Status: October 18, 2021 1:14 p.m.
For months, an investigative team of journalists researched allegations against “Bild” editor-in-chief Reichelt. But the publication of her contribution was stopped at short notice. That causes harsh criticism in the media industry.
Extensive research into the allegations against “Bild” editor-in-chief Julian Reichelt has not been published as planned. The team from “Ippen Investigativ”, which belongs to the Ippen publishing group, had researched the topic for months. The allegations against Reichelt are generally not new, in March he was temporarily released due to compliance proceedings.
Reichelt returned to his post in May. According to Springer, the core of the investigation was the allegations of abuse of power in connection with consensual relationships with female employees and drug use in the workplace. “Contrary to what is rumored in some media, there were no allegations and no evidence of sexual harassment or coercion during the investigation either,” said the company.
The “Ippen Investigativ” team stayed on the matter and, according to various media reports, researched new details on the allegations. The specialist magazine “Übermedien” reports that the research is supposed to show behavior that makes the company’s decision to make Reichelt editor-in-chief again seem incomprehensible and scandalous.
After about half a year it was so far that the story could be published. The company Axel Springer and Julian Reichelt themselves – as it corresponds to the journalistic duty of care – were confronted with the allegations.
But the report did not appear. In the background, representatives of Axel Springer are said to have made contact with high-ranking Ippen publishers and tried to influence them to prevent publication, reports “Übermedien”. Axel Springer informed the magazine on request: “With the knowledge of Axel Springer, there was no attempt to prevent publications in connection with the compliance investigation. This does not affect legal notices that serve to protect the legitimate interests of the company and its employees.”
Protest letter
The Ippen Investigativ team wrote a letter of protest against the decision not to publish the report. The majority shareholder Dirk Ippen has clearly spoken out against publication. This violated the journalistic and editorial independence of the research team, which contradicted the principle of separating the editorial team and the publisher from one another.
The German Association of Journalists (DJV) warned that if the allegations were true, this would destroy trust in the independence of the media in Germany. Many journalists also sharply criticized the decision.
Alleged comparison of the GDR
In the USA, however, appeared a critical media report with some more details on the matter. In addition, the “New York Times” quotes – without citing the source – from an alleged e-mail from Springer’s CEO Matthias Döpfner, in which he is said to have written that the allegations against Reichelt must be treated very carefully. Because Reichelt is “really the last and only journalist in Germany who is still boldly rebelling against the new GDR authority state.” It has not yet been clear whether this quote is authentic.
Mr. Döpfner wrote that “we have to be especially careful” in the investigation, because Mr. Reichelt “is really the last and only journalist in Germany who is still courageously rebelling against the new GDR authoritarian state,” …
A spokesman for Ippen-Verlag emphasized to the “New York Times” that the publisher wanted to avoid the appearance of combining a journalistic publication with the economic interest of harming the competitor. Therefore the research did not appear.
The publishing house includes newspapers such as the “Frankfurter Rundschau” and the “Münchner Merkur” as well as the “Westfälische Anzeiger”. The “Ippen Investigativ” team was previously part of Buzzfeed News Germany. The last cooperated ARD magazine contrasts when researching family reunification with “Ippen Investigativ”.
Springer wants to expand its reach in the USA
Springer-Verlag bought the US news company Politico and the technology portal “Protocol” in the summer. Springer expects a significant increase in range.
Because of this expansion in the US media market, interest in the company has continued to grow in the United States – and the corporate culture is being watched particularly critically.