rather authoritarian style of leadership, that did not suit the liberated situation and hindered the creative capabilities of the staff. An expansion of the Saturday edition in 1994 was forced through by Allern against the will of the journalists, the marketing department, the CFO and a minority of the board. He (supported by the majority of the board) also pursued a strategy of a still broader ownership and had talks with Kristen Nygaard, that had led the No to EU movement and with the Socialist Left Party (SV) and their then weekly, Ny Tid.
The Bjerke years
Main owner AKP had, as many of its sister parties from the 1970s, declined during the 80s. A further setback came in 1991, when its election front Rød Valgallianse became an independent organization and many party members chose to quit AKP and concentrate on RV. Among these were several of those sympathetic to Allern's strategy, while the skepticism toward the editor in the rest-AKP became obvious. In 1995, Allern took the consequences of this and resigned. Paul Bjerke, who had been Allern's deputy, was appointed new editor. He had worked in the paper since 1982. His work style was very opposite to his predecessor's. In a portrait interview in 1997 with the headline "Mumble mumble" he described himself as "somewhat over the edge antisocial".
Bjerke soon had to accept reductions in staff and number of pages. His proposed strategy was to meet the problems with expansion. This line was supported by Aksel Nærstad, who from late 1994 had been leading the company board. Nærstad argued that it would be possible to reach a circulation of 15,000 within few years, and that a capital increase of ten million NOK could be obtained provided AKP reduced its ownership. AKP considered these to be numbers without links to reality and instead suggested a discussion on what could be done to fulfill the paper's purpose and strengthen Klassekampen as a "revolutionary, radical, indignant on behalf of the poor, critical to the system and foresighted" newspaper. The national convention of AKP in May 1997 was positive to reducing the party's ownership, but also stated that changing the name or the purpose clause was unacceptable.
Criticism of the paper did not only arise from the AKP leadership and cadre. In 1996, an internet forum named KK-forum was established by outsiders as an attempt on participatory democracy, but this was not welcomed by the paper and its staff, who mostly refused to participate in open polemics. Around the same time there was a notable change in Klassekampen's culture pages with more high-brow intellectual essays that seemed uninteresting and unavailable for the common reader. This led to heavy discussions. Early 1997 Nærstad and Bjerke chose – against AKP's will – to go public with their suggested strategy. This led to Nærstad being sacked as leader of the board, and also to discussions about Bjerke's position. During the spring and summer several initiatives were taken to solve the situation, but there was an increasing lack of confidence between the groups.
In September 1997, parliamentary elections were due. For four years RV had had its first representative, Erling Folkvord, but polls indicated that he was in danger of losing his seat. Klassekampen had always been supporting RV at elections, but now party members felt the help to be somewhat lacking. A few days before the elections the conflict around the newspaper became public as other media claimed that AKP would fire Bjerke. AKP denied that this was the plan. On election day, 15 September, Klassekampen's front page had a picture of Kristin Halvorsen of SV, and Folkvord lost his seat with a margin of 600 votes. The next day AKP formally declared non-confidence to Bjerke. Most of the editorial staff gathered around their editor, started a byline strike and published comments confronting the papers main owner.
Michelet takes over
AKP now offered the position as editor to Jon Michelet, novelist, RV politician and former journalist. He was asked not to take the job by a large majority of the staff. Furthermore, campaigns were organized to hit the paper's economy by not renewing subscriptions or withholding promised financial contributions. When Bjerke received a formal letter about the boards decision of firing him, the local union of journalists declared that it collectively took over the leadership. As a compromise the board now decided to open for alternative candidates. Meanwhile, journalist Carsten Thomassen was appointed temporary editor. By the end of the month, four additional candidates had signed up, with Kjell Gjerseth being the favorite of the staff. He and MIchelet got the same number of votes in the board, leaving the decision to the board leader who voted in favor of Michelet. The public debate during and after this was hard. Both sides had its supporters. Bjerke went to court to keep the job, but settled with one year paid leave before quitting, while the board admitted that their reasons were not necessarily objectively justified. With most of the editorial staff as well as several external contributors leaving, Michelet's most acute task was to fill the columns of the paper on a daily basis. This turned out to be easier than feared, and soon the offices were filled with a new generation of journalists.
Still, it was necessary to improve the paper's economy. In 1998, AKP launched a campaign to sell new shares. If successful, this would give Klassekampen 5.5 million NOK while simultaneously reducing the party's ownership to just below 50 percent. The result was 5.9 million. At the same time, circulation dropped dramatically, leading to several years with operating deficits.
From 2000: Daily of the left
In the AKP years, other parties of the left as well as the trade union leadership regularly were criticized, often in a secterical way. To survive economically and fulfill the strategy of 1991, Klassekampen and its staff – in line with the slogan "The daily of the left" – had to make friends with these groups. Furthermore, the paper realized that it was not possible to grow by committing only to a working class group of readers, whereupon the coverage of cultural and ideological topics was increased. Much was done in these areas during the 1990s – and much was lost again during the 1997 crisis. Thus, a primary task for Michelet and his staff was to rebuild confidence within these groups. Several persons with links to the Socialist Left Party (and its youth organization Socialist Youth) was hired or offered columns in the paper.
MIchelet had a personal style that helped reducing old conflict and build confidence. On the other hand, his impulsivity could create internal problems, causing the board and the CFO to alarm AKP, still the largest owner. Strengthening of the paper's editorial leadership was necessary. In October 2000, Bjørgulv Braanen was hired as assistant editor (redaksjonssjef). Braanen had been in Klassekampen before, as head of layout in the late 1980s, but had spent ten years in different positions in Dagens Næringsliv, a liberal business paper. The return to Klassekampen for him meant a 50 percent reduction in salary, but he said it was a project he could stand for – on the condition that AKP would reduce its ownership and that the paper would develop further into an arena for the broad left.
In 2002, Klassekampen published around 10 essays by and two interviews with Israel Shamir, who was criticized for arguing in favour of alliances with the far right. After a debate between Shamir and Håkon Kolmannskog (then editor of the correspondence pages), the cooperation was ended.
Braanen's years
Michelet had a five-year contract as editor. For health reasons he abstained from prolongation, whereupon Braanen took over as chief editor in 2002. He presented his ambitions: "I think we have a golden opportunity to build a broad, versatile and radical paper. The political situation also demands such a paper, and not the propaganda paper of former times. The left is on the defensive, and the way ahead is vague. (...) In this situation we need a broad and inclusive radical and critical paper, not one that pretends to have all the answers up front."
Braanen followed this line, and Klassekampen managed to increase its circulation year by year. This naturally helped the paper's financial situation and made improvements possible. One of these was an increased coverage of culture. In September 2006 Bokmagasinet (The Book Magazine) was launched as an enclosure every Saturday, inspired by Guardian Review and the Danish Weekendavisen, and aiming to become "Norway's most important literature paper". In 2012 a similar music was approached in the same way when the weekly Musikkmagasinet started on Mondays. Theatre and the arts also have regular pages. For some time, the separate magazine Cinema was distributed along with Klassekampen six times per year.
In 2004, former editor Paul Bjerke returned to the paper with a regular weekly column that ran for thirteen years.
Another step against the mainstream media flow was to improve the paper's coverage of "all Norway" through regional offices – in Trondheim (2012), Tromsø (2017) and Bergen (2017).
From Wikipedia’s article on Klassekampen, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.5