History

Due to Altinget.dk commencing in 2000 (2002 by subscription) the company became one of the first journalistic & purely digital paid newspapers in Europe.  It was not until several years later that the new niche media actually took off and by that time Altinget had already become by far the largest political editorial office in Denmark.

The early years of Altinget.dk were marked by financial hardship. This was mainly due to significant business support of conventional printed media companies during the first 14 years of Altinget existence in Denmark (and to a slightly lesser extent the first 7 years of Altinget in Sweden, where state media support is smaller). Printed news media has been dramatically favoured at the expense of digital innovation, growth & overall sustainability.  Altinget is still exposed to this distortion in Sweden whilst conversely in Norway a fair and equal state support is given after the first two years of most new media startup.

The original Altinget concept for unbiased and neutral journalism has stood the test of time.  The company has been able to grow organically and in 2014 to 2019 Altinget.dk received five consecutive Scandinavian Gazelle Awards for good results and strong growth – something that is very rare among media companies. The company and its founders have won a number of Danish awards for innovation and quality journalism based on a non-profit public service concept to support democracy.

Over time, Alrow Media’s five operating companies gained the financial basis to employ skilled management with the necessary specialties and committed, loyal employees, who have a large part of the credit for our strong position today. Despite its origin and strength in its Danish home market, the company has always had internationalisation in mind, which for example is expressed by a newsroom in Brussels and not least the opening of sister media in Sweden from 2014 and Norway from 2022. The company has both a national and an European vision in the understanding that the conditions of Europeans are determined by both EU and national legislations.

In 2020, the company changed its name from Rasmus Nielsen Holding to “Alrow Media”. Alrow is a contraction of “Al” for Altinget and “row” for the initials in the first name of founder Rasmus Nielsen & his two sons Oskar (born 1993) and William (born 1996). In 2020, Alrow Media published the book “2000-20, the first twenty years”, which describes the company’s history in detail with an emphasis on Altinget.dk. This book written in Danish lists the many employees of the first two decades and can also be found digitally on www.altinget.dk.