Vi (magazine)

Vi is a Swedish lifestyle magazine founded in 1913. It is headquartered in Stockholm.

Vi
Vi magazine cover, 12 February 1944
Frequencymonthly
Formatmagazine
PublisherBonnier Publications AB
Paid circulation37,200
First issue1913
CompanyKooperativa Förbundet
CountrySweden
Based inStockholm,
LanguageSwedish
Websitehttps://vi.se/
ISSN0346-4180

History

A cooperative association founded the newspaper Konsumentbladet ('Consumer Magazine') in 1913, which at first was a weekly newspaper of four pages with editorials, articles, cartoons, a short story and reviews about cooperatives and household economics. From January 1914, regular publication started, immediately achieving a circulation of 40,000 copies.

In 1924, the ideological content was reduced and Konsumentbladet was transformed into a family newspaper "for Sweden's household" and its circulation rose to 300,000 copies.

It was retitled Vi (in English; 'We') in 1937,[1] in accord with the adoption of short titles and striking mastheads by the abundance of picture magazines of the era, like LIFE (1936) and LOOK (1937) in the US, Post (1938) and Lilliput (1937) in the UK (1938), and Vu (1928) and Regards (1932) in France,[2] and a corresponding commitment to a house style based on New Typography made by Vi's publisher Kooperativa Förbundet.[3] Rune Hassner writes:

"Only a handful of illustrated periodicals have actually significantly deviated from the standard pattern of the popular press and more consciously sought to use the photographic image reportage to inform about social conditions and political or economic issues that vitally affected the readers' own well-being. At the same time, several of these magazines have become forerunners in terms of tight, efficient image presentation and high image quality. Among them can be mentioned the German-founded Arbeiter Illustrierte-Zeitung (A-I-Z), the Soviet Russian SSSR na Strojke (U S S R in Construction), the French weekly Vu and two of the main exponents of the popular weekly press in Europe in the 1930s, the English Picture Post and Weekly Illustrated, The Survey in the USA and the Swedish weekly Vi."[4]

Ethos

Vi was subtitled "the weekly newspaper owned by its readership".[5] First editor-in-chief Seved Apelqvist in Vi no. 18, 1945, announced the magazine's intentions:

"Vi will amuse and entertain without dumbing down. We want to reflect the reality of the present but not falsify it. […] We want to broaden horizons.”[6]

In the 1980s Vi magazine initiated a tree planting project, the Vi-skogen ('Vi forest'), in the countries around Lake Victoria in Africa. One who inspired the project was Harry Lindquist.[7] The project, using readers' donations, plants trees to prevent desertification. By 2006 over 100 million trees had been planted involving 1.5 million people who at the same time have benefited from better living conditions.[8]

Content

Photography

Known for its photojournalism, Vi published many Swedish photographers, such as Hans Malmberg, Georg Oddner[9] and Tore Johnson[4][10] (members of the agency Tio fotografer) early in their careers. Photographer Anna Riwkin in 1942, and working for Vi, traveled to Lapland for a report on a Sami village.[11] She and the journalist Elly Jannes returned several times, resulting in books about Sami life and the very popular children's book Elle Kari.[12] Having established himself in 1938, until 1946, Karl W. Gullers contributed pictures to Vi, with a cover story 'The Black Metropolis,'[13][4] and also wrote articles himself. In the spring of 1945 he made around 30 photographs in Malmö of the arrival on white buses of former Nazi concentration camp survivors for the magazine. The impact of his photographs influenced the Swedish aid effort.[14]

Stefan Gurt, in his Så dödar vi en människa ('That's how we kill a human being') remembers;

"The Swedish image of China is often strange. The country is so far away and the culture is so foreign that it is easy to use it as a canvas on which to project wishful dreams or fears ... I remember a picture of a group of uniformed twelve-year-olds in Vi magazine, when I was little you got it if you were a member of Konsum. The children lunged with bayonets, their faces contorted with rage. - The caption explained that in China they had to educate children that way because Chinese people lack natural aggression."[15]

Writing

Vi specialised in contemporary social reportage and fiction by authors including Evert Taube,[16] Stig Dagerman, Vilhelm Moberg, Karin Boye, Nils Ferlin, Moa Martinson, Lubbe Nordström and Ivar Lo-Johansson,[10] who in 1949 campaigned for improved living conditions for the elderly,[17] and more recently Karolina Ramqvist and Anna-Karin Palm.[6] Children's literature was included through collaboration with Astrid Lindgren (author of Pippi Longstocking) to publish extracts from her series on mischievous children in an old-fashioned village, Barnen i Bullerbyn ('The children in Bullerbyn'). Lennart Hellsing's stories appeared with illustrations by Stig Lindberg.[18]

The 12 February 1944 cover displayed a portrait of "Ingrid Bergman, intelligent film woman," announcing an article on "women in American and Swedish film," and others titled "Folk movements and art;" "Hofors, lively community in the middle of the forest;" "The truth about Hong Kong;" and invited readers to enter a literary prize competition.

