Analysis and Criticism: »Analysis & Criticism«: Keep moving

Many left-wing newspapers and magazines are in acute crisis, but not the newspaper “Analysis & Criticism” (ak). The 700th issue since 1971 will be published on Tuesday. At that time, “ak” stood for “Workers’ Struggle”, the organ of the Communist League, which dissolved in 1991. The newspaper, which was renamed in 1992, has survived permanently since then. Its circulation has increased in recent years, even compared to the 600th edition – but it would have to be even higher in order to ensure structural safety, which is definitely desirable and which is why a corresponding campaign has been running for a few weeks.

With success: While the circulation was 6,500 copies in December 2021, it has now reached more than 7,000. In comparison: in 2003 there were only 2,500. Their last existential crisis was several years ago. In 2016, from the outside, it was not clear whether the newspaper would survive. But it did, thanks to the solidarity of other media and people.

A lot has happened since then, especially: the website has been significantly modernized. The old one is still online, now as an archive. A fundraising campaign set up for this purpose brought in a surprising amount of money, and an online subscription was also introduced. The editorial team has become significantly younger: Jens Renner, who was there for around 30 years, retired in 2020 but remained as an author. The rest of the composition has also changed a lot and has also increased. The connection to the past of the KB and as a “workers’ struggle” no longer plays an important role. If you want to know more about this, take a look at the well-made one available online Short documentary for the 40th birthday an.

The many authors who are not part of the editorial team are paid a (small) fee. The editorial office’s place of work is still Hamburg, where the newspaper is produced once a month for a week, which is regularly reported on in the editorial. All in all, around 14 people work for “ak”, all in half-time positions. Most of them live in Hamburg and Berlin, come from various left-wing backgrounds and cover a wide range of topics.

The profile is more anti-imperialist, clearly anti-fascist, solidarity-critical and critical of the Left Party at a safe distance. Theory and practice are equally important, and the relationship is discussed again and again. In other respects, the newspaper is not (currently) a mouthpiece for a specific inner-left movement. She was involved in the creation of the Interventionist Left, but did not then take part in becoming an organization. It gives a lot of space to international solidarity and global reporting from the world’s trouble spots; since 2022, it has made a particular contribution to a left-wing debate surrounding the war in Ukraine.

Of course, not everything can always be covered to everyone’s satisfaction; gaps are often mentioned in the editorial, or at least touched on in passing in the various small sections. Current and historical topics are dealt with, book reviews appear regularly, and the “paged up” column has a fixed place with four short reviews.

The »ak« is currently published on the third Tuesday of the month. It usually has 36 pages and is divided into three thematic books. In summer there is a break, the previous number is often a little thicker. There is a main topic in each issue – the only part that is also printed in color. The newspaper depends on subscriptions and advertising hardly plays a role, which is why the editorial team occasionally calls for donations.

The appearance hasn’t changed since the last major relaunch in 2011 – and it doesn’t have to, it’s great the way it is. The major changes at that time were the result of a longer, intensive collective process. The layout designer Andreas Homann, who was specially hired for this purpose, was responsible for the implementation, which was carried out in close consultation with the editorial team. This process can also be read in the editions Nr. 677 (December 2021) and Nr. 566 (November 2011). In the latter there is a self-definition of the editorial team: »›ak‹ should be a non-sectarian newspaper that feels connected to the (left-wing) social movements. It is not simply a newspaper from the movement, but also one about the movements. As a result, the “Movement” section received its own book. The new website mentioned above was also the result of a comprehensive collective process. The current newspaper is clearly structured and well designed.

The editorial team tries hard not to sound too academic in language and to write without mystery. When you as an author have to deal with the editorial team, the collaboration is a lot of fun and solidarity-friendly. The spectrum of people who write here is wide: it ranges from seasoned journalists to academics to activists and political groups. There are also translations from other languages, especially English. Debates are regularly published in special editions. The majority of readers come from Berlin, Hamburg, Leipzig and Frankfurt. Since 2003, the proportion of cities in eastern Germany has grown.

It is to be hoped that »ak« will remain in the left-wing newspaper world in German-speaking countries for a long time to come. She is an enormous asset.

The author has been writing for “ak” since 2012, primarily reviews