After the criticism of statements he had made in a private SMS to the publicist Benjamin von Stuckrad-Barre, the Springer CEO Mathias Döpfner, in his capacity as president of the newspaper publishers association BDZV, expressed his regret in a letter to the publishers.
At the same time he asked for support "with the tasks of the association".
Döpfner writes about the sometimes publicly expressed displeasure in publishing houses: “I take this criticism very seriously. I am grateful for the openness that enables me to orientate myself and make a better assessment. If this has damaged the reputation of the industry, the BDZV and especially the President's office this week, I personally deeply regret it. "
The controversy began with press research into the conduct of the former "Bild" editor-in-chief Julian Reichelt.
He stayed at his post in the spring after a compliance investigation, but was released from his job last week.
He had private relationships with female employees, in at least one case that has been the case up to now, as the Springer-Verlag announced, about which Reichelt had not told the board the truth.
The New York Times had pointed out in an article, as well as the fact that the publication of a research by the Ippen Investigative Team on this subject had been stopped by the publisher Dirk Ippen.
Ippen has now referred to this as a mistake.
Almost all "propaganda assistants"
The SMS in question also became problematic for Döpfner. With a view to the Corona policy, he had described Julian Reichelt as the only one who still bravely rebelled against the "new GDR authoritarian state", almost everyone else had mutated into "propaganda assistants". The announcement of the SMS led to the demand that Döpfner resign as BDZV president. In a video for the employees, Döpfner referred to the means of irony and exaggeration.
In his BDZV circular it says: “You all know that my criticized statements - keywords: GDR government and PR assistants - were made in a private SMS. She was part of a confidential conversation. Words are usually - you will understand this - not put on the gold scales. There is such a thing as an emotional, provocative, irrational and spontaneous inner life of a bilateral conversation between people who are supposed to trust each other. Outsiders will inevitably not understand this at all or at best get it wrong. "The excitement, so Döpfner," I can understand against this background. I am therefore very sorry that this unpredictable development also affected the BDZV, the publishers and the feelings of the journalists. "Anyone who knows him knowsthat "my heart beats for free journalism - and also for the rule of law in which we live". His work and thinking are geared towards this. He will not let up in fighting for this.