Jyllands-Posten

Morgenavisen Jyllands-Posten was established in 1871, and it is founded on a liberal, centre-right view. The newspaper is not affiliated to any political party and is free and independent of all financial and political interests. In order to emphasise its full editorial independence, the editor-in-chief is appointed by the Jyllands-Posten Foundation, which is headed by a self-elective board with the obligation to ensure the newspaper’s editorial independence.

Market position
Morgenavisen Jyllands-Posten is Denmark’s largest daily and has a position as Denmark’s international newspaper. Morgenavisen Jyllands-Posten is behind EPN.DK which is Denmark’s largest business site. In addition, Jyllands-Posten operates fpn.dk (consumer site), spn.dk (sports site), kpn.dk (culture site), viden.jp.dk (science and knowledge) and the JPtv web TV site. The newspaper further operates JP Radio – an all-day business radio channel with interviews, news and market commentary as well as the most important news on politics, sport and culture.

Jyllands-Posten’s target group is defined as the modern individual segment.

Number of employees
As of December 31, 2008, the number of full-time employees at Morgenavisen Jyllands-Posten was calculated at 500, including 160 journalists. Freelance journalists, stringers and the suchlike are not included in the above figure.

Revenue structure
As with other morning newspapers, Morgenavisen Jyllands-Posten is a typical subscription paper. The vast majority – about 90% - of the newspaper’s circulation is sold to subscribers. The rest is by direct sale to non-subscribers. Some 40% of the paper’s revenue is from the sale of advertisements. Advertising revenue contributes to ensure a high editorial level and keep down the sales price of the newspaper.

Management
Editorial management is under Jørn Mikkelsen (editor-in-chief) and Henrik Thomsen while commercial management is under Claus Hovge Andersen.

Ownership structure
Morgenavisen Jyllands-Posten is published by JP/Politikens Hus which also publishes Politiken and Ekstra Bladet. JP/Politikens Hus is the result of a merger of Jyllands-Posten and Politikens Hus at the turn of 2002/2003. An essential precondition for the merger was that the three newspapers were to maintain their unconditional editorial independence and character.

Social commitment
Morgenavisen Jyllands-Posten is not only business – the newspapers considers itself an important tool in the democratic process. Jyllands-Posten’s ambition is to be the common frame of reference that television used to be, and the paper’s journalism is one that is critical, fair and fearless. No external individuals may decide what can lawfully be written in the newspaper’s columns, but anyone can seek to air their disagreement on the opinion pages.

Jyllands-Posten is extensively involved in educational and information activities. The newspaper is one of the major producers of digitalised educational material in Denmark. Jyllands-Posten’s Mediarium in Århus enables students to work as a journalist for one day. Mediarium opened in 1996 and was a gift from the Jyllands-Posten Foundation on the occasion of the paper’s 125th anniversary. A corresponding Mediarium has been opened in Copenhagen in connection with the newspaper’s office. The purpose is to let the students experience some of the dilemmas and challenges that are an inevitable part of the journalist’s job, with a view to increasing the understanding of the significance for society of a free and independent press. Jyllands-Posten has also established viden.jp.dk, which is a free and interactive educational universe. Finally, the purpose of Jyllands-Posten’s Galathea-ekspedition was to strengthen interest in science subjects in schools.

Awards
Each year, Morgenavisen Jyllands-Posten awards several prizes:

LAUST JENSEN-PRISEN. Journalistic honorary award founded in 1994 which is presented on Laust Jensen’s birthday on August 28. The prize is awarded to Danish journalists who, through idea development and persistence, have made a special effort for the press and the medium they serve. The prize is a travel grant of up to DKK 50,000.

JYLLANDS-POSTENS YTRINGSFRIHEDSPRIS (Freedom of speech award) Founded in 2006 and presented on Jyllands-Posten’s anniversary on October 2 whenever there is an obvious subject. Winners have used their freedom of speech to challenge opinions and attitudes, and have had to pay a personal price in defence of free speech.

ÅRETS SPORTSNAVN (Athlete of the year). Founded 1991 and presented once a year in cooperation with the National Olympic Committee and the Sports Confederation of Denmark (DIF). Both teams and individuals can be nominated. The prize includes DKK 50,000.

AURORAPRISEN. Advertising award founded in 1971 in connection with Jyllands-Posten’s centenary. The award is a token of excellence presented to advertisers and advertising agencies. Winners have used the interaction between communication environments and the technical possibilities of daily newspapers to create particularly creative newspaper advertisements. The winner is awarded Henning Koppel’s fire-gilt Aurora sculpture – the symbol of dawn in Roman mythology.