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Gruner + Jahr employees are protesting at the Hamburg Rathausmarkt
Photo:
Jonas Walzberg / dpa
It's a black day for the employees of Gruner + Jahr: After the Bertelsmann group announced that 23 magazines would be discontinued at the traditional Hamburg company and hundreds of jobs would be lost, trade unions and politicians sharply criticized the group's actions.
Hamburg's Media Senator Carsten Brosda
(SPD) said in front of protesting publishing house employees at City Hall that this was a day that affected him greatly.
At the same time, he confirmed that politicians want to continue to campaign for Hamburg as a media location.
Publishing house employees gave the politician a list of signatures against job cuts.
The
Verdi union
spoke of the RTL plans as "smashing" and "misguided strategy".
"Because of the inability to lead a profitable magazine house that is respected throughout Europe into the digital transformation, #Bertelsmann is now smashing the magazine publisher #RTL," writes Verdi on Twitter and suggests "searching in Hamburg for alternatives to this disaster caused by the #Bertelsmann group «.
The
German Association of Journalists (DJV)
criticized a "devastating bloodletting for the renowned media location Hamburg".
For decades, the Hamburg publishing house Gruner + Jahr was one of the most powerful media houses in Europe.
"This decision is based on nothing but unscrupulous profit maximization," DJV federal board member Frank Überall is quoted as saying.
Transparency note: The RTL parent company Bertelsmann indirectly holds a 25.5 percent stake in SPIEGEL.
sak/dpa