Laid down by government decree on 7 November 1996 on the basis of the annual budget resolution of the Storting, cf. Article 75 d of the Constitution.

Amendments of 17 February 1997 and 22 January 1998 have been incorporated.

Section 1

Administration

These regulations govern the production grant scheme for daily newspapers. The Mass Media Authority is responsible for the administration of the scheme. A production grant shall be utilized to publish the newspaper for which application for the grant has been made.

Section 2

Definitions

By leading newspaper is meant a newspaper which is published in competition with two or more other newspapers and which has the largest circulation at the place of publication.

By non-leading newspaper is meant a newspaper which is published in competition with two or more other newspapers and which does not have the greatest circulation at the place of publication.

By sole newspaper is meant a newspaper published without competition from other newspapers at the place of publication.

By local urban district newspaper is meant a newspaper published within an urban municipality whose editorial coverage focuses on a limited part of this municipality.

By place of publication is meant the municipality where the newspaper is published. If the main editorial office of a newspaper is moved from one municipality to another, the classification of the newspaper will not necessarily change pursuant to these regulations.

Section 3

Conditions for receipt of grant

A newspaper is entitled to a grant pursuant to these regulations if it meets the following conditions:

1. It contains news and current affairs articles characteristic of a daily newspaper, clearly distinguishing it from other types of publication.

2. It has an editor-in-chief, as defined in the provisions in "Redaktørplakaten" (a set of ethical guidelines for editors which also gives the editor-in-chief full responsibility for the editorial content of the paper).

3. It receives payment in real terms for subscriptions, over-the-counter sales and advertisements according to a publicly available price list.

4. It does not distribute free copies other than those permitted according to guidelines laid down by the Mass Media Authority.

5. It sells at least half of its approved net circulation by subscription.

6. Advertisements have not made up more than 50 per cent of the newspaper's total volume in the last calendar year.

In addition, the newspaper must:

1. a) be published regularly with at least three issues a week and have a circulation of at least 2000 copies, or

b) be published regularly at least once a week with at least 48 issues per year, have a circulation of at least 1 000 copies and sell at least half of its approved circulation within the county in which it is published.

2.a) have a circulation which does not exceed 6000 copies, or

b) be a non-leading newspaper published at least twice a week with a circulation of between 2000 and 80 000 copies. Grants will not be granted for production over and above a circulation of 60 000 copies.

The above conditions must have been fulfilled for at least one calendar year before a grant is granted.

Two or more newspapers sharing over 50 per cent of the editorial material:

1. will be regarded as one newspaper unless they have different editors-in-chief as defined in the provisions in "Redaktørplakaten" and are to some extent independent newspapers. In the event of doubt, the Mass Media Authority will decide.

2. can only receive a grant for all their issues if each of the papers has fulfilled the conditions stated in the first paragraph for at least one calendar year and if both have to some extent been independent newspapers.

Newspapers published twice a week may produce only one issue for some weeks of the year, but the total number of issues per year must be at least 96. When the net circulation of a newspaper is being determined, any collectively paid en bloc subscriptions shall not be included in the first 2000 copies.

If the position of the editor is unclear with respect to subsection 2 of the first paragraph or subsection 1 of the third paragraph of section 3, the Mass Media Authority shall request an assessment from the Association of Norwegian Editors.

Section 4

Organization and operation requirements

According to these regulations, a grant will only be allocated to a newspaper which is organized as a limited company. A newspaper which loses its right to receive a grant under this provision will be excluded from the support scheme without receiving a transitional grant under the provisions of section 8, litra a, b, or c.

A newspaper which a public institution or the authorities are entitled to manage, or have financial responsibility for, or own more than 49 per cent of its shares will not be entitled to a grant.

If the company is engaged in activities in addition to the running of a newspaper which account for more than 1/3 of the company's turnover, these additional activities must be organized in a separate limited company.

A grant will not be allocated should the newspaper’s annual profits, exclusive press subsidies, exceed NOK 2 million for the last year, or NOK 6 million over the last three years.

