Anders Langes Avis og avisen ABC. En analyse av ideologi.

Abstract

After the Second World War where Norway was invaded and occupied by Nazi-Germany and placed under direct Nazi-rule, the society and post-war political landscape responded by observing a markedly shift towards the left of the political spectrum. Certain individuals and groups saw this shift as going too far; they nursed a fear that such a radical alteration would pave the way for far too socialist, or even communist, influences in Norwegian politics. They were adamant that this new focus on constructing a new political and civil system based on the newly coined term “the welfare state” was a great mistake. Raising such concerns publicly, and gaining any following for such views, would prove rather challenging for these individuals. In a society which mere years earlier had been occupied by right-wing extremists, they found entry into mass media and the public mind hard to achieve. As they soon were labelled right-wing radicals and even right-wing extremists by the press in general. The solution to this was to publish their own newspapers, newspapers they would be in full editorial control of. This master-thesis will place the two major newspapers which sprang from this post-war right-wing environment under scrutiny. The goal being to ascertain through an empirical analysis whether these publications were in fact as extreme as they were accused of. And to examine their political and ideological stance. The two newspapers this master thesis will discuss are the two most notable right-wing newspapers of their time. “Anders Langes Avis” and the second and independently formed iteration of “ABC”, not to be confused with is pre-war namesake and spiritual predecessor. Two papers which not only gained the largest number of readers and subscriptions, but also was rather heavily debated in the contemporary press and society. This study concludes that ABC observed an ideology belonging to the radical right (høyreradikal), not publishing any opinions or articles that were not at least right-wing conservative. Anders Langes Avis have been determined to have a basis in a far-right ideology (høyreekstrem), printing only opinions ranging from the conservative to the extreme on the right side of the political spectrum.