Type Daily newspaper Founder(s) Louis Pio Political alignment Social democrat | Format Tabloid Founded 1871 Language Danish | |
Det fri Aktuelt was a Danish language daily newspaper published in Copenhagen, Denmark, between 1871 and 2001. It was the first socialist and the earliest newspaper published by a labor union in the world. In addition, it was the last leading social democrat newspaper in Denmark.
Contents
History and profile
The newspaper was established under the name of Socialisten (meaning the Socialist in English) by the cofounder of the Social Democratic party, Louis Pio, in 1871. The paper was the organ of the Social Democratic party. Its headquarters was in Copenhagen. In the mid-1970s the owner of the paper was A/S FagbevægeIsens Presse, a limited liability company. Then It became owned by the trade union movement until 1987 when it declared its independency and freedom. The paper was published by the Labour Movement Press during its final years.
The paper was published under different names. The original name, Socialisten, was changed into Socialdemokraten in 1874. It was used until 1959 when it began to be published under the name of Aktuelt. In 1987 the paper was renamed as Det fri Aktuelt.
Being an official media outlet of the Social Democratic party the paper had a social democrat political leaning. In 1881 Emil Wiinblad was appointed editor-in-chief of the paper. At the end of the 1880s it discouraged the immigration of Swede workers to Denmark. However, its attitude towards them totally changed in the 1890s and it supported the right of poor Swede workers to obtain Danish citizenship. The paper followed the decisions taken in the Second International and adopted a positive approach towards labor immigration to the country until World War I. It also supported the immigration of the Russian socialist refugees and Jews to the country from 1905 to the end of World War I.
The Sunday edition of Aktuelt began to be published in tabloid format in 1966. In 1973 the format of the paper was also changed to tabloid. Carsten Jensen was among the contributors. As of 1997 Lisbeth Knudsen was the editor-in-chief.
Det fri Aktuelt ceased publication in April 2001.
The photo archive of the paper is kept in Arbejdermuseet (meaning the Workers' Museum in English).
Circulation
In 1901 the circulation of the paper was 42,000 copies. From 1911 to the 1950s the paper had a fixed circulation of 55,000 copies. During the last six months of 1957 its circulation was 39,445 copies on weekdays. The circulation of the paper was 41,000 copies in 1963. During the first half of 1966 the paper sold 39,400 copies. Its circulation was 53,000 copies in 1973 and 54,600 copies in 1983.
The circulation of Det fri Aktuelt was 47,000 copies in 1991, 45,000 copies in 1992, and 41,300 copies in 1993. Its circulation was 40,000 copies in 1994, 39,000 copies in 1995 and 37,000 copies in 1996. It further fell to 36,000 copies in 1997, to 30,000 copies in 1998 and to 28,000 copies in 1999. Its circulation was 26,000 copies both in the first quarter of 2000 and in 2000 as a whole, making it one of the top 20 newspapers in the country.