Many years ago, Dirk Ippen once revealed his trade secret. “Noise is not good for business success,” he told the SZ at the time in one of his rare interviews, and added: “It is also not a mistake to be underestimated.” This is what the now 81-year-old newspaper publisher, who lives near Munich, still thinks. He rarely shows himself in public; in secret he has built up one of the largest media companies in Germany over the past few decades, including the Frankfurter Rundschau, the Munich Mercury and the Munich tabloid tz, but also many mostly regional titles. In addition, there are more than 20 advertising newspaper publishers with almost a hundred advertising newspapers with a weekly circulation of more than five million copies, as well as radio stations such as Radio Arabella and Charivari. So Ippen is a thoroughly successful, but also a largely unknown publisher.
But now the quiet and always reserved media man is suddenly in the glaring light of the public, which should certainly not suit him at all. In the scandal surrounding the one replaced this Monday image– Editor-in-chief Julian Reichelt, Ippen plays a central role. Because it was the “Ippen Investigativ” research team that had compiled many exclusive details on the Reichelt cause and the alleged abuse of power in the Axel Springer media group in the past few months. But Ippen himself stopped the publication last Sunday. But at the same time also the New York Times reported, Springer boss Mathias Döpfner drew the consequences on Monday evening, Reichelt has to go.
So it could have been a real scoop for the Ippen group, the story should be published in the various papers of the group. That the publisher rigorously stopped this earned him bitter criticism from his own journalists. The four colleagues from Ippen Investigativ were “shocked by this decision” and complained to Ippen and the management with a letter, which was then published. The German Association of Journalists (DJV) also spoke of a “landlord-style intervention”. “As a matter of principle, publishers have to keep their hands off editorial decisions,” said DJV federal chairman Frank Überall. The editorial department’s internal freedom of the press is decisive.
Ippen finally justified the controversial decision. After all, the media group is in direct competition image. Apparently, the Munich tabloid is meant, among other things tz. It was not an easy or quick decision, it was made after intensive discussions. And there was no influence whatsoever on the part of the Springer company in this matter, “absolutely none,” emphasized the publisher.
Nevertheless, Ippen’s veto caused considerable damage – for journalism as a whole, but also for his media group and for Ippen’s efforts to build a journalistic profile. The research team Ippen Investigativ with four well-known journalists originally operated under the name Buzzfeed Germany. When the American parent company wanted to get rid of the Germany activities, Ippen got involved last year. The unit is organizationally independent and is intended to deliver exclusive content for all platforms. Ippen Digital operates an editorial network with around 80 portals in Germany and, according to the plan, also wants to distinguish itself through exclusive content. The investigative team is doing “a great job,” said Ippen, and the work should be continued.
Some referred to him as the “king of the cheese leaves”
The cooperation between Dirk Ippen and the editorial offices was never completely smooth, here the lawyer who had his business interests in mind, there the editorial offices who insist on independence. Ippen was born in 1940 in Rüdersdorf near Berlin, he grew up in East Frisia, among other places, and then graduated from high school in Essen. He was actually interested in history, but he studied law and joined the company as a junior partner after the death of his father in 1968 Westphalian gazette in Hamm. He then very determinedly built up a media group, always buying newspapers in need of renovation. “I couldn’t pay others,” said Ippen once.
In 1982 he came to Munich from Hamm and became interested in the Munich Mercury and the tz. It all started with this acquisition, and further acquisitions followed. Some later referred to Ippen as the “king of the cheese leaves” because it was often local and provincial newspapers that he bought. But the publisher didn’t care, he always had economic success in mind. In many distribution areas, the Ippen titles are well positioned on the market, which makes business easier.
Ippen, who writes a column entitled “How I see it”, is always humble and polite, his hobbies are simply hiking and reading. But now there is a lot of ado about him. Of the mirrors published parts of the withheld research on Monday evening.