Newspaper Publishers Association
Funke media group criticizes publisher president Döpfner
Mathias Döpfner has been President of the Federal Association of Digital Publishers and Newspaper Publishers (BDZV) since 2016. Photo: Kay Nietfeld/dpa
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Axel Springer boss Döpfner, who has come under criticism, has also been President of the Federal Association of Digital Publishers and Newspaper Publishers since 2016, which Funke Medienhaus believes “something needs to change”.
The Funke media group has reiterated its criticism of the president of the newspaper publishers’ association and Axel Springer boss Mathias Döpfner. The media company also publicly brought a withdrawal from the association into play.
In a statement by the media group based in Essen, which was available to the German Press Agency and which was first reported by the “Süddeutsche Zeitung”, it said that a change in personnel was expected at the head of the Federal Association of Digital Publishers and Newspaper Publishers (BDZV). “The values that characterize every publishing house committed to journalism are currently no longer sufficiently represented.”
In addition, there are concerns that the credibility of the entire industry is at risk. “With our considerations of leaving the association, we want to send a clear signal that something has to change,” it said.
The Funke media group, which has numerous regional newspapers in several federal states in its portfolio, specifically addressed a delegates’ meeting of the association in mid-February. There she was accused of improperly mixing up association interests and events in a member house with her criticism. “We consider the separation of the presidency and the person called for here to be untenable.”
Funke also referred to a discussion paper on the future of the association that the house had published before the meeting. «In our discussion paper we presented constructive suggestions for the further development of the association; we will now do everything in our power to ensure that they are realised. The discussion about this should be conducted openly and without bans on thinking, especially with regard to the future constellation at the top.”
Criticism of Döpfner
The extraordinary assembly of delegates was announced in November after a meeting of the executive committee. At that time, a controversial private short message from Döpfner, which had become public knowledge through an article in the New York Times, had already been discussed. Media houses had previously criticized the BDZV President for his choice of words in the message – to the point of calling for his resignation.
In the earlier message to the writer Benjamin von Stuckrad-Barre, Döpfner described the former “Bild” editor-in-chief Julian Reichelt, who was released from his duties in October, as the last and only journalist in Germany who was still courageous against the “new GDR authoritarian state”. revolt. Almost everyone else had become “propaganda assistants”. Springer classified the short message as ironic.
The delegates’ meeting had been eagerly awaited because recent allegations against Springer boss Döpfner had previously appeared in a newspaper report in the British daily newspaper “Financial Times”. In the spring of 2021, there were internal investigations against Reichelt for allegations of abuse of power in connection with consensual relationships with employees. The group initially gave Reichelt a second chance, but then drew a line in October.
The daily newspaper wrote that the top management of the group was already aware of serious allegations against Reichelt before the internal investigation. In addition, Döpfner and top executives are said to have worked to protect Reichelt during and after the investigation was completed. Springer responded that the article paints a misleading picture of the compliance investigation, the consequences drawn from it, the entire company and its management.
According to BDZV information, the delegates’ meeting was not about Döpfner’s personnel with a view to the allegations. In its discussion paper, the Funke media group had previously advocated a reform process in order to become more effective as an association. It said, for example: “At the end of the reform process, there should be a fresh start in terms of personnel in the voluntary structure. It is important to consider whether the current presidential structure is up-to-date or whether alternative configurations are more likely to achieve the goal.” At the meeting, it was agreed that a project group would work out proposals for modernizing the structure of the association over the next few months.
A few days after the meeting, it was announced that the CEO of the Madsack Media Group, Thomas Düffert, would step down as Vice-President of the BDZV with immediate effect. However, he remains a member of the Executive Committee. In a letter, Düffert emphasized: “It is clear that we as an industry only have the best chance of making ourselves heard if we work together in a spirit of trust for the benefit of all small and large newspaper publishers in Germany.”
Döpfner has been President since 2016, and in 2020 he was elected for a second term of office and thus another four years.