Sirp (newspaper)
Sirp ( Estonian for sickle ) is the only Estonian cultural newspaper . It is politically independent. The editorial office is located in Tallinn .
General characterization
Sirp was founded in 1940 as Sirp ja Vasar (" sickle and hammer ") and was the official Soviet cultural organ of the Estonian Soviet Socialist Republic during the communist rule in Estonia . Nevertheless it fulfilled an important function as an organ of criticism, and it gave many people active in the cultural field wages and bread. During and after the Singing Revolution , the newspaper changed its name several times (see below) without, however, losing its significance for cultural life.
Today Sirp is published by the Kulturzeitung Foundation ( Sihtasutus Kultuurileht ). Sirp appears every Friday with a print run of 4,900 copies. It reaches around 14,000 readers. The newspaper is printed exclusively in black and white . The main topics are theater, cinema, music, art, literature and society.
The newspaper's editor-in-chief is currently Ott Karulin .
List of all editors-in-chief
- 1940–1941 Anton Vaarandi
- 1941, 1944-1946 Debora Vaarandi
- 1946–1947 Oskar Urgart
- 1947–1948 Arnold Tulik
- 1948–1950 Oskar Urgart
- 1950–1953 Lembit Remmelgas
- 1953–1961 Ants Saar
- 1961–1964 Olaf Utt
- 1964–1966 Harald Suislepp
- 1966-1969 Kalju Uibo
- 1969–1976 Erni Lõbu
- 1976–1978 Eduard Tinn
- 1978–1980 Vello Pohla
- 1980-1983 Leo Laks
- 1983–1990 Ilmar Rattus
- 1990-1994 Toomas Kall
- 1994–1997 Tiina Tammer
- 1997-2005 Mihkel Mutt
- 2005-2013 Kaarel Tarand
- Ott Karulin since 2014
History of the name
When the overly socialist name was no longer appealing, it was changed in July 1989 to Reede ('Friday', after the day of its publication). Popularly, however, the newspaper was still called Sirp , as was the case during the socialist period. Since the new name did not catch on, the newspaper was called Sirp again from January 4, 1991 . Under the new editor-in-chief Tiina Tammer, the name was changed to Kultuurileht ('Kulturblatt') on February 11, 1994 , but this name did not catch on either, so that on April 4, 1997 the newspaper was again called Sirp .
Scandal 2013
In autumn 2013 there was a turbulent change in the editorial team, with a number of employees being laid off. Kaur Kender was appointed as the new editor without any prior announcement. The case made waves in Estonian cultural circles, and a month later even the then Minister of Culture, Rein Lang , resigned. After Kaur Kender's resignation, a regular election with several candidates was carried out, from which Ott Karulin emerged as the winner.
Web links
- Website (Estonian)
Remarks
- ↑ http://www.eall.ee/eall_liikmed.html
- ↑ Archived copy ( memento of the original from September 23, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
