(THIS ARTICLE IS MACHINE TRANSLATED by Google from Norwegian)
Orientering and Ny Tid are important pillars in the left-wing socialist tradition in Norway. Independent Orientering formed the basis for SF to be founded. New Time is one of the symbols of the collection that led to SV. Without Orientering and New Time we would not be where we are today. A lot has happened since 1953 and 1975. Ny Tid is today one of two party-controlled newspapers. The struggle to survive in a pressured media world is getting harder and harder. The costs of running a newspaper have increased, at the same time as the number of subscribers to Ny Tid has shrunk year by year.
That Ny Tid has financial problems is nothing new. The negative development has been going on for at least ten years. The problems have become bigger and bigger year by year. SV has committed itself to trying to help find solutions, without success. SV has supported all the efforts the board of the newspaper has made to find solutions. The promise New Time needs is simply too big for the party to manage. SV's feelings for Ny Tid are too strong for us to sit and watch the newspaper go in.
New Time has in recent years been completely independent of SV. It has been a very long time since the editor was elected by the national assembly, and a very long time since SV somehow interfered with the newspaper's profile. None of the recent editors have been SV members. Nevertheless, the newspaper has remained in the tradition it carries. Not because the party has demanded it, but because cultural institutions themselves carry their own tradition.
That's why I am, and a unanimous central board, has supported the board's proposal that the newspaper be sold to Damm. This is the only solution that involves the newspaper investing in and living on. We have a clear impression that throughout the process Damm has agreed to the requirements that have been set for the newspaper to live on in the editorial and political tradition it holds.
I look forward to following the development of a revitalized New Time. A New Age that can provoke, challenge and support us in the political battles that lie ahead.
Edle Daasvand Skjæveland is party secretary in the SV.
