Post on 13-Oct-2020
Centre for Investigative Journalism
- At de slipper fengsel er en hån
Together with journalist Thomas Frigård in the local newspaper Raumnes, we have
discovered that a penalty discount have been given in about half of 699 judgments in
a three-year period due to too long case processing time.
The investigative case gained national attention when it aired on the Daily Review on
the Norwegian National Broadcaster, NRK, on Sunday, January 27, 1919, as well as
published on their digital platform at NRK.no.
The project was made possible with grants and support from SUJO, as well as
financial support from the Fritt Ord Foundation.
SUJO's Per Christian Magnus and Kristine Holmelid functioned as project managers
for the investigative project. Ellen Borge Kristoffersen in NRK and Bjarne Kvam in
HLT Law Firm AS also contributed to the project as experts in their respective fields.
Thomas Frigård on the collaboration with SUJO
– I am very pleased with the support I have received. The expertise SUJO can offer is a
unique opportunity for local newspapers to strengthen their expertise in investigative
journalism. I recommend all local newspapers with an idea for an investigative project to
apply. The expertise that you get to bring back to the editorial staff can be shared, and in this
way you help raise the journalistic quality of the product you give your readers in other
projects as well.
Mia: Jenta ingen kan hjelpe
Together with Avisa Nordland’s journalist Siri Gulliksen, Alexander Kjønsø Karlsen,
Anders Bergundhaugen and photographer Tom Melby in Avisa Nordland, SUJO
worked on the case Mia; a 23 year old woman who is too ill for prison but too healthy
for psychiatry, and thus falls between two chairs.
The first report on Mia covered 44 pages in Avisa Nordland's Saturday edition of
“Endelig Helg” on February 23, 2019. The case also gained national attention by
being addressed in the Norwegian parliament where questions were directed to the
Norwegian Minister of Health, Bent Høie (H), whether the help Mia has received has
been adequate or not.
The project won Amedia’s prize for best journalism in Amedia in 2019. It also won
Svarte Natta’s journalism prize
SUJO's Per Christian Magnus and Kristine Holmelid were project managers.
Readers of the story of Mia
Avisa Nordlands story of Mia (chapters 1-10) also published by other newspapers in
the Amedia Group. The figures below show readers and reading time for the entire
group:
• Number of browsers in issue: 66 328
• Average browsing time per browser: 8 minutes and 59 seconds
Alexander Kjønsø Karlsen on the collaboration with SUJO
– The cooperation with SUJO has been very important to us. We would probably have
published the case anyway, but the result would not have been as good without the input and
support of Kristine and Per Christian. We already had all of the documentation when we
contacted SUJO. The help from SUJO in defining issues, identifying important sources and
structuring the work has helped make the work easier.
– Having skilled supporters you can "throw ball" with along the way, and who can look at
things with a little more distance than what we manage ourselves, has been a great help.
Although the collaboration has resulted in us "throwing" a number of drafts, we would not
have been without the extra the rounds. We are very pleased with the end product, which
has helped to cast spotlight on a system that fails to take care of everyone.
– The offer from SUJO is a unique opportunity for smaller media companies to embark on
larger projects. We have to recognize that not everyone has the necessary expertise to start
working on a larger case complex. SUJO can really contribute with important competence,
experience and financial support to land these projects. All this has been important to us. We
have learned a great deal from the collaboration, and we want to say that the knowledge we
now have makes us better journalists. We have also shared the new expertise with several of
the editorial staff. We hope that our collaboration with SUJO will help others see the
opportunities that lie in a collaboration.
Varslene som slår sprekker i menighetsfamilien
"Varslene som slår sprekker i menighetsfamilien" is an investigative project by the
newspaper Dagen in collaboration with SUJO. The case concerns a pastor in
Hillsong Norway who has received numerous notices for his tough style of leadership
and about the congregation who have had to pay the price.
The case published in two parts. The first part of the case was in April the 5th the
most read case on their digital platform, Dagen.no, in 2019. It received 12,457 page
views. In total, the two cases received nearly 20,000 readers, making it the second
most read case on Dagen.no this year. It also sold several new subscriptions.
