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Online media have contributed to transforming media industries as well as media audiences, globally, nationally and locally. This article studies the readers of local and regional newspapers with online and print editions and analyses how the audiences use and assess the two versions as information sources, identity mediators and arenas of the local public sphere. The findings suggest that although the younger generations are moving online, there are social and cultural differences between audience groups that make the transition from print a risky and uncertain strategy for local newspapers. It is generally the same sociodemographic groups that read both editions, except for one critical dimension: attachment to the locality where they lived was shared by those preferring the printed over the online newspaper.

Transferring public service provision to state-owned enterprises (SOEs) raises concerns over accountability deficits. We argue that the governance of SOEs requires reconciliation of the accountability relations found in traditional models of public administration, and the normative structures of control and accountability developed in the world of private enterprises, commonly referred to as corporate governance. To this end, we propose a model for structuring accountability relations between SOEs and governmental owners. The model prescribes a distinction between the roles of elected representatives and top managers as “forums” for accountability concerning the governmental owner’s mission-related and non-mission-related preferences towards the SOE. The model’s relevance is tested empirically using data from a study of SOEs in Norway’s local government sector. The analysis indicates that accountability practices in line with the prescriptions of the model were associated with a heightened sense of control over the SOEs.

Coping with climate change includes the role of learning and knowledge. Taking a process perspective, this article analyses how municipal officers in the Oslo region of Norway are acquiring knowledge and building competence for adapting to climate change. The article illustrates the interaction between elements of experiential learning, transformative learning and social learning as bases for adapting to emerging climate changes; each being necessary and none alone being sufficient. Their importance differs according to how profound the changes in knowledge and competence are. Experiential learning and transformative learning are stronger under single-loop learning whereas social learning might emerge as more important under triple-loop learning. Because of the uncertainties of climate change, the central government might be wise not to issue detailed regulations for adaptation by municipalities. IntroductionThe global warming and climate change message has not led to relevant action in the view of many. 'The science of global warming is clear -why are we not acting as a society to combat the problem? Why are they not listening? Why is no one doing anything?' [1]. A number of studies concern the role of knowledge in climate change adaptation and mitigation as well as trying to answer these questions. These studies examine knowledge and learning as such [2][3][4]; conditions for learning and knowledge [5][6][7]; the transfer of (scientific) knowledge to users [8][9][10][11][12][13]; interaction between knowledge and politics and power [14][15][16][17][18]; and knowledge and learning within the frames of organisational structures [19]; and some studies cover several of these issues [20,21]. Although many of these studies draw attention to other factors than learning and (scientific) knowledge, most recognise the dimension of learning and knowledge. Some might claim, however, that the issue is about securing the interests of some rather than all. Frank comments by the US presidents about the sacredness of the American Way of Life 1 [22] regardless of any future climate changes are instructive in this regard: it is all about ensuring access to consumables. But this requires a certain knowledge basis to be legitimate; through efforts to undermine the scientific and knowledge basis of the climate message [23,24].Although brute force will often trump scientifically based knowledge in the quest for acquiring resources and consumables, knowledge, and some kind of truth, generally is acclaimed by most contestants. The question is probably more about what kind of knowledge we have and how this knowledge is established and challenged. Our aim in this article is to assess the relation of knowledge to climate change adaptation by analysing how knowledge actually is established among the local government officials in municipalities in the capital city region of Norway, Oslo. We apply a process perspective, viewing knowledge not as something static, but as dynamically evolving within certain institutional frames and varying in s...

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The proliferation of digital communication spaces is expected to have the paradoxical effect of both enhancing pluralism as well as causing a fragmentation of the public political debate. The question addressed in this paper concerns the position of one such space of communication in the local public debate - municipal websites. Four Norwegian municipalities are studied, and the role of their websites is assessed by evaluating the visibility and the extent to which the contents of these websites affect the agenda of the local media. The study indicates that even though the municipal websites are not particularly visible to the citizens, they still influence the public political agenda by being a source of information to the press. As the communication taking place on the municipal websites spills over to the media and thereby reaches the majority of the citizens, the websites can not be said to lead to a fragmentation of the public debate. Whether or not the websites contribute to the pluralism of the public debate is however uncertain.

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