According to the Ippen investigative research into the abuse of power by ex-Bild editor-in-chief Julian Reichelt, the Axel Springer scandal is the subject of “Markus Lanz”.
Hamburg – Four days is the publication of the research on the abuse of power of the former imageEditor-in-chief Julian Reichelt. On Thursday, the scandal on ZDF becomes a talk topic: Markus Lanz’s studio guest is also the editor-in-chief of Ippen Investigative, Daniel Drepper. Alternating with the mirrors-Journalist Melanie Amann explains the balance of power in the Axel-Springer-Verlag. Dreppers judgment is clear: “The company should have drawn the consequences much earlier.” mirrors had already reported in the spring of possible misconduct by Reichelt towards women.
“Lanz” (ZDF): Affected women left the city before the Reichelt research was published
Before Ippen Investigative Having confronted Springer with the research, some of the women affected even left Berlin, Drepper confirmed. The moment was tricky: “From then on you have the chance to exert pressure, the chance to prevent publication, the chance to intimidate the sources,” he explains with a view to the top of Springer and image. “And then some women said I’d rather leave town.”
The decision-makers at Springer quickly come under fire. A woman at the head of the publishing house would probably have reacted differently after the first reports about Reichelt’s behavior, speculated journalist Hajo Schumacher. But he also put forward an “advanced, economic argument” to Ippen-Verlag, which, with reference to the risk of the impression of a willingness to damage a competitor, initially relied on the publication of the research by Ippen Investigative had waived. In the meantime, Markus Knall, editor-in-chief of Ippen Digital, has apologized to the women involved in the research as a source.
Drepper and Amann talk about Reichelt affairs within the editorial team. “This resulted in a system of dependency,” explains Amann. She criticizes that the CEO of Axel Springer SE, Mathias Döpfner, downplayed Reichelt’s behavior. The manager emphasized in a statement that it was never about sexual harassment, but rather about consensuality. “He doesn’t see abuse of power as a problem,” complains Amann.
Author Caroline Rosales: “I would have found it unbearable if no affected women had their say here”
Lanz’s guest Caroline Rosales had worked for Axel Springer in his younger years – and now, according to her own statements, she urgently wants to represent the perspective of those affected in the ZDF talk. “I left the Frankfurt Book Fair in a hurry and sat in the car for five hours, heavily pregnant, to take part in this round. I would have found it unbearable if none of the women concerned had a say here, ”she reports. When asked why, from her point of view, women do not unwrap for a long time, Rosales replies: “The main problem women face is fear.”
“Markus Lanz” – these guests discussed on October 21:
- Daniel Drepper – Editor-in-chief of Ippen Investigative
- Caroline Rosales – Author and journalist
- Melanie Amann – Mirrors-Journalist
- Michael Müller (SPD) – Governing Mayor of Berlin
- Hajo Schumacher – journalist and author
The journalist Hajo Schumacher explains the scandal from his own point of view: “Every publisher in Germany has its own culture. While other large media companies have changed their hierarchical structures, Axel Springer has evidently not done so. ”Markus Lanz wants to know how such power games work. Amann explains. “It starts with compliments at the desk, and shared meals turn into affairs. If women are dropped afterwards, it often ends in great despair. ”
Rosales raises further allegations: “Neither after that mirrors-Report within the last few days after publication Ippen Investigative Something has changed. “She misses a public apology from Döpfner to the women concerned and remembers her time:” I never had an interview, was hired because of my appearance. “Even then, many were” flushed through this apparatus ” .
Schumacher also places his younger self partly on the “other side”. He recently had his former colleague Hatice Akyün from his time as editor-in-chief of the lifestyle magazine Max met. He repeats her statement: “You, Hajo, what I haven’t told you for 20 years: You were a pretty asshole back then.” At first he thought that was meant funny or chummy, he reports. “But she meant it pretty seriously,” said Schumacher.
The journalist recalls that there was no abuse of power as in the Reichelt case, but there was a “gradient” in the editorial team – for example in the form of condescending sayings in editorial conferences. “That was part of the media culture back then. And that wasn’t clear to me, ”says Schumacher.
Reichelt debate on “Lanz” (ZDF): Round goes tough with Springer’s reaction in court
The round also goes hard with a recorded video statement by Döpfner from Wednesday. “In the background there were men who clearly organized the procedure,” said the chairman of the board, among other things: It was about “getting Reichelt away”. The clip leaves Rosales stunned. “I have no words,” she confesses. “I don’t even know how I can help him,” she says with a sarcastic undertone.
“It is completely irrelevant who has brought what information here and out of what interest, it is about what are the facts,” emphasizes Drepper. The basics of the jumpers had been known for a long time. In Döpfner’s video message, the women concerned played no role at all, he complains – and refers to the difficult situation of those affected: His colleagues Juliane Löffler, Katrin Langhans and Marcus Engert initially had to win the trust of the women for months. Even in view of the evidence in the form of hundreds of documents and messages from Reichelt, Döpfner’s statement is “so far removed from everything that has been reported and documented that I had to swallow first,” says Drepper.
Berlin’s outgoing mayor Michael Müller (SPD) also joins the discussion – and also criticizes the reaction of the Springer top. “A legend is being built up so that you don’t have to get to the core of the matter,” he judged later in the program with a view to an SMS Döpfner in which Reichelt represented a resistance against a “GDR governmental state”. He also refers to the power and threatening behavior of the image. “I didn’t go through a lot of things, maybe that’s a problem in a political career,” he says. He never “opened the door” privately and did not allow himself to be put under pressure when it came to deadlines for inquiries. “Of course I also experienced that the article in question said, ‘Müller cannot answer, Müller does not want to answer, Müller is overwhelmed’.”
Rosales confirms reports of a toxic corporate culture at the image also from first hand. “I had a very bad relationship with a manager for a year and a half, it wasn’t a good time for me”. Rosales reports, among other things, that she “tacted” for a long time to decide how to end the constellation without becoming a “persona non grata”. “I can understand completely that people before the image and also be afraid of the person Julian Reichelt ”, Drepper had stated earlier. The paper is known to run campaigns – and sometimes knows no boundaries.
“Markus Lanz” – the conclusion of the show
There is less arguing in the show than one is used to from “Markus Lanz”. The group agrees: what the former imageEditor-in-chief Julian Reichelt is simply inexcusable, Döpfner should have reacted differently. Lanz himself also mentions “for the record”: Several image– and Springer actors were requested for the show, but canceled. The host holds back with provocations and his own opinions. Exceptionally, he serves the job description of the classic talk master. The subject is too serious for verbal experimentation. Rather, the audience is taken into a revue of chronological events, answers, but also unanswered questions. (spot / fn)
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