SUJO’s Kristine Holmelid functioned as the project manager on this investigative
project.
Editor from Dagen was Astrid Dalehaug Norheim.
Folgefonnsenteret
Kvinnheringen, with journalists Karen Anna Kleppe and Trude Aarsand in the lead,
received grants and support for doing an investigative project at the Folgefonn
Center in Rosendal, which has struggled with low visitor numbers. During the project,
Karen Anna Kleppe and Trude Aarsand did extensive transparency work, reviewing
hundreds of case papers, e-mails and internal board documents.
SUJO's Per Christian Magnus and Kristine Holmelid were reporting leaders on the
project.
Kvinnheringen’s editor during the project was Tomas Bruvik.
Thomas Bruvik on cooperation with SUJO
– For us it was absolutely crucial to have SUJO on the team. Without them, we would have
been fumbling more in the dark and come up with far less pointed cases. SUJO also fact
checked and made sure that everything in the case was correct and reliable. We will
definitely ask for help again when we start our next big investigative project.
Kampen om dråpene
Freelance journalist, Laila Borge, in collaboration with SUJO, has worked on a major
investigative project on hydropower for Aftenposten Innsikt.
"Kampen om dråpene: Mest mulig vannkraft eller vern av natur?" published in the 5th
edition of Aftenposten Innsikt in May 2019, and on aftenposten.no. The case
addresses current issues at a time when NVE (The Norwegian Water and Energy
Directorate) is considering imposing requirements for environmental improvements at
several hydropower plants.
In the work on the investigative project, Laila Borge has had a permanent place in
SUJO's premises in Media City Bergen for about two months.
SUJO’s Per Christian Magnus functioned as project manager.
Laila Borge on the collaboration with SUJO
– It can be difficult as a freelancer to devote enough time and resources to larger
projects. The financial support from SUJO was crucial to the realization of this
project. While working on the project, I also got permanent office space in SUJO's
premises, in an inspiring environment with other journalists and students working on
investigative projects. I received regular follow-up and professional input. I also got
help in systematizing the work, quality assuring the content and knitting the text. I
have already recommended SUJO to other freelancers with ideas for investigative
projects, and I hope more people take the opportunity to realize their ideas.
Bestefars selvmord
Johanna Magdalena Husebye has spent about one year working on the topic of
suicide among the elderly. On Saturday, May 11, 2019, the first part of her Master's
thesis in Investigative Journalism published in VG (Verdens Gang). On Sunday, May
12, the second case published. In total, Johanna Husebye published seven cases in
VG. Husebye’s case was read by over 600 000 people.
During the latter part of the project period, Johanna Husebye worked closely with
VG's editorial staff.
SUJO’s Kristine Holmelid functioned as the project manager.
Utbyggerne som forsvant
Master student in investigative journalism, Katrine Mjelde, spent about one year
working on an investigative project within the real estate industry in Bergen, Norway,
as part of her Master's thesis. On Saturday, August 31, 2019, the first issue "The
developers who disappeared" published in Bergensavisen (BA)
.
Overmedisinering av eldre
Paul André Sommerfeldt is one of the first Master's students to graduate from the
Master's program in Investigative Journalism at the Department of Information and
Media Studies at the University of Bergen.
On Tuesday, September 3, 2019, he published the first case in his Master's project in
the Norwegian national broadcaster, NRK, on over-medication in the nursing home
service.
Offentlig pengebruk
Robert Nedrejord is a Master's student in the Master's program in Investigative
Journalism. He is one of four Master's students who started the program when it
opened in 2017.
Robert Nedrejord specializes in computer journalism. The master project, which is a
collaboration with Dagbladet, looks at the use of money among Norwegian top
executives in the public sector.
More from this project
Avviser unødig pengebruk
Lovstridig hemmelighold om sparket rådmann
Vindparadiset
The Project Vindparadiset or The Wind Paradise (eng) is a project between SUJO
and the Norwegian national commercial broadcaster TV 2.
