From New Year, Ny Tid was taken over by Mediehuset Vårt Land, which wants to continue running the newspaper in its current form. Martine Aurdal resigns as editor-in-chief.
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[takes over] After a long period of uncertainty related to Ny Tid's future, it became clear on Wednesday 2 January that the news magazine will be taken over by Mediehuset Vårt Land and the subsidiary Mentor Medier. The previous owner, the publisher NW Damm & Søn, has worked throughout 2007 to find a new owner who can manage to get Ny Tid back on its feet financially.
- After we took over and relaunched Ny Tid in January 2006 – in what is recent Norwegian press history's perhaps largest relaunch campaign – we have unfortunately seen a downward trend. Establishing Ny Tid at a high enough circulation level would require investments of an order of magnitude that goes far beyond our intention when we entered into this. We had no expectations of big profits, but neither did the opposite. That is why we have had to withdraw. In this process, we have been concerned with ensuring that Ny Tid is continued in a good way, says CEO of Damm, Tom Harald Jenssen.
The recently completed merger between Damm and Cappelen is thus not the main reason behind the change of ownership, but a factor that has contributed to the process.
- Following the merger, Cappelen Damm AS has Norway's leading documentary department. Our original motivation, which was the need to get closer to Norwegian and international writing communities, is thus no longer present, says Jenssen, who hopes and believes that Mentor Medier is the right company to run the newspaper further.
recognizable
Mentor Medier publishes Økonomisk Rapport, Ukeavisen Ledelse, Gründer and the TV guide Programbladet. In addition, from New Year's, the company has taken over operational responsibility for the monthly publication Le Monde Diplomatique – and thus New Time, which will continue to come every week.
- New Time should be recognizable to today's readers. It will continue to be a publication that puts international solidarity and social responsibility on the agenda, and which brings voices from all over the world. Basically, Ny Tid is a good editorial product, which hopefully can be made even better, says Magne Lerø in Mentor Medier.
Lerø has editorial responsibility in Mentor Media's other publications, and he will also have the overall responsibility for Ny Tid. Thus, the change of ownership also has the consequence that the current editor of Ny Tid, Martine Aurdal, quits her job.
- I will at least have overall responsibility in relation to profile and market, but exactly how we should organize this – whether we should hire a separate editor or not, I have not decided yet. Now we will use January to get to know Ny Tid, discuss with the staff and spend some time thinking, says Lerø.
For the time being, he does not want to make any program statement for Ny Tid, other than that it should be a magazine about the value struggle that takes place in society.
- It is important not to be too fast, so I want to say something more specific about this in mid-February. First, I want to talk properly with the current staff. This must be something we believe in together. We have some new ideas and some new resources. Then we will see what we have to do for Ny Tid to become a magazine that even more people will read, says Lerø, who believes Mentor Medier can provide Ny Tid with an environment that offers exciting synergy effects.
- We have good experiences of collaborating across publications and see no reason why it should not work for Ny Tid as well, says Lerø.
Courageous to quit
Retiring editor-in-chief of Ny Tid Martine Aurdal thinks it is sad, but not dramatic, to leave Ny Tid.
- It is sad to leave a project I have put a lot of my heart into, but it also feels good to have helped to ensure the newspaper's continued operation. My most important job has been to make Ny Tid a viable news magazine, and I am proud to have been a part of that. I think Mentor Medier will be a good owner with expertise Ny Tid can benefit from, says Aurdal, who believes her own departure from the newspaper has been a natural consequence of the way the takeover takes place.
- When the newspaper is now to be merged into Mentor Medier, where Magne Lerø is responsible editor and director, it goes without saying that my role as general manager and responsible editor will end, and that I may have to move to another position. Thus, it is natural for me to look around for new challenges, Aurdal concludes. ■
