By Johann Roppen, Research
Fellow, University of Bergen
Printed in the EIM Bulletin, no. 1, 1998
A new governmental body charged with overseeing and possibly preventing mergers and acquisitions in newspapers and broadcasting is to be set up this spring. The body is called eigarskapstilsynet (ownership supervision) or more commonly, the tilsyn and is an independent body, unaffliliated to other government departments. The body has the right to object to any major changes in the national or regional media of Norway which it views as potentially detrimental to freedom of speech, to variety in the media or to what is called Îthe real opportunity for freedom of speech.
The leader of the tilsyn was appointed in January 1998, but the body itself will not be up and running until later this spring. The leader, Mr Sigve Gramstad, aged 49, is an experienced civil servant with a degree in law who currently heads the cultural office at the Department of Culture, Media and Sport. Although he has not worked on media issues for some years now, he has written two textbooks on the legal framework of public service broadcasting in Norway as well as an overview of Norwegian media policy. He also served as a departmental official in the first year of the breakup of the Norwegian broadcasting monopoly in the early 1980s.
One might ask what is left to regulate in newspapers and broadcasting in Norway. The major newspapers are, with very few exceptions, controlled by three large corporations. Of the 120 local dailies, less than ten are still independent of these three corporations, and only one of these has a circulation of more than 20,000. The two privately owned national TV companies are to a large extent controlled by the two largest of these three newspaper corporations.
In an interview with the Bulletin, Mr. Gramstad stated that he is pleased with the powers the law is entrusting the tilsyn with, and he can hardly see how these could be more extensive. However, he admits that the way it will actually work will only become clear when it is up and running. Even though the dominance of the large corporations is evident at the national level, the next change might be at the regional level.
The law states that all relevant information is to be made available to the tilsyn, including material from the companies as well as tax authorities and other public bodies.
Acquisitions and mergers and similar agreements violating the intentions of the law could be punished with a fine per day until the violation is corrected, and the tilsyn can demand the forced sale of shares. Failure to comply with the tilsynâs decisions may lead to a fine or a custodial sentence of up to two years.