The magazine in 1942, against criticism from Stockholms-Tidningen, conducted the first opinion polls in Sweden.[19]

Postwar

In 1947 Vi achieved its largest circulation; 676,000 copies, corresponding to 40 percent of Sweden's households.[1]

From the 1950s, more space was devoted to photographs and foreign reportage[20] and environmental journalism increased,[1][21] though it did not lose sight of its original identity as a consumer magazine.[22] It was the first in Sweden to present a translation of Rachel Carson's Silent Spring. In 1974, it published Anna-Britt Agnsäter's pioneering food pyramid, which would later be adapted for use internationally.[23]

In 1988, the magazine, loss-making during the economic downturn of the 1970s, was spun off from the Kooperativa Förbundet, and is today viably profitable in the hands of AB Tidningen Vi, owned by the Kooperativa Förbundet. By the 1990s Stefan Andhé, in Läsning för smått desperata ('Reading for the slightly desperate') was describing Vi as "Konsum's provincial old membership magazine that has gone and become a wise but worldly 90s weekly magazine, almost suave."[24]

21st century

In 2005, the magazine switched from fortnightly to monthly publication and a modern glossy format.[25]

In 2006, a series of articles, Vändpunkten (lit. 'Turning point') began, in which famous and ordinary people talked about events that caused their lives to change direction,[26] which in the case of Michael Nuquist, generated an audio book.[27]

In 2008, the sister magazine Vi läser was started.[1][28]

2011, a period renewal under the editorship of Sofia Wadensjö Karén saw the creation of a new position of senior editor was established and was taken up by Stina Jofs, who in 2007 was nominated for the Stora Journalistpriset in the category "Storyteller of the Year".[29]

Prizes and awards

In 1975, Lars Westman for his articles on Swedish trials received the Stora Journalist prize, awarded also in 1977 to Stig Edling and Hans Nestius for their review of the National Board of Health and Welfare. In 2007, the newspaper won the prize for Magazine of the Year in the category popular press under 50,000 copies, which is awarded by the industry organization Publishingpriset.[30] The jury's justification was "A classic that manages to maintain its high quality year after year".[28]

Vi itself has, since 1947, offered the Tidningen Vi:s litteraturpris, a monetary award increased to SEK 50,000 in 2008 (a value in 2022 of US$4,427), and diploma, for Swedish fiction writers. From 1947–1991, the newspaper received scholarship funds from the Kooperativa Förbundet book publishing house and the Boklotteriet (Book Lottery) 1948–1965 which continued as the Litteraturfrämjandet ('Promotion of literature') until 1992 after which the magazine alone has been responsible for the entire scholarship amount.

Editors-in-Chief
  • 1933–1945: Seved Apelqvist
  • 1945–1959: Nils Thedin
  • 1959–1966: Birger Lundberg (redaktör)
  • 1966–1968: Orjan Wallqvist
  • 1968–1970: Bo Präntare
  • 1970–1978: Sten Lundgren
  • 1979–1982: Allan Larsson
  • 1982–1987: Monica Boëthius
  • 1988–1992: Mats Ekdahl
  • 1992–2004: Göran Gynne
  • 2005–2010: Anneli Rogeman
  • 2011–2018: Sofia Wadensjö Karén
  • 2018–2019: Markus Wilhelmson (acting)
  • 2019– Unn Edberg

