Media – Berlin – newspaper publishers discuss the future of the association – economy
Berlin (dpa) – Newspaper publishers discuss the future of their association BDZV at a delegates’ meeting. The online meeting on Monday comes at a time when the association president and head of the media group Axel Springer (“Bild”, “Welt”), Mathias Döpfner, has made new allegations about the case through a report in the current daily newspaper “Financial Times”. of the former “Bild” editor-in-chief Julian Reichelt.
When asked by the dpa, the Federal Association of Digital Publishers and Newspaper Publishers (BDZV) said on the agenda: “The agenda includes central media policy issues from the perspective of the newly formed government and modernization issues for an even more powerful organization of the BDZV.”
The association had announced the assembly of delegates after a meeting of the executive committee in November. The heated meeting was also about a controversial statement made by Döpfner. Weeks earlier, the US newspaper “New York Times” had quoted an older private short message from the 59-year-old to the writer Benjamin von Stuckrad-Barre. Döpfner had written about “Bild” editor-in-chief Reichelt: “He’s really the last and only journalist in Germany” who is still “brave” against the “new GDR authoritarian state”. “Almost everyone else has become propaganda assistants.” This had triggered criticism in the media industry, which went as far as calling for Döpfner’s resignation as association president. Springer had arranged the short message as irony.
The media group in Berlin had relieved Reichelt of his duties at the head of Germany’s largest tabloid in mid-October after the press research of the “New York Times” and that of an investigative team of the media group became known. There had already been internal investigations against Reichelt in spring 2021 due to allegations of abuse of power in connection with consensual relationships with employees.
The “Financial Times” raised new allegations a few days ago. Accordingly, Springer should have been aware of serious allegations against Reichelt before the investigation. The company is said to have known more than it presented to the outside world. In addition, Döpfner and top executives are said to have worked to protect Reichelt during the investigation and after it was completed. There is also talk of a list of unwelcome names. Springer reacted briefly on Tuesday. A company spokesman said: “The article paints a misleading picture of the compliance investigation, the consequences drawn from it, the entire company and its management.”
For the BDZV delegates’ meeting, the Funke media group, the numerous regional newspapers such as “Berliner Morgenpost” and “Hamburger Abendblatt” in the portfolio hat, had brought in ideas for a reform process in advance in order to become more effective as an association. The paper, which is available to the dpa, says, among other things: “At the end of the reform process, there should be a new start in terms of personnel in the honorary structure. It should be considered whether the current presidential structure is up-to-date or whether alternative configurations are more likely to achieve the goal.” After the “Financial Times” report, Funke was again critical of Döpfner to “Spiegel”.
© dpa-infocom, dpa:220213-99-111447/3