The article investigates how the regional newspaper Nordlys facilitates public debate in the Arctic region of Norway. In 2014, Nordlys launched Nordnorsk debatt, a new development of the traditional letters to the editor, offering possibilities for audiences to comment and participate in public debates online. The article is based on a study of 883 opinion pieces posted on this website in 2017 and 2018. We analyse the individuals who access Nordnorsk debatt; we identify role and formal positions of the participants, and what issues they engage in. We also discuss how Nordnorsk debatt might contribute to dialogue and diversity in the regional public debate. We find an increasing engagement over the 2 years and a variety of issues brought into public discussion. Although the debate forum has a broad scope of participants, the analyses suggest that it is primarily a forum for the elites. Despite this, even if grassroots representatives do not dominate the agenda, their opinion pieces are mostly shared and disseminated.

这篇文章调查了区域报纸诺德利斯（Nordlys）如何促进挪威北极地区的公众辩论。2014年，Nordlys推出了Nordnorsk debatt，这是写给编辑的传统信件的新发展，为观众提供了评论和在线参与公共辩论的可能性。本文基于对2017年和2018年在该网站上发布的883个意见书的研究。我们确定参与者的角色和正式职位，以及他们所从事的问题。我们还讨论了诺德斯克的辩论如何在区域公共辩论中促进对话和多样性。在过去的两年中，我们发现参与度越来越高，各种问题也进入了公众讨论。尽管辩论论坛的参与者范围很广，分析表明，这主要是精英人士的论坛。尽管如此，即使基层代表不主导议程，他们的意见大部分还是被分享和传播。