Asbjørn Engen

Asbjørn Engen (1917/1918 – 17 October 1985) was a Norwegian newspaper editor and organizational leader.

In 1948 he was hired as secretary general in Landsforeningen mot kreft.[1] It was newly founded at the time, and is since a 1998 merger known as the Norwegian Cancer Association.[2] In 1950 Engen moved on to become a journalist in Morgenposten. He became manager in 1951, and editor-in-chief in 1951.[1] He withdrew from this position shortly before the takeover by industrialist Sverre Munck.[3] Between 1967 and the early 1980s he worked as information director in Scandinavian Airlines System in Stockholm. He was a member of the board of directors of the Norwegian Journalist Academy for ten years.[1] He was also a board member of Norske Avisers Landsforening,[4] since a 1992 merger known as the Norwegian Media Businesses' Association,[5]

He was decorated as Knight, First Class of the Order of the White Rose of Finland and the Order of the Dannebrog. He died in October 1985.[1] Long after his death it became known that Libertas, a semi-secret libertarian organization, had owned Morgenposten (as well as Verdens Gang) during his entire period as editor-in-chief. It has been said that Engen, with this backing, "politicized" the formerly "apolitical" newspaper.[6]