Süddeutsche Zeitung

The ''Süddeutsche Zeitung'' (; ), published in Munich, Bavaria, is one of the largest and most influential daily newspapers in Germany. The tone of ''SZ'' is mainly described as centre-left, liberal, social-liberal, progressive-liberal, and social-democrat. It is considered one of Germany's newspapers of record.

The Süddeutsche Zeitung was one of the first daily newspapers approved by the Allies after World War II and was first published on 6 October 1945.

The newspaper is published by ''Süddeutsche Verlag'' in Munich. It is majority owned by investment holdings and a small part by the original publishing family, the Friedmann family.

The editors-in-chief are Wolfgang Krach and Judith Wittwer. The chairman of the editorial board is Thomas Schaub.

History

20th century

On 6 October 1945, five months after the end of World War II in Germany, the ''SZ'' was the first newspaper to receive a license from the U.S. military administration of Bavaria. The first issue was published the same evening, reportedly printed from the same presses that had printed ''Mein Kampf''.

Bernard B. McMahon, commander of the US intelligence control system, had previously been looking for a long time for non-Nazi ("untainted") licensees for a new German daily newspaper. He found them in the publishers August Schwingenstein, Edmund Goldschagg and Franz Josef Schöningh.

The founders announced that Süddeutsche Zeitung would be "a mouthpiece for all Germans who are united in their love of freedom, in their hatred of the totalitarian state, in their abhorrence of everything that is National Socialist".

The most important competitor is the more conservative '' Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (FAZ)''., founded in 1949.

21st century

Declines in advertising in the early 2000s were so severe that the paper was on the brink of bankruptcy in October 2002. The Süddeutsche survived through a 150 million euro investment by a new shareholder, a regional newspaper chain called Südwestdeutsche Medien. Over three years, the newspaper underwent a reduction in its staff, from 425 to 307, the closing of a regional edition in Düsseldorf, and the scrapping of a section devoted to news from Berlin.

In spring 2004, ''SZ'' launched the ''Süddeutsche Bibliothek''. Each week, one of 50 famous novels of the 20th century was made available in hardcover at certain newsstands and in book shops. Later a series of 50 influential movies on DVD followed. In late 2004, the daily also launched a popular science magazine, ''SZ Wissen''. In late 2005, a series of children's books continued this branch of special editions.

In early 2015, the newspaper received a 2.6- terabyte dataset from an anonymous source. The dataset contained confidential information of a law firm offering the management of offshore companies. The newspaper in conjunction with the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists reviewed the data from the Panama Papers for over a year before publishing stories from it on 3 April 2016.

In late 2017, the newspaper released snippets from a 1.4- terabyte dataset to be known as the " Paradise Papers" containing about 13.4 million documents, throwing light on the financial offshore jurisdictions, whose workings are unveiled, including Bermuda, the headquarters of the main company involved, Appleby, corporate services provider Estera, corporate registries in the Caribbean and Singapore-based international trust and corporate services provider, Asiaciti Trust. It contains the names of more than 120,000 people and companies. The newspaper called in the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists to oversee the investigation. BBC ''Panorama'' and ''The Guardian'' were among the nearly 100 media groups investigating the papers. The leaked data covers seven decades, from 1950 to 2016.

In May 2018, the German Press Council opened an inquiry to determine whether a ''Süddeutsche Zeitung'' cartoon which depicted Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was anti-Semitic; readers had complained that the image "reminded them of the anti-Semitic language of Nazi times". ''Süddeutsche Zeitung'' ended its decades-long collaboration with the cartoonist and apologized to readers, calling the cartoon a mistake.

Profile

In German politics, the term liberalism is different from that in the United States, and like other European regions, it is a concept that encompasses both centre-right and centre-left. Traditionally, '' Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung'' represents the view of right-wing liberals, while ''Süddeutsche Zeitung'' represents the view of left-wing liberals.

The paper, often abbreviated ''SZ'', is read throughout Germany by 1.1 million readers daily and boasts a relatively high circulation abroad. The editorial stance of the newspaper is progressive-liberal and generally of a centre-left orientation, leading some to joke that the ''SZ'' is the only meaningful opposition in the state of Bavaria, which has been governed by the conservative Christian Social Union of Bavaria almost continuously since 1949. In the 2013 elections the paper was among the supporters of the SPD.

''SZ'' is published in Nordisch format.

Circulation

During the third quarter of 1992 ''SZ'' had a circulation of 397,000 copies. The 1993 circulation of the paper was 304,499 copies. In 1995–96 it had a circulation of 407,000 copies.

Its 2001 circulation was 436,000 copies and it was one of the top 100 European newspapers. In 2003 ''SZ'' had a circulation of 433,000 copies. In the fourth quarter of 2004, it sold an average of 441,955 copies. The circulation was 429,345 copies in the first quarter of 2006. During the first quarter of 2012 it had a circulation of 432,000 copies.

Notable writers

* Heribert Prantl
* Hans Leyendecker
* Rudolph Chimelli
* Frederik Obermaier
* Bastian Obermayer

See also

* List of newspapers in Germany
* Media of Germany

References

Further reading

* Merrill, John C. and Harold A. Fisher. ''The world's great dailies: profiles of fifty newspapers'' (1980) pp. 298–304

External links

*

{{DEFAULTSORT:Suddeutsche Zeitung

1945 establishments in Germany
Centre-left newspapers
Daily newspapers published in Germany
German-language newspapers
German news websites
Liberal media in Germany
Newspapers published in Munich
Paradise Papers
Newspapers established in 1945
Progressivism in Germany
Social liberalism