Verdens Gang (lit. "The passage of the world", in the sense "The tide of the world" or "The course of the world"), generally known under the abbreviation VG, is a Norwegian tabloid newspaper owned by Schibsted. In 2013, circulation numbers stood at 164,430, having declined from a peak circulation of 390,510 in 2002.

History and profile

VG was established by members of the resistance movement shortly after the country was liberated from German occupation in 1945. The first issue of the paper was published on 23 June 1945.Christian A. R. Christensen was the first editor-in-chief of VG from its start in 1945 to 1967 when he died.

VG is based in Oslo. The paper is published in tabloid format. The owner is the media conglomerate Schibsted, which also owns Norway’s largest newspaper, Aftenposten, as well as newspapers in Sweden and Estonia and shares in some of Norway’s larger regional newspapers. Schibsted took over the paper following the death of Christensen in 1967. Just before the change in the ownership VG was mostly sold in the Oslo area and had a circulation of 34,000 copies.

Verdens Gang is a former Norwegian newspaper, issued in Oslo from 1868 to 1923.

It was established as a weekly magazine in 1868, later expanded to three issues a week, and was issued daily from 1885. It was the most widespread political newspaper in Norway for many years, and had considerable influence. The founder and first editor-in-chief was Peder Olsen, who edited the newspaper until his death in 1876. Later Prime Minister Johan Sverdrup was editor from 1876 to 1878, and Ola Thommessen from 1878 to 1910.Øvre Richter Frich held the position from 1910 to 1911, and Axel Otto Normann from 1915 to 1922.

The newspaper was particularly important during the editorship of Ola Thommessen. In addition to turning it into a daily newspaper, he consolidated its ties with the Liberal Party (founded 1884), giving Verdens Gang a strong position in the political scene. Internationally known writers like Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson and Georg Brandes contributed to the newspaper. When Thommessen left in 1910, Verdens Gang declined rapidly, as he brought much of the staff with him, immediately forming a competitor Tidens Tegn. The background was a conflict between Thommessen and Olaf Madsen, an important shareholder and member of the board of directors. Madsen's primary goal was economic profit, and according to Thommessen, Madsen meddled in the affairs of the newspaper, inflicting upon the editorial independence.