The Federal Association of Digital Publishers and Newspaper Publishers (BDZV) spoke on Monday about the future of the association, but not, as might have been expected, about that of President Mathias Döpfner.

The BDZV announced after the delegates' meeting early on Monday evening that "the central economic and media policy issues for the industry were dealt with".

The highest decision-making body of the association appeals “to the new federal government to understand and support the nationwide delivery of newspapers as a task to ensure democracy and social participation”, as is already happening in other European countries.

Michael Hanfeld

responsible editor for feuilleton online and "media".

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The initiative of the Funke media group, which suggested a structural reform of the BDZV in a discussion paper, was taken up.

She would like a more efficient, professional structure, closer cooperation between state associations and the Federal Association of the BDZV, with the other press associations, the magazine publishers (VDZ), the Association of German Local Newspapers VDL and the Federal Association of German Advertising Papers BVDA.

At the end of the process, the Funke Mediengruppe can even imagine a merger of the associations.

Before the meeting on Monday, the Funke media group had made it clear that this also meant a change at the top of the BDZV, as far as the office of the honorary president and the person who is currently holding it is concerned.

She had clearly criticized the behavior of the Springer CEO and BDZV President Döpfner in dealing with the cause of the former "Bild" editor-in-chief Julian Reichelt, who was fired last October.

According to participants, however, there was no dedicated debate on these points on Monday.

A task force is now to take care of the reform of the BDZV demanded by the Funke media group.

In the coming months, "concrete work will be done on modernization".

For this purpose, a project group will be formed, which will be made up of members from the ranks, the BDZV officially announced briefly.

The president of the association, Döpfner, is quoted as saying that without the delivery of printed newspapers, “citizens are cut off from central parts of democratic opinion-forming”.

This is about "securing constitutional guarantees: diversity of opinion, opinion-forming and freedom of the press", about "access to information for everyone, i.e. the foundations of democracy". The implementation of the coalition agreement, which provides for the promotion of newspaper delivery, is "absolutely necessary".

In the media policy debate, the digital platforms must be given much more attention, it is to be expected that the financing of journalism will be endangered with "monopoly-like structures in the digital market".

The European legislative projects Digital Markets Act (DMA) and Digital Services Act (DSA) threatened to become a “platform protection law”, the digital companies would have to be obliged to “ensure fair and non-discriminatory access conditions”, they should not “because of their general terms and conditions press content censor".

One is also concerned "about the renewed strong expansion of press-like offers of public broadcasting".

Clear boundaries for text offers are more important than ever.

Clear words, which some delegates of the BDZV at the meeting on Monday,