Fritt Ord (organization)

The Fritt Ord Foundation

Fritt Ord logo, new
Company type	Foundation
Industry	Media
Founded	1974
Headquarters	Oslo, Norway
Key people	Knut Olav Åmås (Executive Director) Grete Brochmann (Chair)
Revenue	NOK 307 million (2004)
Net income	NOK 236 million (2004)
Number of employees	11 (2024)
Website	frittord.no

Fritt Ord is a Norwegian private foundation, whose aim is to support freedom of expression and a free press. It was established on 7 June 1974 by Narvesen Kioskkompani's leaders Jens Henrik Nordlie and Finn Skedsmo as well as the lawyer Jens Christian Hauge.

Fritt Ord has significant funds and is playing a part in supporting various projects in Norway, such as investing in the newspaper Morgenbladet, supporting an encyclopedia (Store Norske Leksikon) and holding a 10.1% ownership in the media group A-Pressen. In addition it awards scholarships to students within media and journalism, awards the Fritt Ord Prize, and supports writing competitions. It has also provided funding for controversial projects, e.g. an upcoming book written by the blogger Fjordman,^[1] who calls for the deportation of all Muslims from Europe.^[2]

The organization awards three annual prizes to support freedom of speech;^[3][4] the Fritt Ord Award (Norwegian: Fritt Ords pris), the Fritt Ord Honorary Award (Norwegian: Fritt Ords honnør) and the Press Prizes for Russia and Eastern Europe (Norwegian: Pressepriser for Russland og Øst-Europa). Those prizes not to be confused with "Ytringsfrihetsprisen", the annual Freedom of Expression Prize awarded mostly to international writers by the Norwegian Authors' Union.