Loyal or obedient? About freedom of expression at work

November 12 2013

Volda University College’s Faculty of Media and Journalism and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a full-day seminar on 15 November 2013 at Fritt Ord’s premises at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo

The background for the seminar is the increasingly widespread discussion about the relationship between freedom of expression and loyalty at work. Discussing the issue will be a professor of Law from the US, along with Norwegian academics, trade union representatives and the new the secretary-general of the Association of Norwegian Editors.

The event is free of charge and open to the public.

Programme

10.00 a.m.: Professor Cynthia Estlund, New York University: Free speech rights that work at work

11.00 a.m.: Attorney Jon Wessel-Aas: Loyalty v. freedom of expression in the workplace in Norway

11.45 a.m.: Researcher Bitten Nordrik: When obedience becomes a skill. About freedom of expression and neo-liberal management methods

1.00 p.m.: Secretary General Arne Jensen, The Association of Norwegian Editors: Silent servants meet mudslingers

1.30 p.m.: Stories from real life
Hans Fjære Øvrum, Management/Statoil: Union representatives who scored 2 in ‘courage’
Boye Ullman, Norwegian United Federation of Trade Unions/Coop Gardermoen: The Spanish plumbers who were fired after a TV2 report
Jens Jahren, the Military Officers’ Association: Freedom of expression in the Armed Forces
Gro E. Paulsen, chair of the Norwegian Association of Graduate Teachers: Extolling virtues, reputation building and freedom of expression. Some examples from the education sector.

3.00 p.m.: President Anders Folkestad, Unio

News

The freelance study is completed in 2025

October 15 2025

The share of freelancers in the media has been increasing for years in many countries, but until recently, there has been little research-based knowledge about the scope of freelance work and the working conditions of journalists, photographers, and critics without permanent employment in the media.

The Genocide in Gaza and Big Tech

October 14 2025

Sunday, 19 October 2025 at 3.30 PM at Cinemateket, Oslo
Fritt Ord, Masahat and Oslo Dokumentarkino invite you to a lecture and conversation with Nadim Nashif about Big Tech’s complisity in the genocide in Gaza.

New Oxford fellow – How Journalists Interview “Monsters and Victims”

October 14 2025

VG journalist Håkon F. Høydal has been awarded Fritt Ord’s journalism fellowship at the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism at Oxford in the spring of 2026.
His project explores what journalists can learn from new trauma research when interviewing both “monsters and victims” in crime and abuse cases.

What's happening in Georgia?

September 22 2025

Monday 29 September 2025 at 6.30–8 pm at Vega Scene, Oslo

“While art is often relegated to the bottom of financial priorities, it paradoxically becomes the first target of dictators.”

Fritt Ord invites you to a presentation of a hyper-relevant, upcoming documentary film “Untitled” from Georgia and a conversation with two film directors about the political developments in the country in collaboration with Oslo Dokumentarkino, Stray Dogs Norway, Viken Filmsenter and the Norwegian Film Federation. Journalist Ingerid Salvesen is the moderator. For the safety of the filmmakers, we will not mention their names in advance.