Arbeidet ("The Work") was a Norwegian newspaper, published inBergen inHordaland county.
Arbeidet was started in Bergen as a socialist newspaper on 6 December 1893,[1] by a grouping calledDe samvirkende Fag- og Arbeiderforeninger.[2] It was the first socialist daily newspaper in Norway. The first editor was Johan Frogner;[1] Henrik Martin Olofsson edited the newspaper around 1899,[3] and noted editorIvar Angell-Olsen assumed office in 1904.[1] A former editor ofNy Tid, he introduced a degree ofsensationalism in the newspaper and increased its circulation.[2] In 1905, the newspaper got a formal tie to theNorwegian Labour Party in Bergen.[1] Angell-Olsen remained editor until January 1914, when he left with immediate effect. The reason was "an internal party affair" in which Angell-Olsen did not want to "go into detail".[4]
Arbeidet was edited byOlav Scheflo from 1914 to 1918,[5] andSverre Krogh from 1918.[6] Other noted staff includeAndreas Paulson, critic from 1895 to 1929,[7]Otto Luihn, journalist from 1919 to 1923,[8] andAlfred Madsen, subeditor from 1919 to 1920.[9]
In 1923, the communists in the Labour Party broke away to form theCommunist Party, andArbeidet followed the new party. It became a regional newspaper coveringRogaland as well.[1]
Fridthjof Bergmann was hired as editor in 1925, but was soon fired as he was suspected for working with a union with the Labour Party.[10]Reinert Torgeirson was editor from 1925 to 1929,[11] andJens Galåen was editor from 1929.[2] Arvid G. Hansen was hired as editor in 1936.[12] In 1938Johanna Bugge Olsen took over. However, financially the newspaper did not fare well, partly because the Communist Party prioritized to prop upArbeideren, andArbeidet was not released between 14 December 1938 and 30 March 1939. On 9 August 1940 (still with Olsen as editor) it stopped entirely because of theoccupation of Norway by Nazi Germany. Olsen was later sentenced for treason during thelegal purge in Norway after World War II, for having printed "un-national material" prior to its closing.[1]
Arbeidet resumed publication from 9 May 1945, one day after the war's end, but became defunct after its last issue on 16 November 1949.[1]