AFTENPOSTEN

(Norwegian: Evening Post), morning and evening daily newspaper published in Oslo. It is one of the leading newspapers in Norway and in all Scandinavia. It was established in 1860 by Christian Schibsted, and it played a significant role in developing a sense of Norwegian nationhood. Noted from its founding for the strength of its coverage of local and, increasingly, national news, Aftenposten has generally taken an editorial stance that is moderately conservative. It was an early voice warning Norwegians of the dangers of Adolf Hitler's Germany. When the Nazis invaded Norway in 1940, the paper's elevator operator, who had been a member of the fifth column of the traitorous Major Vidkun Quisling, took over Aftenposten from its editor, and, for the remainder of World War II, the paper was a Nazi propaganda organ. During the Nazi occupation, more than 60 editors of Norwegian newspapers were executed and 3,000 sent to concentration camps. In the postwar era, Aftenposten won wide note for the strength of its coverage of international news while retaining its outstanding strength in local and national affairs.