Berlin Mathias Döpfner, boss and major shareholder of the Axel Springer media company, found particularly praiseworthy words for the Corona reporting of his flagship “Bild”. Editor-in-chief Julian Reichelt was “really the last and only journalist in Germany who is still brave in rebelling against the new GDR authority state,” he said in a personal letter. Reichelt naturally had “powerful enemies”.
The “New York Times” made this eulogy public on Sunday. Above all, however, the world newspaper from Manhattan spread serious allegations against Reichelt and indirectly against Springer: It was about abuse of power and sexism at the top of Europe’s still largest tabloid and its affiliated channels. Doubts arose as to whether it was justified that Reichelt had survived an internal compliance procedure in the spring, albeit slightly truncated in power.
A few hours later, the text (“Allegations of sex, lies and a secret payment”) had radically changed reality. Axel Springer SE threw out the “Bild” -Hauer, so honored and supported by Döpfner, “with immediate effect”.
As a result of press research, the company has gained new knowledge about Reichelt’s current behavior in the last few days, according to the press release. When making its own inquiries, the Springer board learned that Julian Reichelt “did not clearly separate private and professional matters and told the board the untruth about it” even after completing the compliance procedure.
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The three-person editor-in-chief will now be headed by Johannes Boie, 37, most recently editor-in-chief of “Welt am Sonntag”. The former Döpfner assistant had worked as a reporter and editor for the “Süddeutsche Zeitung” before his Springer entrance in 2017. With him, Springer has “a first-class successor”, says Döpfner: “He has proven that he combines journalistic excellence with modern leadership behavior.”
From editor-in-chief of “Welt am Sonntag” to the new chairman of “Bild” editor-in-chief.
(Photo: dpa)
With the emergency brake in terms of personnel policy, Springer prevents major adversity in the USA, the new target country for its own entrepreneurial expansion. Döpfner had his last deals – motto: Manhattan Transfer – landed overseas. For example, “Business Insider” – now only “Insider” – was added to the company’s organizational chart for $ 442 million.
The shadows of US expansion
And for an estimated billion dollars, the Germans bought the prestigious Politico portal. Springer, which sees itself entirely as a “digital publisher”, had already held a 50 percent stake in its European business. Döpfner has largely separated from newspaper and magazine activities and relies on online marketplaces (“Classified”) such as “Stepstone” or “Immonet”. The American private equity firm KKR supports the course as a 45 percent shareholder.
The new “Politico” owner in the Reichelt case could not afford any major damage to its reputation. Suddenly you were in the same position in Berlin as the Bertelsmann media group 20 years ago: After buying the renowned US book publisher Random House, the Güterslohern had fallen on their feet with their own cheating about an allegedly unsullied Nazi past. In truth, the German war machine had cooperated very well for a while.
The “New York Times” extensively spread cases from the internal Springer proceedings against Reichelt. Five years ago he stuck to an intimate relationship with a trainee despite the fact that another woman accused him of sexual harassment – and gave the lover a demanding job that she didn’t feel up to. “That’s always how it works with ‘Bild'”, she told the internal investigators at Springer, “those who sleep with the boss get a better job.”
Despite such statements, Reichelt was reinstated as editor-in-chief after a short break – now with Alexandra Würzbach at his side, who was responsible for personnel. Reichelt said he reproached himself for hurting people for whom he was responsible. His employer stated that the “mistakes” made would be made good by the strategic and structural changes that had taken place and the accused’s journalistic achievements.
“Work culture that mixes sex, journalism and publishing money”
Reichelt, a former war reporter, continued his aggressive confrontational journalism. Donald Trump found Donald Trump so good that a Washington “Bild” correspondent complained according to the “New York Times”. Reliable enemy images were ARD and ZDF, China under Xi Jinping, Putin and his friend Gerhard Schröder and everyone who criticizes Israel.
From documents he found the image of a work culture that mixed sex, journalism and publishing money, wrote the “New York Times” journalist. When the woman who sponsored Reichelt complained that her expenses were exceeding her fee, the “Bild” boss gave her 5,000 euros – and told her never to talk about it. These are all statements from the Springer process that are ultimately not finally confirmed. Now they are the background for the separation from Reichelt.
The stopped research of an investigative team of the media group of the publisher Dirk Ippen, 81, caused a media-political excitement. The journalists, once part of the German subsidiary of Buzzfeed News, later acquired by Ippen, protested publicly that their revelations about Reichelt’s “picture” practices were earlier Sunday after months of research were not allowed to appear.
“We are shocked by this decision”, wrote the journalists concerned, this meant a “breakdown in the cooperation between the investigative team and the publisher”. “As a media group that is in direct competition with ‘Bild’, we have to be very careful not to give the impression that we should harm a competitor economically,” the company continues. It includes, for example, “Münchner Merkur”, “Frankfurter Rundschau”, “tz”, “Westfälischer Anzeiger” in Hamm and “Hessisch-Niedersächsische Allgemeine” in Kassel. Any impression should be avoided that one could “be part of an attempt to cause such economic damage”.
Axios shocked by Springer’s “sneaky” behavior
The “New York Times” also analyzes that Döpfner allegedly negotiated in parallel with his rival “Axios”, which was founded by former “Politico” people, during his talks with “Politico”. It was allegedly intended to later make the Axios CEO head of the Politico-Axios combination after an adequate phase of secrecy – which Döpfner denies. At Axios, the whole thing was “found sneaky,” according to the “New York Times”.
Springer CEO Döpfner emphasized to the US newspaper that the “image” culture is not being replicated in the USA. They want to be “the best media company in the democratic world with the highest ethical standards and an inclusive, open culture”.
Opposite the “Wall Street Journal”, the manager attached importance to non-partisan journalism, which distinguishes itself from journalistic activism.
With “Bild” under the new front man Boie, the old team soon has to forget about Reichelt’s damage to the floor and armor tracks. Alexandra Würzbach remains editor-in-chief of “Bild am Sonntag”, Claus Strunz is responsible as editor-in-chief of “Bild TV”, where Reichelt and Vice Paul Ronzheimer often had exaggerated appearances.
Mathias Döpfner said goodbye to the slain editor-in-chief. One would have liked to continue the path of cultural renewal at “Bild” together with Reichelt with the editorial team and the publishing house: “This is no longer possible.”
More: Reichelt remains “Bild” editor-in-chief – “no evidence of harassment”