The first part of the project was published before the summer of 2019, where we
looked at the big differences in income for the wind- and hydro power municipalities
in Norway. The long read Vindparadiset was published on November 24th 2019.
Historier om fattigdom
Stories of Poverty is a collaboration with Bergens Tidende (BT) and SUJO.
BT published the first of a series of articles on Friday December 6th, 2019, focusing
on what it is like to be poor in the world’s richest country. During December and
January, BT published several stories of poverty in Western Norway.
Kristine Holmelid was the reporting manager for the project.
Liv Skotheim, Kjetil Gillesvik and Kjersti Mjør were responsible for the BT project.
The series Stories of Poverty have been read by around 1.3 million people.
Dagen kartlegger kristennorge
With the support of Fritt Ord and SUJO, the religious newspaper Dagen has mapped
Christian-Norway through a large survey. The results of the study were presented in
a series of articles that ran over several weeks in paper and online.
Dagen also collaborated with TV 2 who published an article based on the survey.
SUJO's Kristine Holmelid was the reporting manager for the project.
2020 Rus & Samfunn
The Norwegian government has decided to give the norwegian municipalities 2.4
billion kroners extra on the drug field over a corse of five years. As we are now in the
final year, the online magazine Rus & Samfunn decided to have a look on how the
money has been put to use.
– Rus & Samfunn wanted to track what the money was used for. Nearly NOK 2
billion of the funds have been given to the municipalities to step up efforts in the drug
field, so we would particularly like to see if the money has been used for a real
escalation, says Berit Simenstad, editor of Rus & Samfunn. She is very grateful that
SUJO was able to help realize the project.
– For a small online magazine like Rus & Samfunn, it has been crucial to bring in the
expertise that SUJO possesses, says Simenstad.
A collaboration was also made with the magazine Kommunal Rapport to create the
series of articles. Several articles have already been published in the paper edition of
Kommunal Rapport and in the online magazine Rus & Samfunn, and more issues will
be published in March. Freelance journalist Laila Borge was involved with the project
from the very beginning. She believes that the involvement of SUJO has had a great
impact on the work.
– SUJO's reporting manager has followed the project closely and asked many critical
questions along the way. It provides a reassuring quality assurance of the project. I
have also been fortunate enough to get an office space at SUJO at Media City
Bergen while working on this project, so for me this has been both social and
educational, says Borge.
Førde has received the name the Norwegian Champion of Commerce, with a
turnover equivalent to a city with the double of Førde’s population. Firda, the local
newspaper in Førde, started working on a new investigative project early in 2020 in
collaboration with SUJO. Before the corona crisis hit, e-commerce was the major
challenge for the commercial businesses in Førde.
In order to expand the project and look at how Førde will cope with the corona crisis,
Firda received funding from Fritt Ord. The corona crisis is believed to hit Førde hard
and throughout the year, Firda will in collaboration with SUJO, look closely through
news articles, reports and readers’ posts how the businesses and community is
handling the challenges the commercial city faces.
SUJO's Kristine Holmelid was the reporting manager for the project.
Firda og SUJO during a workshop
Editor Marie Havnen on the cooperation with SUJO
– Finally, the project about the commercial city of Førde is making progress. We have
received very good help from SUJOs Kristine Holmelid and Per Christian Magnus in shaping
the project. They have helped us develop our ideas, define and set boundaries. It has been
especially useful to have someone with some distance to the project to rely when it comes to
asking questions about our idea and the challenges of working towards our new goal. We
look forward to continuing with the series, and to see what we can achieve as we continue to
publish the rest of the year, says Firda editor, Marie Havnen.
Journalist Ivar Myklebust Longvastølen on the collaboration with SUJO
– The collaboration has been very useful and inspiring. SUJOs Kristine Holmelid and Per
Christian Magnus has helped us structure our work, but also helped us see the different
angles on cases and articles, says journalist in Firda, Ivar Myklebust Longvastøl.