References
  1. "Tidningen Vi:s historia - Tidningen Vi". 2018-01-01. Archived from the original on 2018-01-01. Retrieved 2022-09-23.
  2. Jobling, Paul (1996). Graphic design : reproduction and representation since 1800. Manchester: Manchester University Press. pp. 156, 171–172. ISBN 9780719044663. OCLC 605959423.
  3. Klevgaard, Trond (2017) New Typography in Scandinavia: Domesticating theory and practice amongst the graphic trades, 1927–43. A thesis submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements of the Royal College of Art for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. The Royal College of Art / Victoria and Albert Museum 22 December 2017
  4. Hassner, Rune (1977). Bilder för miljoner : bildtryck och massframställda bilder från de första blockböckerna, oljetrycken och fotografierna till den moderna pressens nyhetsbilder och fotoreportage (in Swedish). Stockholm: Rabén et Sjögren. pp. 12, 342. ISBN 91-29-49919-4. OCLC 916165659.
  5. "LIBRIS - Vi : veckotidningen som äges av sin läsekrets". Libris (in Swedish and English). Retrieved 2022-09-24.
  6. Press Release (12 March 2013). "Tidningen Vi fyller 100 år (Vi magazine turns 100 years old)". Mynewsdesk (in Swedish). Retrieved 2022-09-23.
  7. "Vårt namn och historia". Läkarmissionen (in Swedish). Retrieved 2022-09-24.
  8. Oz, Amos (2006). Hur man botar en fanatiker och om att skriva. Wahlström & Widstrand. OCLC 1256264115.
  9. Auer, Michèle (1985). Encyclopédie internationale des photographes de 1839 à nos jours = Photographers encyclopaedia international 1839 to the present. Michel Auer. Hermance, Switzerland: Editions Camera obscura. ISBN 2-903671-04-4. OCLC 12635510.
  10. Johnson, Tore (18 May 1951). "Poor Paris". Vi (20): cover.
  11. Rolf, Söderberg; Rittsel, Pär (1983). Den svenska fotografins historia 1840-1940. Stockholm: Bonnier Fakta. p. 296. ISBN 9789134503144. OCLC 1076183133.
  12. Jannes, Elly; Riwkin-Brick, Anna (1951). Elle Kari (1st ed.). Sweden. OCLC 187194166.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  13. Gullers, Karl W. (25 May 1946). "Det svarta Metropolis". Vi (21): cover, 15–18.
  14. "Vita bussarna - Fotografier av KW Gullers". Forum för levande historia. Retrieved 2022-09-24.
  15. Gurt, Stefan (2012). Så dödar vi en människa. Wahlström & Widstrand. ISBN 978-91-46-22152-4. OCLC 856605957.
  16. Karlsson, Petter; Taube, Sven-Bertil; Forsell, Jacob (2007). Ord Och Många Visor (Words And Many Sayings) (in Swedish). Stockholm: Bonnier. p. 247. ISBN 9789100113414. OCLC 493969690.
  17. Wersäll, M. 2006. Fattighusliv i ensamhetsslott. Ivar Lo-Johansson och de äldre i samhällsde- batt och dikt. (Poor People Life in Castles of Loneliness. Ivar Lo-Johansson and the Elderly in Debate and Writings). Written in Swedish with an English summary. Skrifter utgivna av Avdelningen för litteratursociologi vid Litteraturvetenskapliga institutionen i Uppsala. Publications from the Section for Sociology of Literature at the Department of Literature, Uppsala University 50. 257 pp. Uppsala.
  18. Eronn, Gisela (2003). Stig Lindberg : tusenkonstnären (in Swedish) (2nd ed.). Stockholm: Prisma. p. 148. ISBN 9789151844763.
  19. Brischetto, Lucas. (2014) Nyktra fakta: Den moderna medborgaren i tidningen Vi: s opinionsundersökningar 1942. (Bare facts: The modern citizen in the newspaper Vi's opinion polls in 1942). Thesis Department of History of Ideas and Learning Uppsala University Supervisor: Frans Lundgren
  20. Elveson, Gunnar (1979). Bilden av Indien : U-landsreportaget i tidningen Vi och 1960-talets världsbild. Lundequistska bokhandeln [distribution]. ISBN 91-85178-08-X. OCLC 16114458.
  21. Heidenblad, David Larsson (2020-06-04), "The emergence of environmental journalism in 1960s Sweden", Histories of Knowledge in Postwar Scandinavia, London: Routledge, pp. 59–73, doi:10.4324/9781003019275-5, ISBN 978-1-003-01927-5, S2CID 219909699
  22. Martin, Juuso (2014). Annonseringen om djupfrysningen. Produkter, målgrupper och budskap i ICA-tidningens och Vi-tidningens annonser under djupfrysningens tidiga år. Uppsala universitet, Ekonomisk-historiska institutionen. OCLC 1234893011.
  23. "Anna-Britt Agnsäters innovationer: Folkbildaren bakom matpyramiden, Vår kokbok och den smarta måttsatsen". Regionmuseet Skåne (in Swedish). 2022-02-21. Retrieved 2023-03-02.
  24. Andhé, Stefan (1993). Läsning För Smått Desperata (in Swedish). Stockholm: Norstedt. p. 135. ISBN 9789119314529. OCLC 36178392.
  25. "Flamman". flamman.se. Retrieved 2022-09-23.
  26. AB, Storytel (2017-11-06). Michael Nyqvist - När min kropp fick ett hem - Äänikirja - Tidningen Vi, Stina Jofs - Storytel (in Finnish). ISBN 978-91-7801-820-8.
  27. Nyqvist, Michael (2017-11-06). När min kropp fick ett hem - Äänikirja - Tidningen Vi, Stina Jofs (in Finnish) (audio book ed.). Storytel. ISBN 978-91-7801-820-8.
  28. "Om Vi Media AB - Tidningen Vi". 2018-01-03. Archived from the original on 2018-01-03. Retrieved 2022-09-23.
  29. "Tidningen Vi tar nästa steg – nyinrättad senior editor, Åke Persson ny redaktionschef". Mynewsdesk (in Swedish). 28 June 2011. Retrieved 2022-09-24.
  30. "Sweden's magazines. Archived from the original on December 11, 2007". Wayback Machine. 2007-12-11. Archived from the original on 2007-12-11. Retrieved 2022-09-23.
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