The Norwegian Editors’ Association has issued a formal warning to Hans Rustad. This is the first time the association has issued such a warning, says chair Tora Bakke Håndlykken.
Under the association’s rules, a member must first receive such a warning before they can be expelled.
It is worth taking a closer look at the reasoning behind this. Rustad spoke to a person who had lodged a complaint against *Document* with the PFU. Furthermore, *Document* published an opinion piece the day after another newspaper was criticised for the same piece.
These are, therefore, the sort of things that require ‘substantial changes’. For an editor whose job involves interacting with people and reading what is written in other newspapers, this is a rather strict standard.
I have myself sat on the PFU’s panel. In 2023, I was censured for a comment about non-native crab species. To this day, I disagree with the PFU’s decision and, not least, the reasoning behind it. They used some of the worst terms and comparisons in history.
Rustad calls the warning ‘poorly concealed political discipline’. I agree with him. But let’s set that aside for a moment and turn to a practical question: what does the association stand to gain by expelling Document?
In my view, it is only a matter of time. If that happens, Document will suddenly find itself on the outside, and technically speaking, no longer subject to the ‘Be Careful’ code of conduct. Of course, we shall continue to adhere to it, but the Editors’ Association will lose the only direct line of communication it has with us.
Oslo, 16 October 2026
Chair of the Editors’ Association, Tora Bakke Håndlykken.
Photo: Lise Åserud / NTB
Whether this is a good idea remains to be seen. We may well lose our press subsidy too, but I suspect that if all this happens, it is the Editors’ Association and the mass media that will lose out – and lose out big time. People will then see with their own eyes that their opinions are being censored, cancelled and erased.
Document is a voice for all Norwegians, wherever they may be, who do not agree with the direction in which society has been moving. Trying to silence us is not necessarily the wisest course of action. In a country where socialists like to claim that democracy and freedom of expression are strong, any attempt to shut down Document will look very bad.
The most interesting thing I find in the reasoning put forward by the Editors’ Association is that they say journalism should seek the truth. Very well. But what about NRK, TV 2, VG, Dagbladet and so many others who have been engaged daily in pure propaganda and distortions of the truth, for example with regard to everything to do with Donald Trump?
Nor does it stop there. We could go on with climate hysteria, foreign cables, and so on. But – and this is a big ‘but’ – the worst thing of all is the massive operation the media are carrying out, in collusion with most politicians, to conceal the harmful effects of the current immigration policy.
Worst of all is the almost unbelievable protection afforded to Muslims.
Is it truth-seeking to call two Somalis and an Afghan ‘people from Nordfjord’? NRK has on many occasions failed to tell the whole story. And failing to do so is really just another way of saying ‘lying’ in this context. As in the Roma woman case, the Bamsegutt case, etc.
There’s plenty to go round.
Oslo, 10 April 2024
Today, over 200,000 Muslims in Norway are celebrating Eid al-Fitr, the festival marking the end of the fasting month of Ramadan. The mosque at the Søndre Nordstrand Muslim Centre in Mortensrud is packed to the rafters as Muslims gather to perform the Eid prayer following the end of Ramadan. After the prayer, everyone hugs one another and wishes each other a happy Eid. It’s all just joy and merriment. Islam and Muslims are the most protected group in Norway, and the media follow this slavishly. Document, however, gives you a peek behind the curtain, and the Editors’ Association doesn’t like that. Suddenly, we’re no longer seekers of the truth…
Photo: Javad Parsa / NTB
Why aren’t NRK kicked out of the Editors’ Association, the Press Complaints Commission (PFU), Faktisk.no, etc.?
The answer is simple: they’re one of them. They’re on the inside. ‘Woke’, if you like – new terms are constantly cropping up, after all. But here, one can deliberately and knowingly avoid seeking the truth, and be censured by the PFU, without the Editors’ Association issuing so much as a warning.
Is this what is regarded as democracy, freedom of expression and diversity in the press?
There’s a saying that you should keep your friends close, but your enemies even closer. Here, the Editors’ Association and the major media houses really have their credibility put to the test. We at Document have something these other players do not: we are the voice of those who would otherwise not be heard, of those who are silenced, cancelled and hold ‘wrong opinions’.
It’s David versus Goliath, but remember who won that battle.
Together, we shall not give up, but carry on fighting so that truth and justice remain a force that cannot be ignored!