The newspaper must not have paid out dividends to its shareholders in the year it receives a grant. For newspapers which are part of a group of companies, the group contribution shall be regarded as dividends. A newspaper which is part of a group may pay its share of the parent company's operating costs, with an upper limit of 1 per cent of the newspaper's operating revenues exclusive of press grants. The Mass Media Authority may request further documentation of how the administration fee has been calculated. Newspapers which lose the right to a grant pursuant to this provision will be excluded from the support scheme without receiving a transitional grant under the provisions of section 8 for a period of three years.

Any company which receives a grant and which according to section 1-2 of the Companies Act is part of a group shall on request from the Mass Media Authority provide a specified list of all main transactions with other companies in the group. The business manager, chairman of the board and external auditor of the company receiving a grant shall at the same time issue a statement confirming that no transactions between limited companies receiving a grant and their parent and sister companies have deviated from market terms to the detriment of the company receiving the grant. The same applies if the parent company is not organized as a limited company.

Section 5

Level of circulation

Assessment of whether a grant should be allocated in a particular year under the provisions of section 3 is based on the verified net circulation for the previous year. The level of circulation is determined according to guidelines laid down by the Mass Media Authority.

Section 6

Grant rates

Production grants will be granted according to specified rates. The nominal and relative levels of the rates in accordance with this section will be determined by the Ministry of Cultural Affairs on the basis of the budget allocations in the year in question.

1. For newspapers that are entitled to a grant under subsection 2.b of the second paragraph of section 3, production grants will be granted according to net circulation multiplied by number of issues per calendar year.

Newspapers in Oslo, Bergen, Trondheim and Stavanger which are entitled to grants, except local urban district newspapers, will receive a rate I grant. National quality newspapers in Oslo and Bergen may be allocated an additional grant for the first 20 000 copies of their circulation. The amount earmarked for the additional grant will be determined by the Ministry of Cultural Affairs each year within the limits of the production grant.

Newspapers entitled to a grant which are published elsewhere will receive a rate II grant.

2. Local urban district newspapers and newspapers which are entitled to a grant under subsections 1.b and 2.a of the second paragraph of section 3 will receive a fixed amount if they publish one issue a week. In addition they will receive a fixed grant for every issue in excess of the weekly issue.

3. At places of publication where there is more than one newspaper with a circulation of between 2000 and 6000 and at least two issues per week, these newspapers will receive the maximum grant according to section 6, subsection 2, regardless of their frequency of publication beyond the two issues per week.

4. If the leading newspaper has a circulation of over 6000 and is published at least five times per week, the non-leading newspaper will receive a grant pursuant to the provisions of section 6, subsection 1, but not less than the maximum grant pursuant to section 6, subsection 2.

5. At places of publication where the leading newspaper has a circulation of over 6000 and is published less than five times per week, the non-leading newspaper will receive a grant equivalent to the maximum grant according to section 6, subsection 2.

6. Leading newspapers and sole newspapers in Nordland, Troms and Finnmark which are entitled to a grant under subsections 1.b and 2.a of the second paragraph of section 3 will receive a grant equal to double the rate.

7. For newspapers which receive a production grant for the first time, an extra grant equivalent to the minimum amount according to section 6, subsection 2 will be allocated the first year. This provision does not apply to newspapers which receive a grant according to section 6, subsection 6.

Section 7

Reductionof grant

1. For non-leading newspapers with a circulation of 10 000 or more, the grant will be reduced if the circulation of the newspaper amounts to 45 per cent or more of the circulation of the leading paper. The grant will be reduced by 2.25 per cent for every percentage point the circulation of the newspaper exceeds 45 per cent of the circulation of the leading newspaper.

2.The grant per net circulation copy of the newspaper shall not exceed the average subscription price of the newspaper in the previous year.

