Top German publisher steps down from national association

The boss of major German news publisher Axel Springer said on Tuesday he would be stepping down earlier than planned from his post as president of the German Newspaper Publishers’ and Digital Publishers’ Association (BDZV).

The association represents 286 newspapers with a total circulation of 14.3 million copies, as well as 13 weekly newspapers.

Mathias Döpfner, who was elected to a four-year term at BDZV in 2020, said he needed more time to focus on Axel Springer’s own business.

The Berlin-based publishing firm is moving more strongly into the US market, and recently acquired Politico in what was the largest purchase in the firm’s history. This would require more time and presence in the United States, Döpfner said.

“In order to more strongly represent the interests of smaller and medium-sized, regional and local publishers, there needs to be a person or network at the top who does not stand for a large, international and very digital publishing house,” Döpfner said.

Some controversy has surrounded Döpfner since a report in the New York Times last year alleging abuse of power by the editor-in-chief of the Bild tabloid, Germany’s highest circulation paper which is also owned by Axel Springer.

Döpfner later apologized for a WhatsApp message cited in the New York Times report, in which he criticized other newspapers as being “propaganda assistants” for the state. Axel Springer said the comment was intended to be ironic.

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