"Dagsavisen" was established by Christian Holtermann Knudsen in 1884 under the name "Vort Arbeide" ('Our Work' in archaic Riksmål), and was affiliated with the trade union center "Fagforeningernes Centralkomité". Holtermann Knudsen also had to establish his own printing press since the existing printing presses did not want to be affiliated with a labourer's newspaper. The fledgling project was marred by economic problems, and the burden of writing, editing, and printing lay chiefly on Knudsen. In 1885 the newly founded association "Socialdemokratisk Forening" formally took over the newspaper. The name was changed from "Vort Arbeide" to "Social-Demokraten" ('The Social Democrat') in 1886. The next year, the Norwegian Labour Party was founded, and "Social-Demokraten" became its official party organ. Carl Jeppesen took over as editor-in-chief. In 1894 the newspaper was published on a daily basis, and in 1904 the financial balance was positive.