De Volkskrant

Infobox Newspaper
name = de Volkskrant


type = Daily newspaper
format = 57 cm x 41.5 cm
foundation = 2 October 1919
owners = PCM Uitgevers
price = EUR 1.20 Monday-Friday
& EUR 2.40 Saturday
headquarters = Amsterdam, The Netherlands
editor = Pieter Broertjes
website = [http://www.volkskrant.nl/ www.volkskrant.nl]

"De Volkskrant" (literally "the people's paper") is a national daily Dutch morning newspaper.

History

"de Volkskrant" was founded in 1919 and is a daily morning newspaper since 1921. Originally "de Volkskrant" was a Roman Catholic newspaper, closely linked to the Catholic People's Party and the catholic pillar. On its re-founding in 1945 its office moved from Den Bosch to Amsterdam. [Sommer, Martin "Zelfbewust op zoek" in de Volkskrant 23 August 2006] It became a left-wing newspaper in the 1960s. Its former clear left wing stance has been watered down since 1980. [Sommer, Martin "Zelfbewust op zoek" in de Volkskrant 23 August 2006
"Hoogtepunt en tevens laatste oprisping van het linkse levensgevoel was de beruchte Koninginnedagkrant van 1 mei 1980. [..] De rellen kwamen er en de Volkskrant solidariseerde zich met het oproer. [..] Zo bleef de Volkskrant de progressiviteit trouw, zij het langzamerhand steeds meer in homeopathische verdunning." ] On August 23, 2006 the "Volkskrant" published its 25,000th edition.

Circulation

The daily circulation is 326,000 copies in 2002, which makes it the third biggest newspaper of the Netherlands, after the "De Telegraaf" and "Algemeen Dagblad". The total Dutch newspaper circulation in 2002 was 1.9 million.

Ownership

"De Volkskrant" is part of PCM Uitgevers N.V., a publishing company which is also the owner of "NRC Handelsblad", "Algemeen Dagblad", and "Trouw". Until January 1 2003 the newspaper "Het Parool" was part of PCM Uitgevers too.

Free newspaper

In October 2006, Volkskrant announced that it would start publishing a free version of its paper targeting youths. [ [http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2006/10/02/europe/EU_GEN_Netherlands_Newspapers.php Dutch newspaper De Volkskrant to launch free version for younger readers] ] Its competitors would be "Metro" and "Sp!ts", two other free dailies. However PCM gave no permission for this so the plan had to be retracted. Instead PCM intended to come with a free newspaper together with investor Marcel Boekhoorn. [ Trouw "PCM en Boekhoorn samen in gratis krant" 19 October 2006 [http://www.trouw.nl/hetnieuws/nederland/article515988.ece/PCM_en_Boekhoorn_samen_in_gratis_krant]
"In plaats van ieder voor zich willen uitgever PCM en investeerder Marcel Boekhoorn nu samen één gratis krant maken. [..]
Tot teleurstelling van Volkskrant-hoofdredacteur Pieter Broertjes, die wilde dat de gratis PCM-krant door de Volkskrant zou worden gemaakt. [..] Maar daar gaat nu een streep door. „Onze topman heeft ons steeds voorgehouden dat wij een gratis krant gingen maken”, aldus Broertjes [..] „En nu is de koers ineens verlegd.” Broertjes vindt het jammer dat PCM „het risico niet aandurft om een gratis krant te maken.”] PCM later withdrew from the project and Boekhoorn started the free daily "De Pers" on his own resources.

Other

*As of 2007 it is published on broadsheet size.
*Pieter Broertjes is executive editor.

References

External links

* [http://www.volkskrant.nl "de Volkskrant"] website