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Norway doubles journos' foreign travel fund

Ann Törnkvist
Ann Törnkvist - [email protected]
Norway doubles journos' foreign travel fund
Norwegian International Aid Minister Heikki Eidsvoll Holmås. File photo: Heiko Junge/Scanpix

Citing concerns that Norway's foreign correspondents are becoming a rare breed, a government minister plans to double grant money available for journalists who want to report abroad.

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"The number of Norwegian correspondents abroad have declined in recent years," International Aid Minister Heikki Eidsvoll Holmås said in a statement on Wednesday, as he announced a review of the three-decade old travel grant that have been tied to the international aid minister's trips overseas.

"In a world that is increasingly more globalized, it is worrying that Norwegian media pay less attention to international reporting."

In addition to boosting funding for foreign reporting trips, Holmås called for the removal of ministerial control over the selection of recipients.

He added hat he would like to see more reporting from emerging economies, singling out several key markets on the African continent. 

"It is important that more journalists get the opportunity to travel and meet people who are battling poverty, war and conflict, humanitarian catastrophes," Holmås added. 

The grant money will add up to 500,000 kroner in next year's budget, the minister said. There was no mention of whether the move had the backing of the political opposition, as several opinion polls point to a power shift after September's elections. 

READ ALSO: Norwegian Prime Minister's nephew predicts election loss 

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