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.

Kva no, handelsbyen Førde?

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.