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Editorial house of the »New Germany«: Soon a cooperative?
Photo: Paul Zinken / picture alliance / dpa / dpa-Zentralbild
As a party organ of the SED, the daily newspaper "Neues Deutschland" (ND) sold up to a million copies.
Most recently, however, the number of copies sold barely exceeded the 20,000-copy mark.
Now the Left Party wants to examine a change in the ownership structure of the paper as a co-partner.
The Federal Treasurer of the Left, Harald Wolf, said: "We are considering changing the ownership structure." The politician also emphasized: "We are at the beginning of a process, there is still no result." One option is to convert the ND into a "new one." To transfer corporate form and found a cooperative. «The model could be the cooperative model of the alternative Berlin daily newspaper» taz «.
The Left Party is involved in the Berlin daily newspaper through the Föderative Verlags-, Consulting- und Handelsgesellschaft mbH (Fevac).
Fevac holds 50 percent of the newspaper.
The sheet first appeared in 1946.
Declining subscriber numbers, digital realignment
The managing director of Neues Deutschland Druckerei und Verlag GmbH, Matthias Schindler, confirmed the initiated process on dpa request.
With a view to the option of a cooperative, he said: "I see this as a necessary step - towards a modern, sustainable, left-wing daily newspaper in an adequate legal form." Schindler is also a director of Communio Beteiligungsgenossenschaft eG, which is the daily newspaper's second shareholder with 50 percent .
As reasons for the considerations, left federal treasurer Wolf named two things:
The declining number of subscribers in recent years
as well as the need for a new conception and realignment, also against the background of digitization.
In this context, one must also discuss whether a party as a partner would be an obstacle if the newspaper, despite its editorial independence, continues to be viewed by many as a pure party newspaper.
"The cooperative must not be the 'cheap solution'."
Verdi
Ideas for a possible change in the shareholder structure would now have to be discussed with the workforce and in the party board.
This discussion is still pending.
Only then will a decision be made.
The Verdi union complained about the “lack of communication” between the Left Party and the representatives for around 100 employees.
The announcement also said: “Even if the workforce had previously wanted to change the structures of the ND and a cooperative is sometimes seen as an opportunity to strengthen the editorial independence of the newspaper: The cooperative must not do the› cheap -Solution ‹be."
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