As the capital of Norway, Oslo holds the headquarters of most national newspapers in Norway. On the other hand, there have been discussions on the lack of local newspapers covering the communities and day-to-day affairs of the boroughs of Oslo. At various times, there have been efforts to prop up local newspapers. The 1920s saw a wave of establishments which restricted themselves to covering specific outer boroughs of the former Aker municipality. The early 21st century saw several new borough-specific newspapers emerge, alongside some publications seeking to cover the politics of the city as a whole.
Throughout the 1990s and 2000s, the two main competitors were Schibsted, which owned Aftenposten Aften, and a company called Lokalavisene Oslo.[1][2] At the time, Lokalavisene Oslo published the Nordstrands Blad, Østkantavisa, Lokalavisen Groruddalen, Lokalavisen Frogner/St. Hanshaugen, Nordre Aker Budstikke and Ullern Avis Akersposten. The company employed two editors-in-chief who were responsible for three newspapers each.
Both Aftenposten Aften and the mini-conglomerate Lokalavisene Oslo went defunct, the latter after a series of ownership changes.
Odd Einar Dørum, who became a city councilman in 2011 after serving for decades as a national politician, noticed a tangible lack of journalism covering Oslo City Council affairs.[3]