NRK receives dozens of complaints after FpU whistleblowing case featured on Debatten

NRK has received 66 complaints after its debate program Debatten discussed a whistleblowing case in the Progress Party Youth organization, known as FpU.

The complaints partly concerned the 18-year-old whistleblower, Ingeborg, who had little media experience. They also focused on the fact that the case had been closed as a personnel matter within the youth organization, according to Kampanje.

The program examined messages that former FpU leader Lars Barstad Løvold, 25, sent to a girl in FpU during the summer. The complaint alleged that Løvold subjected the girl, who was 17 at the time, to unwanted sexual attention and gave her alcohol. It described the conduct as an abuse of power.

Løvold resigned amid the controversy. During the broadcast, he acknowledged poor leadership but maintained that he intended the messages as compliments and an effort to be social and inclusive.

Sofie Gran Aspunvik, NRK News’ editor for debate and explanatory programming, said the broadcaster had expected a reaction. She defended the decision to have both people appear on the same broadcast, saying, "It is an important principle in press ethics that people who face serious accusations should have an opportunity to respond. Therefore, we believed it was right that both appeared in the same Debatten program."

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It is an important principle in press ethics that people who face serious accusations should have an opportunity to respond. Therefore, we believed it was right that both appeared in the same Debatten program.