LOCAL MEDIA
MANY PIONEERS IN THE 130 YEARS HISTORY
Today, the local news picture is dominated by the online newspapers Rana NO and Rana Blad, where the latter is also published printed. On paper is also the Avisa Hemnes, a newspaper that follows up a long newspaper tradition in the neighboring municipality south of Rana. In addition, Mo Industripark publishes its own magazine and Ranaregionens Næringsforening publishes its member magazine MONO. In the air we have the two local radio stations Radio Rana and Radio Korgen, the latter one of the country's oldest local radio stations. In addition to this, NRK has its own regional office for Helgeland in Mo i Rana.
At the end of this article you will find internet links to all of them.
Nordlands Avis was first published in 1893 on Hemnesberget, and was the region's first newspaper.
The same year that people in Amsterdam became acquainted with De Telegraaf, today Holland's largest newspaper, Wilhelm Johansen publishes his first issue of Nordlands Avis on Hemnesberget. After a tortuous existence, war and the burning down of the premises, the newspaper managed to keep going until 1978.
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The newspaper that was published on Hemnesberget was typically a party newspaper, and it had its point of view with the Liberal Party. Such political affiliation should also apply to the forerunner of Rana Blad, the newspaper Dunderlandsdølen which was first published in 1902. Here, too, the initiator was a zealot, Redvald Knutson, and he had his point of view in the radical labor movement of the time.
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In 1947, Dunderlandsdølen changed its name to Rana Blad, but still with strong ties to the labor movement and the Labor Party. The connection was so strong that some merchants at times refused to advertise in the newspaper. Today, the ties have been broken, and Rana Blad is owned by the Amedia Group.
Rana Blad was the first newspaper in Norway to print offset. Photo: The archives of the labor movement
Long newspaper history
Former journalist, the late Ola Petter Solbakken, writes about the newspaper history in the district in Årbok for Helgeland 1989. Professor at UiT, Stian Bones also writes about some of the local newspapers in Store Norske Leksikon. Both places are good sources for knowledge about our newspaper history.
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Most newspapers are based on conflicts of interest. The labor movement had its newspapers where they could convey their views uncensored, and vice versa for more liberal interests. The financial foundation often seems to have been weak, and the newspapers often change owners or end up with short lives.
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The most steadfast are the Jenssen family at Hemnesberget and their operation of Nordland Avis. In the period 1905 - 1914, the newspaper bore the name Ranens Tidende, possibly to cover the thousands of workers who worked at the Iron Ore Company. And against a number of odds, the family managed to keep Nordlands Avis going for more than 70 years until 1978. Then the labor movement newspaper Rana Blad had become too strong also in the Hemnes municipality, and the former shopping center Hemnesberget and its advertisers, had largely lost its position in favor of the far larger city of Mo i Rana.
Nordlands Avis, which was published on Hemnesberget, was called Ranens Tidende from 1905 to 1914
Equally impressive is the efforts of Redvald Knutson, who for many years was Dunderlandsdølen's owner and editor. The Labor Party bought the newspaper from him in 1916 and in 1918 changed its name to Helgelands Framtid, but still with Knutson as editor. The battle for readers was fierce, and the most important competitor was Nordlands Avis. In 1921, the local working class got into financial trouble, and editor Redvald Knutson bought back the newspaper. Dunderlandsdølen was a privately owned workers' newspaper and with Knutson as editor until 1947.
From 1947, Dunderlandsdølen was acquired by the Labor Party and named Rana Blad
While most newspapers in the country did not come out during the war, the newspaper Helgeland in Mo i Rana chose to be published under German censorship. Even though the newspaper had no Nazi sympathies, the collaboration, according to Ola Petter Solbakken, caused some to turn their backs on the newspaper after the war. In 1947, Helgeland had a circulation of 5,000 while Dunderlanddølen's circulation was only 1,000, but within a few years this was to change. Most of those who moved to Mo i Rana were construction workers with connections to the labor movement, and slowly but surely the economy went down for Helgeland. In 1957, editor Bjarne Bjerkmo had to publish his latest issue of the newspaper.
Mo i Rana's largest local newspaper was right after the war the newspaper Helgeland
In a world where you are connected to the news while it is happening, it can be good to realize that someone has also fought for press freedom locally. Former Rana Blad journalist Ola Petter Solbakken's article on the history of local newspapers can be read in the Yearbook for Helgeland 1989 .
Ranens Folkeblad came out in two short periods. Both times with sympathies for the Liberal Party.
Nesnaposten was published for a short period between 1915 and 1917 in collaboration with Ranens Folkeblad
Local radio pioneers
Radio Korgen in Hemnes is one of the country's oldest local radios that is still in operation. The pioneer behind the levers was Trygve Aanes, and the first official broadcast took place in March 1982. Radio Rana came into operation a couple of years later, and both local radio stations still have regular broadcasts on both FM and Internet. For a time there was a Radio RV in Mo i Rana and Radio Nesna at the coast, but both of these have left the airwaves.
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For some years, NRK had its own regional radio for Helgeland, known as Helgelandsradioen , and especially the journalists Knut A. Lie and Tor Jacobsen were prominent. Today's P2 journalist Sjur Sætre was for a period associated with NRK Helgelandsradioen.
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NRK currently covers Helgeland with two permanent positions based in Mo Industripark's premises.
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This is the local media picture as of today:
