indicated that he was in danger of losing his seat. Klassekampen had always been supporting RV at elections, but now party members felt the help to be somewhat lacking. A few days before the elections the conflict around the newspaper became public as other media claimed that AKP would fire Bjerke. AKP denied that this was the plan. On election day, 15 September, Klassekampen's front page had a picture of Kristin Halvorsen of SV, and Folkvord lost his seat with a margin of 600 votes. The next day AKP formally declared non-confidence to Bjerke. Most of the editorial staff gathered around their editor, started a byline strike and published comments confronting the papers main owner. Michelet takes over AKP now offered the position as editor to Jon Michelet, novelist, RV politician and former journalist. He was asked not to take the job by a large majority of the staff. Furthermore, campaigns were organized to hit the paper's economy by not renewing subscriptions or withholding promised financial contributions. When Bjerke received a formal letter about the boards decision of firing him, the local union of journalists declared that it collectively took over the leadership. As a compromise the board now decided to open for alternative candidates. Meanwhile journalist Carsten Thomassen was appointed temporary editor. By the end of the month, four additional candidates had signed up, with Kjell Gjerseth being the favorite of the staff. He and MIchelet got the same number of votes in the board, leaving the decision to the board leader who voted in favor of Michelet. The public debate during and after this was hard. Both sides had its supporters. Bjerke went to court to keep the job, but settled with one year paid leave before quitting, while the board admitted that their reasons were not necessarily objectively justified. With most of the editorial staff as well as several external contributors leaving, Michelet's most acute task was to fill the columns of the paper on a daily basis. This turned out to be easier than feared, and soon the offices were filled with a new generation of journalists. Still, it was necessary to improve the paper's economy. In 1998, AKP launched a campaign to sell new shares. If successful, this would give Klassekampen 5.5 million NOK while simultaneously reducing the party's ownership to just below 50 percent. The result was 5.9 million. At the same time, circulation