Åse Linda Tynning. Photo: family archive.
The TV journalist
Åse Linda Tynning
b. 1970
Åse Linda was born in 1970 at Søndre Valler as the first child of Åsmund Lasse Tynning and Bjørg Tynning, née Andersen, and grew up on the farm in the years when her uncle Torstein sat in Parliament. She was on stage early: in 1984 she took part in Varden and the record label Busk's talent competition, and the song «A-ooa-a-ooa», which she sang with Merethe Kristensen and Gro Anita Kuhne, was released on the compilation album «Varden/Busk-talentene 1984» and is still on Spotify. The following year she performed at Barnas Dag in Porsgrunn, and in 1990 she appeared in the graduation revue «Rousserende artianere».
Her breakthrough came in the autumn of 1993, when NRK picked her as one of three presenters for the youth programme «U», broadcast live from a converted rolling mill in Nydalen, in competition with a great many applicants. «When I saw all the other people I never thought I stood a chance in the world,» she told Arbeiderbladet the day before the premiere. VG introduced her as «New face: Presenter Åse Linda Tynning (23)».
After television journalism at Volda University College, TV 2's summer programme «Ultraviolet» (1995–96) and six months in Dagsrevyen, she joined TV 2 in 1997 and stayed for 22 years: news reporter, presenter of «God morgen Norge» (2001–03), editor of «Lørdagsmagasinet», reporter with responsibility for health and psychology, director of «TV 2 Sporty», editor of «God sommer Norge» and of TV 2's coverage of the Femundløpet, and project manager for the 2019 local elections. For several years she worked in the same newsroom as her cousin Signe Tynning; in 2011 they produced a week of «God morgen Norge» from Rauland. Since 2019 she has been reportage editor for «God morgen Norge» at the production company Mastiff TV.
Åse Linda has spent most of her career at TV 2. Today she and her daughters live in Asker, where she serves on the board of Asker Turnforening, the club where Fredrikke (b. 2000) and Marie (b. 2003) have excelled in rhythmic gymnastics, in Norway and the Nordic countries.
Childhood and family
Åse Linda grew up at Søndre Valler in Eidanger as the eldest child in a family where politics, farming and public engagement were a natural part of everyday life. Her grandfather Lasse had bought the farm in 1928, and her father Åsmund carried the tradition forward both as a farmer and a local politician. Her childhood was shaped by life on the farm, by school and friends in the local community, and by a family that always had something going on.
She attended Eidanger school and was early interested in music, theatre and what was happening in the world around her. Her performances in 1984 and 1985 were no coincidence: Åse Linda liked being in front of an audience, and she had a natural presence that made both local newspapers and the record label notice her. At the same time, Valler was a safe base — a place to set out from, and a place to return to.
Her relationship with her brother Øystein, born two years later, was marked by sibling chemistry on a farm with plenty of room and many possibilities. Together they experienced a childhood where Søndre Valler was more than an address: it was the very frame around the first generation of Tynnings who would find their own paths out into the world.
Key dates
- Born 1970, Søndre Valler
- Parents: Åsmund Lasse Tynning (b. 1942) and Bjørg Tynning, née Andersen (b. 1945)
- Brother: Øystein (b. 1972)
- Children: Fredrikke (b. 2000) and Marie (b. 2003) Tynning-Bergestuen
- Residence: Asker
- Education: political science, UiO (1990–91); television journalism, Volda University College (1995–97); theatre studies, UiO (1998); innovation management, BI (2017–18)
- NRK: presenter «U» (1993–94); Dagsrevyen (1997)
- TV 2 (1995–96 and 1997–2019): «Ultraviolet», TV 2 News, «God morgen Norge», «Lørdagsmagasinet», «TV 2 Sporty», «God sommer Norge», Femundløpet, 2019 local elections
- Mastiff TV: reportage editor «God morgen Norge» (from 2019)
- Positions: TV 2 journalists' union club (1999–2006), employee representative TV 2 (2014–18), chair Risenga lower-secondary parents' association (2016–18), board member Asker Turnforening (from 2021)
- Branch: Åsmund's branch
Family relationships
- Daughter of Åsmund Lasse Tynning and Bjørg Tynning, née Andersen
- Sister of Øystein Lasse Tynning (b. 1972)
- Mother of Fredrikke Tynning-Bergestuen (b. 2000) and Marie Tynning-Bergestuen (b. 2003)