"As soon as the sword was sheathed, the book was opened again"

This paper deals with the question, whether reading could be forgotten by skilled readers deprived from reading during a long period. Forty questionnaires and interviews of Israeli Holocaust survivors - who actually were cut off from all reading activities during their imprison - were analyzed and summarized. A number of interesting facts came up: There was hardly any desire or possibility to read in KZ-Camps, nevertheless a strong strive for a high cultural level was felt in order to keep the minds sane, such as 'reading as if' in many variations: Reading by heart, citing poems, discussing philosophic questions, imagining recipes, etc. were reported as a means to conserve the taste of reading. But, reading Camp-orders or an occasional piece of paper was not considered reading (only books or newspapers), while writing even a tiny single note was considered writing. The first reading-experience after liberation was "strange," but only in a few cases was real difficulty encountered in going back to reading, in no case was reading forgotten. General sadness was expressed about the lost years of reading. After release: free newspaper reading was not only expressed as "back to literature," but served as a means to the acquisition of the new language (Hebrew). Only very few cases indicated reading encouragement or ambitious book-education of the second generation.

The ripple effects of a partisan, free newspaper: Israel Hayom as disruptive media actor

During its 10 years of existence, the free newspaper Israel Hayom (Israel today) has come to play a pivotal role in Israeli national politics and to serve as what we define as a disruptive media actor among other, commercial, daily newspapers in Israel. The seemingly innocuous daily newspaper, founded in 2007 and distributed widely, has, since 2011, become the most widely read newspaper in Israel. We suggest that Israel Hayom be viewed as a “disruptive” actor in the areas of politics and the media in Israel. Adapted from Christensen’s (1997) concept of disruptive technology or innovation, we define as disruptive a media actor that significantly impacts the field of politics and media economy, essentially forcing a change, or changes, in the “rules of the game”. While this model is currently unique to Israel, it is likely that under similar conditions further cases shall present themselves in the future.

Journalists like the rest of them? A case study of journalistic work routines at a Danish free newspaper

Academics have paid little attention to the practice of journalism at free newspapers since the free daily press emerged in 1995. A few studies have looked at the contents of free newspapers but not at the way journalism is practiced at free newspapers and whether these practices are different from journalistic work routines in the paid press. This article addresses that gap with a case study of the Danish free newspaper Metroxpress. After identifying the economic, political and digital forces shaping the contents at Metroxpress, the article maps the newspaper’s news net, analyse efforts put into newsgathering and compare them to the newsgathering efforts of other Danish newsbrands. Findings indicate that while the news net is smaller than those of other Danish newspapers, journalists at Metroxpress have similar work routines to other journalists, and their work is routinely recognised by peers in the form of quotations and nominations for professional awards.

The life cycle of a free newspaper business model in newspaper-rich markets

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