The Funke Media Group is leaving the Federal Association of Digital Publishers and Newspaper Publishers (BDZV) on June 30th.

The Managing Director of the Funke Group, Christoph Rüth, announced this in a letter to three Vice Presidents of the BDZV.

The publisher's exit is a reaction to the offer that the three publishers made a few days ago to the publisher and Chair of the Funke Supervisory Board, Julia Becker.

Christian DuMont Schütte, Jan Dirk Elstermann and Valdo Lehari had offered her the position of Vice President of the BDZV.

The “Media Insider” specialist service had first reported on this.

Funke initially did not respond to the offer, but the media group has now decided to leave the association.

She had previously called for the resignation of Springer CEO Mathias Döpfner from the office of BDZV President.

Michael Hanfeld

responsible editor for feuilleton online and "media".

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In his reply to the offer from publishers DuMont Schütte, Elstermann and Lehari, Funke Managing Director Rüth wrote that publisher Julia Becker "thankfully declined" the offer.

This has to do with the fact that the Funke media group's trust "in the executive board's willingness to change" has not been strengthened by the development of the past few weeks.

Rüth refers to the reform paper that Funke submitted.

The media group is pushing for professionalization of the association's work and closer integration with other publishers' associations.

One is "honestly interested in a constructive and open exchange about the future of the association".

It was not through the Funke media group that the discussion took on an "unnecessary sharpness" and took a direction "that testified to a lot,

"Credible association more important than ever"

According to Rüth in the letter available to FAZ.NET, "a modern, powerful and, above all, credible association is more important than ever".

This is exactly why a reform process has been initiated and carried out with commitment in the past few weeks.

And as long as the Funke media group is still a member of the association, they will "do their utmost to renew the BDZV": "We still hope that the BDZV will finally start to move in the right direction." to counter the speculation about the power struggle in the BDZV with a clear signal and draw attention to the core of our discussion: the values ​​for which we as an industry stand and want to stand in journalism and in dealing with our employees.

The wording of Rüth's letter shows that the Funke Group does not want to take the difficult situation lightly and wants to give one last sign of a possible understanding.

Previously, the publisher had called for a "reorganization of personnel at the head of the BDZV".

One sees "the values ​​that probably characterize every publishing house committed to journalism" no longer sufficiently represented.

In addition, one has “concern that the credibility of the entire industry is at risk”.

You don't see it any differently at the Madsack publishing house.

Funke and Madsack had sharply criticized Döpfner for his behavior in the case of the former "Bild" editor-in-chief Julian Reichelt.

However, this criticism was only marginally discussed at a meeting of the BDZV delegates in mid-February.

As a sign of protest, Madsack boss Thomas Düffert then made his position as BDZV vice president available, but he remains on the association's executive committee.

"A well-positioned BDZV from top to bottom", wrote Düffert on his resignation as BDZV Vice, "ultimately for all of us in view of the challenges for our industry".

The list of “important current media policy issues” is long.

It is clear "that we as an industry only have the best chance of making ourselves heard if we work together in a spirit of trust for the benefit of all small and large newspaper publishers in Germany".

That was a more than clear reference to Döpfner.

The publishers Christian DuMont Schütte ("Kölner Stadt-Anzeiger"), Jan Dirk Elstermann ("Neue Osnabrücker Zeitung") and Valdo Lehari ("Reutlinger General-Anzeiger") then offered Düffert's position as vice-president - almost as a peace offering - to Julia Becker.

With their criticism of Döpfner, Funke and Madsack met with subliminal approval in the BDZV, but also with resistance.

The publishers' association is currently giving a picture of the inner turmoil.