Town hall meeting in Tromsø about Norway as the neighbour of a military force

June 14 2022

How has the war in Ukraine changed Norway’s role in the Arctic, in the High North and as a neighbour to Russia? As part of the series ‘Debates about Norway’s Future’, Fritt Ord invites the public to a live-streamed debate at Verdensteatret (the World Theatre) in Tromsø on 14 June.

The event is part of the democracy project entitled Debates about Norway’s Future, a joint effort on the part of Nordlys, Fritt Ord, FERD, Amedia and the Research Council of Norway.

Verdensteatret in Tromsø will be the venue for the evening’s debate, which will also be live-streamed online.

The debate will revolve around Norway’s role as a neighbour of Russia as a military force, and how the war in Europe has changed Norway’s role in the Arctic, in the High North and in its relations with Russia.

You will meet:
- Eirik Kristoffersen, Chief of Defence
- Halvor Tjønn, expert on Russia and former Aftenposten journalist
- Sverre Diesen, former Chief of Defence
- Becky Bakr Abdullah, media consultant at the Norwegian Refugee Council
- Maja Sojtaric, commentator for Nordlys
- Thomas Nilsen, editor-in-chief of the Barents Observer
- Mikkel Founder, group leader for Bergen SV (Socialist Left Party)
- Kari Aga Myklebost, professor at the University of Tromsø

Project Manager Bente Engesland and Editor-in-chief Helge Nitteberg from Nordlys will moderate the discussion, which will be open to questions from the floor.

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.