''Det fri Aktuelt'' was a daily newspaper published in

Copenhagen Copenhagen ( or .; da, København ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a proper population of around 815.000 in the last quarter of 2022; and some 1.370,000 in the urban area; and the wider Copenhagen metropolitan ar ...

Denmark ) , song = ( en, "King Christian stood by the lofty mast") , song_type = National and royal anthem , image_map = EU-Denmark.svg , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Danish Realm, Kingdom of 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 major

social democrat Social democracy is a Political philosophy, political, Social philosophy, social, and economic philosophy within socialism that supports Democracy, political and economic democracy. As a policy regime, it is described by academics as advocati ...

newspaper in Denmark.

History and profile

The newspaper was established under the name of ''Socialisten'' (Danish: ''the Socialist'') by the cofounder of the

Social Democratic party The name Social Democratic Party or Social Democrats has been used by many political parties in various countries around the world. Such parties are most commonly aligned to social democracy as their political ideology. Active parties For ...

Louis Pio Louis Albert François Pio (1841–1894) was one of the principal founders of the organized worker's movement in Denmark, and the principal founder of the Danish Social Democratic Party. Early life Pio was born 14 December 1841 in Roskilde, ...

, in 1871. Its first issue appeared on 22 July that year. 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 independence 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''. ''Aktuelt'' had a Sunday edition which was published in

tabloid format A tabloid is a newspaper with a compact page size smaller than broadsheet. There is no standard size for this newspaper format. Etymology The word ''tabloid'' comes from the name given by the London-based pharmaceutical company Burroughs Wel ...

from 1966. In 1973 the format of the paper was also changed to tabloid. ''Det fri Aktuelt'' ceased publication in April 2001.

Political stance and contributors

Being an official media outlet of the Social Democratic party the paper had a social democrat political leaning. 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 The Second International (1889–1916) was an organisation of socialist and labour parties, formed on 14 July 1889 at two simultaneous Paris meetings in which delegations from twenty countries participated. The Second International continued th ...

and adopted a positive approach towards labor immigration to the country until

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

. It also supported the immigration of the

Russian Russian(s) refers to anything related to Russia, including: *Russians (, ''russkiye''), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *Rossiyane (), Russian language term for all citizens and peo ...

socialist Socialism is a left-wing economic philosophy and movement encompassing a range of economic systems characterized by the dominance of social ownership of the means of production as opposed to private ownership. As a term, it describes the e ...

refugees A refugee, conventionally speaking, is a displaced person who has crossed national borders and who cannot or is unwilling to return home due to well-founded fear of persecution.

and

Jews Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

to the country from 1905 to the end of World War I. The paper suggested in 1975 that

East Germany East Germany, officially the German Democratic Republic (GDR; german: Deutsche Demokratische Republik, , DDR, ), was a country that existed from its creation on 7 October 1949 until its dissolution on 3 October 1990. In these years the state ...

was one of the places for Danish families to visit during the summer holidays. Emil Wiinblad was appointed

editor-in-chief An editor-in-chief (EIC), also known as lead editor or chief editor, is a publication's editorial leader who has final responsibility for its operations and policies. The highest-ranking editor of a publication may also be titled editor, managing ...

of the paper in 1881. At the beginning of the 1930s the editor of the paper was H. P. Sørensen.

Carsten Jensen Carsten Jensen (born 24 July 1952, Marstal, Denmark) is a Danish author and political columnist. He first earned recognition as a literary critic for the Copenhagen daily, ''Politiken.'' His novels, including ''I Have Seen the World Begin'' (1996 ...

was among its contributors. As of 1997 Lisbeth Knudsen was the editor-in-chief.

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 paper sold 41,000 copies in 1963. Its circulation was 39,400 copies during the first half of 1966. The paper sold 53,000 copies in 1973 and 54,600 copies in 1983. The circulation of ''Det fri Aktuelt'' was 47,000 copies in 1991 and 45,000 copies in 1992. The paper sold 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.

Legacy

The photo archive of the paper is kept in

Arbejdermuseet The Workers Museum (Danish: Arbejdermuseet) is a historical museum in central Copenhagen, Denmark. History The museum was opened in 1983. The Workers Museum is located in the Workers' Assembly Hall dating from 1879, the oldest workers' assembly ...

(Danish: the Workers' Museum).

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:fri Aktuelt 1871 establishments in Denmark 2001 disestablishments in Denmark Daily newspapers published in Denmark Danish-language newspapers Defunct newspapers published in Denmark Labour movement in Denmark Newspapers published in Copenhagen Newspapers established in 1871 Publications disestablished in 2001 Socialist newspapers