Section 8

Transitional arrangements

Newspapers which have received a production grant and which are no longer entitled to receive it will receive a grant in the transitional period. The following guidelines apply:

a) The first year after the changeover, the newspaper will receive a grant equivalent to 2/3 of the grant the newspaper received the last year it was entitled to receive a grant.

b) The second year after the changeover, the newspaper will receive a grant equivalent to 1/2 of the grant the newspaper received the last year it was entitled to receive a grant.

c) The third year after the changeover, the newspaper will receive a grant equivalent to 1/3 of the grant the newspaper received the last year it was entitled to receive a grant.

d) A transitional arrangement applies when changing over to a new system of grants laid down in the regulations of 13 May 1994. Newspapers that have their grants reduced by more than 50 per cent or more than one million kroner as a result of a new system of grants will be compensated for some of the reduction in the course of a period of three years. The first year, the newspaper will receive an extra grant equivalent to 2/3 of the difference between the grant the newspaper would have received under the previous system and its grant under the new system. The following year, the newspaper will be compensated for 1/2 of this difference, and the third year for 1/3. This transitional arrangement may be stopped if in the course of the three year period the newspaper becomes entitled to a higher regular grant than the grant under the transitional arrangement.

Section 9

Administrative procedure

Before the Mass Media Authority can arrive at a decision on the allocation of a grant pursuant to these regulations, a recommendation will be requested from the Advisory Committee for Grants to Daily Newspapers. The Mass Media Authority may grant exemptions from these regulations in special cases.

The administrative procedures of the Mass Media Authority pursuant to these regulations are governed by the Public Administration Act. Individual decisions made by the Mass Media Authority pursuant to these regulations may be appealed to the Ministry of Cultural Affairs.

Section 10

Advisory Committee for Grants to Daily Newspapers

To support the Mass Media Authority in its administrative procedures pursuant to section 9, an Advisory Committee for Grants to Daily Newspapers will be established. The members of the committee will be appointed by the Ministry of Cultural Affairs for four years at a time. In addition to the tasks mentioned in section 9, the Committee shall assist in the assessment of grant applications from daily newspapers and of the information the newspapers submit as the basis for their applications, and give its opinion on matters to which these regulations apply. The Ministry of Cultural Affairs will issue further provisions concerning the activities and composition of the committee.

Section 11

Duty to provide information

Newspapers which apply for a grant have a duty to give officials from the Mass Media Authority, or a state-authorized public accountant appointed by the Ministry, free access to all business documents and any other information which is deemed necessary to the operation and control of the grant scheme and for the production of statistics on the economic development of daily newspapers. Failure to provide such information or providing incorrect information may result in the right to a grant being withdrawn for a specified period. If the funds are not used as prescribed, a demand will be made for the repayment of the grant. The return of unused funds may be required. Pursuant to section 17 of the regulations governing grants laid down by the Storting, the Office of the Auditor General has the right to verify that the grant is being used as prescribed. The Ministry of Cultural Affairs also has this right.

Section 12

Duty of confidentiality

Section 13ff of the Public Administration Act concerning the duty of secrecy applies to the administration of cases in accordance with these regulations by the Mass Media Authority and the Advisory Committee for Grants to Daily Newspapers.

Section 13

Payment of grant

The grant applies for one calendar year (the grant year) and ceases to apply as soon as the newspaper is no longer being published. The grant is calculated on the basis of statistics showing market position, number of issues per year, distribution and average net circulation in the year before the grant year . The grant will normally be paid out quarterly.

Section 14

Further provisions

The Mass Media Authority will lay down guidelines for determination of circulation, payment of grants and which statistics the newspapers are required to submit, on certification and verification of application forms and on accounting.

Section 15

Entry into force

These regulations will enter into force immediately and apply to the processing of applications for production grants as from 1996. The provision in subsection 1 of the first paragraph of section 3, the third and fifth paragraphs of section 4 and the last sentence of section 13 will take effect as of 1 January 1997. Section 8 d will have effect until 31 December 1996.

The regulations concerning production grants for daily newspapers laid down by Royal Decree of 13 May 1994 are repealed.