Memory eternal: TMP CEO, Rev. Dr. Arne H. Fjeldstad has died

Tributes from across the globe have been pouring in to The Media Project (TMP) since we shared the news of the sudden passing of TMP founder and CEO Dr. Arne H. Fjeldstad on Sunday, November 23, 2014. 

Dr. Fjeldstad is pictured here (at left) at the conclusion of a regional journalism conference in Zambia in November, 2014. These smaller, international, face-to-face conferences were the heart and soul of Arne's work. 

The board, staff and friends of TMP have been touched and encouraged to receive these many and varied expressions of sympathy and notes about how Arne's work impacted others. 

We have assembled a small sample of those kindnesses below, and we invite readers and friends to post their own personal remembrances on our Facebook page.

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By Terry Mattingly
Editor, GetReligion

There is really no way to tell the story of GetReligion.org without talking about the veteran journalist and pastor who for years led The Media Project – the Rev. Dr. Arne Fjeldstad of Norway.

It is very unusual to find a Lutheran clergyman who also had a 30-year career as an editor in the mainstream press, including senior positions in the leading Norwegian daily newspaper Aftenposten. For his doctoral dissertation, quite early in the Internet age, he wrote about the potential growth of online churches.

Although his byline rarely appeared here at GetReligion, that was because he felt his management skills were best used behind the scenes. Trust me when I say that his gifts were many and they have been essential.