Markus Knall, the overall boss at Ippen.Media, apologized to sources and those affected for not publishing their own research on the previous Bild editor-in-chief Julian Reichelt. Knall wrote on Wednesday in a statement on his own behalf that was published on the Münchner Merkur portal, which belongs to the Ippen group: “Numerous women turned to our editorial team in the course of researching the Julian Reichelt case and took the courage to give us theirs Story to tell. We have agreed to report on their personal fate while maintaining anonymity. We couldn't keep this promise. I deeply regret that. "
Knall also wrote in the statement: “Because we did not publish the originally promised contribution at short notice, we did not live up to the trust that was placed in us.
I apologize to those affected for this. "
Dirk Ippen prevented publication
For months, an investigative team at Ippen had researched earlier allegations against the Bild editor-in-chief Reichelt. The research results should actually appear days ago. At the instigation of the publisher Dirk Ippen, the media company decided against a first publication. The reason given included: "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 Ippen Group publishes in Munich the tabloid TZ.
An online report on Reichelt and Springer appeared in the New York Times on Sunday, which also dealt with the prevented reporting at Ippen.
The whole thing triggered a lot of criticism both internally at Ippen and externally.
In the meantime, parts of the Ippen research have appeared in an online report by Spiegel.
On Monday, the media group Axel Springer released Bild editor-in-chief Reichelt from his duties according to press research.
Earlier internal proceedings against him in the spring had come to the conclusion that he was being given a second chance.
At that time, according to Springer, at the core of the investigation were allegations of abuse of power in connection with consensual relationships with female employees and drug use in the workplace.
The media group justified the step on Monday to release Reichelt from his duties as follows: “As a result of press research, the company had gained new insights into the current behavior of Julian Reichelt in the last few days.
The company investigated this information.
The management board learned that Julian Reichelt did not clearly separate personal and professional matters even after completing the compliance procedure in spring 2021 and told the management board the untruth. "