Grants for Norwegian Journalism in December 2021

December 14 2021

The Fritt Ord Foundation’s list of allocations has been updated to include grants for Norwegian journalism projects in December 2021.

In December, a total of NOK 3 560 000 in support was allocated to Norwegian journalism projects. The list of projects receiving support includes podcasts, series of articles and reporting projects.

Two projects address Christianity and religion among young people in an otherwise secular community. Vårt Land (newspaper) has been granted NOK 125 000 for the series of articles “Preaching! The unknown public sphere”, where the goal is to provide insight into the diversity in and perspectives of several different religious communities, through regular visits to 10 different religious communities outside the Church of Norway, then to describe and analyse what the different religions preach.

The online newspaper Framtida.no was allocated NOK 100 000 for the article project “Young and religious in one of the world’s most secular countries”, which will examine the influence of secularisation and religion on young people’s identities today.

Fritt Ord will also continue to provide support for Investigate Europe. This is an independent journalistic co-op consisting of seasoned members of the press from several European countries. They publish heavy, demanding investigative articles in a variety of media, across national borders, and have definitely made their mark on the European public sphere. The Norwegian journalist Ingeborg Eliassen was recently appointed editor-in-chief for all of Investigate Europe. The position is partially funded by Fritt Ord, which will also help fund the hiring of a new Norwegian reporter. Investigate Europe has been allocated a total of NOK 800 000 NOK for its work in 2022.

News

Call for nominations: Free Media Awards 2025

March 14 2025

In collaboration with the ZEIT STIFTUNG BUCERIUS of Hamburg, the Fritt Ord Foundation has allocated the Free Media Awards annually since 2004 to Eastern European journalists and media that defy every obstacle to tirelessly ensure independent press coverage. Russia’s war against Ukraine and the subsequent wave of disinformation clearly demonstrates the need for independent reporting in the region. Journalist, editorial teams and media companies in and from Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Russia, Ukraine and Hungary who make a contribution to press freedom through their investigative, independent reporting can be nominated for the Free Media Awards.

Civitates' Tech & Democracy open call

March 6 2025

Civitates – The European Democracy Fund is a pooled philanthropic fund that was set up in 2018 for the sole purpose of addressing democratic decline and closing civic space in Europe. The case for confronting these threats is growing increasingly urgent. Fritt Ord Foundation is one of the initiators and partners of Civitates.

Civitates has launched its Tech and Democracy open call to support organisations working to ensure safer, more inclusive online spaces (social media platforms, search engines etc.) by improving the enforcement of EU tech regulations at the national level.

This open call offers a unique opportunity to strengthen civil society’s role in holding the tech sector accountable, with a focus on key EU regulations such as the Digital Services Act, GDPR, AI Act or the European Media Freedom Act to name a few.

Norwegians increasingly more positive to computer games

March 5 2025

Norwegians are increasingly more positive to accepting computer games as culture

About 17 per cent have developed a more favourable view of computer games over the past year. Six of ten play computer games, and one of three plays computer games weekly. At the same time, computer games are ranked as having lower status than books and music, for example.
“Computer games deserve more attention and discussion”, contends Joakim Lie of Fritt Ord.

– Computer games are also art

March 4 2025

“The problem with far too many media reports about computer games is that they start begin with sentences like: ‘computer games have come a long way since Pac-Man’,” sighs American computer game critic Jacob Geller.

“Let us first simply agree that computer games are indeed an art form and an expression of culture, and then let us examine the works as part of the history of art and culture.