In an absent judgment from the Conciliation Council in Oslo dated 23 November 2022, Teigen is ordered to repay NOK 28,345 to Tor Bernhard Slaathaug, head of the foundation Justice, formerly Justice for the losers. The loan from Slaathaug to Teigen was NOK 27,000, the judgment states. In addition, there is a court fee. Teigen has written a total of 9 articles as a journalist in Nettavisen in which Slaathaug has contributed, according to the media database Retriever. “In some situations where the economy has been under great pressure, I have asked people for loans, and I am ashamed of this. But I want to emphasize that it has never been mixed up with a job or role,” writes Teigen in an email to news. news has also confirmed that in at least one other case Teigen has borrowed money from a person he has used as a source in an article in Nettavisen, and in at least one case asked a source he has interviewed in Nettavisen to borrow money. At the end of January, it became known that Teigen and Nettavisen are going their separate ways, and Teigen is no longer working at the newspaper. Borrowed in the days surrounding the article In the settlement complaint, Slaathaug writes in the Rettferd foundation that on 23 May last year he lent Teigen NOK 3,000 through a Vipps payment. The following day, 24 May, Slaathaug sent another NOK 2,500 via Vipps. On 26 May, Nettavisen publishes the article “Slår alarm om two years processing time for abused children”, which is an interview with Slaathaug written by Espen Teigen. The next day, on May 27, Slaathaug tips another NOK 1,500 to Teigen, before finally lending Teigen NOK 20,000 on June 20 last year. Slaathaug tells news that it all started with a question about borrowing a few thousand kroner for a short period, because Teigen was in a pinch. – Yes, two or three thousand. Then he received a lump sum of a larger sum, because he talked about financial challenges and had a concrete solution to these. Where I set a clear payment deadline, and got an understanding that it was OK, says Slaathaug. Not linked to editorial coverage Slaathaug says he had a professional relationship with Teigen, and knew him primarily through journalistic contact. He says the loan to Teigen was in no way connected to a desire for editorial coverage. WENT TO THE COURT: Tor Bernhard Slaathaug in the foundation Justice went to the Conciliation Council with the claim against Teigen after lending him NOK 27,000. Photo: Foreningen Rettferd – I do not have the opinion that I have needed to pay Espen Teigen, no, says Slaathaug to news. Most of the articles Teigen has written about Slaathaug in Nettavisen are from 2019. Slaathaug emphasizes that the first inquiry from Teigen about borrowing money came in May 2022. – If I had been interested in buying in with a Nettavisen journalist, I would hardly have left the guy to the Conciliation Council later with something that would become a public judgement, says Slaathaug. – The article on 26 May happens after you have lent him money. Is Teigen then independent? – It is an assessment that he, as a journalist, must make in the first instance. The case you refer to is a case that I initially contacted Nettavisen about a month earlier. Requests for loans will not come until later in May. I do not see the actual sale to the case about the processing time in the State’s Civil Rights Administration in context. ELECTION WATCH: Espen Teigen has been associated with Nettavisen and Fremskrittspartiet for several periods. Here from the FRP’s election vigil in 2021. Photo: Eskil Wie Furunes / news Espen Teigen writes to news that he has “of course never, under any circumstances” taken payment for editorial coverage. He confirms that he has borrowed money from Slaathaug, but writes that the case in question had been written before the money was paid out. “Naturally, I don’t write about things that come from people I’ve borrowed money from. It would be messy and break with all journalistic integrity. When I look over the log, which you have also been given access to, it appears as if the loan was granted while I wrote a case he commented on. That’s not true – the case was written before, but I understand very well that this appears untidy, and I would like to sincerely apologize for that. Regardless of whether the truth is crystal clear, journalists should not do things that call their integrity into question, so I would like to apologize for that. I really hope no one thinks I’ve been acting like that,” writes Teigen in an email. Nettavisen editor: – Goes through all articles Nettavisen’s editor-in-chief Gunnar Stavrum says they have been aware that Teigen has borrowed money from the general secretary of the Rettferd foundation for “a few days”. Nettavisen editor Gunnar Stavrum says the newspaper itself has found another example where Teigen owes money to a person he has interviewed. Photo: Mariam Butt / NTB – We have also found another example of a situation where the journalist owes a debt to a person he has since interviewed, but here there is no coincidence in time, writes Stavrum in an email. Stavrum calls the cases a clear breach of the press’s Vær Varsom poster and Nettavisen’s ethical guidelines. – Ties are destructive to credibility, and such a case is of course not lucky for Nettavisen. We will work thoroughly to get all the facts on the table and be open about what we find. – Over time, the hope is that it will contribute to us regaining lost credibility on this case, which therefore concerns a former employee, writes Stavrum. The editor-in-chief says that Teigen’s entire production in Nettavisen is now being reviewed. – We leave the cases publicly available temporarily so that the public can see which cases are involved, but clearly marked about bonds and possible disqualification. Since the cases have serious deficiencies in impartiality, we will delete them from publication after a few days so that they are not publicly available. – It’s about getting up again Teigen writes that he has been through a difficult period, but has now received external help to clean up his personal finances. “I’m also going to get healthy and fast and drive again. We can all fall. But it’s about getting back up. I do that now,” writes Teigen. Slaathaug says he still hasn’t received his money, and that the case is now with the Norwegian Public Prosecutor’s Office in Oslo. – I register that he has said that he wants to settle the tax case, and then I hope he wants to settle in relation to the undersigned. I think it is fair and reasonable, says Slaathaug to news.
ttn-69
Nettavisen journalist borrowed money from sources – news Norway – Overview of news from different parts of the country
