Status: 04/16/2023 01:25 a.m
There was great outrage over statements by Springer boss Döpfner that had become public, including about East Germans. Now he asked for an apology in the “Bild” newspaper – and commented on the origin of the quotes.
The CEO of the media group Axel Springer, Mathias Döpfner, has apologized for statements in internal news that had become public knowledge through a report in the weekly newspaper “Die Zeit”. “I apologize for the fact that I have offended, unsettled or hurt many with my words,” he wrote in an article “on my own behalf”, which the “Bild” newspaper published on its website in the evening.
“‘Actually, an apology is due, boss!’ That’s what Marion Horn wrote in ‘Bild’ on Saturday. That’s right,” Döpfner continued, responding to a corresponding request from “Bild” editor-in-chief Marion Horn. The “Bild” newspaper belongs to the media house Axel Springer.
Report on statements in internal messages
“Die Zeit” reported on Thursday about messages that are said to have been sent internally at Axel Springer. The newspaper referred to documents that are said to have come from previous years. These are e-mails and chat messages from the media group’s closest management circle, many are from Döpfner himself, according to the newspaper.
The quotes that “Die Zeit” lists, including the spelling mistakes they contain, are, for example, derogatory remarks about East Germany. According to the newspaper report, Döpfner is said to have written in 2019: “The ossis will never become democrats. Perhaps the former GDR should be turned into an agricultural and production zone with a standard wage.”
Other quotes are about sympathy for Donald Trump’s policies. And apparently Döpfner also criticized ex-Chancellor Angela Merkel. “Zeit” used a quote in which “M” is mentioned. “It is a nail in the coffin of democracy.” In another message he is said to have written verbatim: “free west, fuck the intolerant muslims and all that other sex”. The newspaper also writes that the head of the publishing house acted in a partisan way. He is said to have wished for pro-FDP reporting in the “Bild” before the last federal election.
“Led me to polemical exaggeration”
Döpfner confirmed this indirectly in his post, which was headlined “True!” bears that certain formulations actually came from him. He wrote: “‘The Ossis are either communists or fascists.’ That’s hurtful. And taken literally, of course, nonsense. ‘The’ Ossis don’t exist. And of course they’re not either right-wing or left-wing radicals.” Döpfner goes on to explain: “The anger that so many people in Thuringia and elsewhere are voting for either the left or the AfD led me to polemical exaggeration.”
Döpfner, who is not only CEO but also holds a large part of the media company shares, also wrote: “I don’t know how you are – I don’t always manage to write private messages in the right tone. When I’m angry or “I’m very happy, my cell phone becomes a lightning rod. I then sometimes send people I trust very much words that are said or typed ‘in the wrong’. Because I assume that the recipient knows what it means. And because I can’t imagine or want anyone to pass those words on to anyone else.” But this has now happened. Many lessons can be drawn from this. He did. “One of them remains the idea of ’freedom of thought’,” says Döpfner.
Quotations had triggered sharp criticism
The “Zeit” report on Döpfner’s internal messages had triggered sharp criticism. “The derogatory statements made by Mr. Döpfner cannot be justified,” explained Brandenburg’s Prime Minister Dietmar Woidke. There was also clear criticism from Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania’s Prime Minister Manuela Schwesig. “To underestimate the achievements of the people in the east is a sign of great disrespect,” she said. The Thuringian Prime Minister Bodo Ramelow accused Döpfner of never having achieved German unity intellectually – each of his lines lived the spirit of division.