The Ippen Group reacts to reports that the competitor Springer was ultimately not published.
Munich / Berlin - The Ippen media group has commented on reports about a planned, but not carried out publication of its own research on
Bild's
editor-in-chief Julian Reichelt.
The media group in Munich informed the German Press Agency on Monday: "As a media group that is in direct competition with
Bild
, we have to be very careful not to give the impression that we want to harm a competitor economically."
The media company added: “Therefore, the decision was made to avoid any impression that we could be part of an attempt to cause such economic damage. With that the topic of a first publication of this research was off the table. ”In response to a dpa inquiry, the media group did not comment on whether the research might be published at a later date.
The
New York Times
had published at the weekend a long account of the media group Axel Springer in Berlin also in view of the plans to take over the US media group Politico. The article also
dealt
with
Bild
editor-in-chief Reichelt and allegations against him that became public for the first time in the spring. In the German media there were allegations of abuse of power and exploitation of relationships of dependency. The group then examined allegations in an internal procedure.
Springer announced in March: “The board of directors came to the conclusion that it would not be justified to dismiss Julian Reichelt from his post as editor-in-chief due to the errors in office and personnel management found in the investigation - which are not of a criminal nature . The overall evaluation also included the enormous strategic and structural change processes and the journalistic performance under the leadership of Julian Reichelt. ”After a temporary leave of absence, Reichelt finally returned to Germany's largest tabloid.
The
New York Times also
mentioned in its report that the investigative research team at Ippen - which emerged from the former German team at Buzzfeed News - had researched for months and had now actually planned a publication with more details. This was then held back after the publisher Dirk Ippen acted, as the media
magazine
Übermedien
reported
on Sunday
.
The media house Ippen, whose portfolio also includes
Frankfurter Rundschau
,
Münchner Merkur
and the Munich tabloid
tz
, further reported on the withheld research: It was not an easy or quick decision, and “there was an intensive discussion on both sides in the house. In the end, however, it is clear that a publisher has the right to set guidelines for his media. ”In addition, it was said:“ As the Ippen media group, we clearly stand by the fact that editorial offices can and must work freely and independently. At the same time, a publisher always has the right to set guidelines, and it is also normal to weigh up the legal risks together when doing large-scale research. "
The research team had expressed their displeasure with the decision in a letter to the publisher and management.
The protest letter circulated on the net.
The media group Ippen emphasized: The investigative team is doing a great job and has already published several impressive stories.
"That is why we naturally want to continue working with the outstanding journalists."
According to the media company, Springer had no influence on the decision to forego publication.
“There were no personal attempts by Springer executives to stop the research.
The exchange with Springer was limited to the usual correspondence between the respective lawyers in these cases. "
A spokesman for the media group Axel Springer said on request: “With Axel Springer's knowledge there was no attempt to prevent publications in connection with the compliance investigation. This does not affect legal notices that serve to protect the legitimate interests of the company and its employees. "
The spokesman also emphasized: “Axel Springer is committed to the greatest possible transparency and basically has no problem with a critical discussion.
However, such reporting must also find a limit when it comes to the protected privacy and confidentiality of employees and in particular - in this specific case - of witnesses who were assured of strict anonymity as part of the compliance procedure that was concluded in spring. "(
dpa
)
