Bien is the only weekly Danish-language newspaper published in the United States. Bien is one of two Danish-language newspapers published in the United States. The other is a biweekly, Den Danske Pioneer, a unit of Bertelsen Publishing Co., based in Hoffman Estates, Illinois.
Bien, which is Danish for “the bee”, was founded in 1882 by a Norwegian clergyman. It was originally published in San Francisco. In 1975, it was bought by Poul Andersen, a printer for the Los Angeles Times, who relocated Bien to Burbank, California, so he could edit the newspaper after completing his shift at the Times. To commemorate the newspaper’s 100th anniversary, Andersen was knighted into the Order of the Dannebrog by Queen Margrethe II of Denmark in 1982 for his work to unite the Danish American community.
Bien is considered the last newspaper in California to be printed using Linotype, according to the California Newspaper Publishers Association. When Andersen, who had been a Linotype operator at the Los Angeles Times, sold Bien in 2001, the newspaper switched from Linotype to computer typesetting. It is published in Burbank, California and has a circulation of approximately 3,000. Jytte Madsen currently serves as publisher and editor-in-chief of Bien.