Mathias Döpfner pulls the ripcord.

He will resign prematurely as President of the Federal Association of Digital Publishers and Newspaper Publishers (BDZV) in autumn.

After the re-election last fall, he would normally have remained in office until 2024.

He would hardly be able to take the step voluntarily, but it will have become clear to him that he would not have had a quiet day as the much-criticized head of the association.

Döpfner informed the state associations of press publishers that he wanted to “hand over his office as president in an orderly manner to new hands, preferably also to new structures, starting in the autumn”.

His own publishing company, Axel Springer, is busy with growth in the USA and the acquisition of the Politico media group, which requires its presence in America.

In addition, "in order to better represent the interests of small and medium-sized, regional and local publishers", someone or a constellation at the head of the BDZV is needed "that does not represent a large, international and very digital publishing house".

With this, Döpfner is alluding to the upheavals that are currently paralyzing the publishers' association.

Large publishers such as Funke or Madsack had tried – unsuccessfully – to revolt against him.

Funke called for his resignation and is withdrawing from the association, Madsack boss Thomas Düffert resigned his position as vice president of the BDZV.

This led to a stalemate in the association.

Funke, Madsack and a few other publishers cross paths with Döpfner, but he has support from many regional publishers.

Echoes of the Reichelt cause

He was accused of dealing with the cause of the former "Bild" editor-in-chief Julian Reichelt, who was dismissed last autumn after allegations of abuse of power associated with private relationships with employees.

Döpfner had supported Reichelt for a long time.

A Whatsapp message to the publicist Benjamin von Stuckrad-Barre revealed just how attached he was to the publicist Benjamin von Stuckrad-Barre, in which Döpfner went so far as to estimate that Reichelt was the last journalist who dared to speak out against the "new GDR authoritarian state”, almost all other journalists had mutated into “propaganda assistants”.

Döpfner apologized for this outburst.

Meanwhile, the plagiarism hunter Martin Heidingsfelder, who accuses the Springer boss of having plagiarized his doctorate, is responsible for his latest trouble.

Heidingsfelder allegedly does not know who commissioned him to examine the work, as he just told the specialist magazine “Kress”.

The order was anonymous.

The University of Frankfurt is now examining Döpfner's work.

All in all, that means more than a BDZV President can shoulder.

Of course, the problems have not been solved in the publishers' association, and the dissent between large and small publishers persists.

The power struggle is not over with Döpfner's cleverly timed departure before the upcoming BDZV digital congress.

The Funke Group demands a total reform of the association, including a merger with associations of magazines, local newspapers and advertising journals.

There will hardly be a majority for this.

We are looking for someone who can overcome the ditches.

The BDZV really cannot afford further internal struggles.