After the departure of “Bild” editor-in-chief Julian Reichelt, the CEO of the Axel Springer media group, Mathias Döpfner, spoke out in favor of a faster cultural change within the tabloid.
In a video message on Wednesday he said: “This is not a cultural problem for the entire Springer publishing house. There is this problem with” Bild “”. Döpfner asked the employees to report any abuse of power.
“We have to work much more fundamentally here on modernizing and changing our culture in the sense of respect,” added Döpfner. This does not apply to the vast majority of employees. Most of the group’s companies have an exemplary culture. The Springer boss asked the employees to report in connection with abuse of power and disrespectful professional interaction, to speak openly and “not to be afraid”.
In the seven-minute long video, Döpfner first spoke about the internal investigations against Reichelt and the reasons for releasing the “Bild” editor-in-chief on Monday from his duties. He also addressed the recently published press research, including by the investigative team of the Ippen media group, into allegations against Reichelt.
Döpfner also dealt with aspects of a “New York Times” article that deals with the media group Axel Springer, Reichelt and corporate culture. The US newspaper quoted on Sunday from an older private communication by Döpfner, in which he described Reichelt as the last and only journalist in Germany who was still courageous against the “new GDR authoritarian state”.
Among other things, Döpfner said in the video message: “A private SMS is not a tweet, is not a post, is not a public speech. And if you quote something out of context in a private conversation, you ignore polemics, irony, exaggeration.” It is important to him that this is private and not treated like a quote. “That is a border crossing,” said the Springer boss.