Süddeutsche Zeitung reduces local reporting in Munich's surrounding area!

Süddeutsche Zeitung reduces local reporting in Munich's surrounding area!

The "Süddeutsche Zeitung" (SZ) has severely shut down its reporting from the Munich area on June 1st. In the future, the large daily newspaper will only report in four instead of eight issues about the regions. News from the counties around Munich are now presented on integrated pages in the local part, which is a noticeable change for many readers. This restructuring is a clear step in a changing media environment.

The new editions include the districts of Fürstenfeldbruck and Dachau, Ebersberg as well as Erding and Erding, Starnberg and Bad Tölz-Wolfratshausen, as well as Munich itself. The reporting from the city and region remains unchanged, but the number of pages for this reporting is reduced from twelve to at least ten per issue. This is part of a comprehensive plan to increase efficiency in the production of the newspaper. In addition, the number of newspaper locations is reduced from three to two.

larger stories in focus

Ulrike Heidenreich and René Hofmann, who lead the “Munich, Region, Bavaria” department, emphasized in their statement that the focus should be on larger stories in the future. Instead, the aim is to publish fewer articles from all counties on a topic. According to Hofmann, however, there will continue to be rapporteurs for all counties to ensure that important local topics do not completely get out of view.

The reasons for these adjustments are complex. In addition to increased efficiency, the SZ also wants to react to the changed needs of the readers. In times of home offices, it is difficult to justify high rental costs for outdoor offices, as Hofmann explained in an interview.

The pressure on the industry

The changes in the SZ are also a reflection of a larger trend in the German media market, which has been suffering from a decline in the requirements for years. According to a study, the sales figures for newspapers in Germany fell from 18 million a day to only 11 million. This development affects local and regional newspapers and could have negative effects on democracy, warn experts. Wiebke Möhring, professor of journalism, sees the acceptance of local journalism a potential danger to turnout.

The economic pressure is also evident in other publishers. The Funke media group reports on massive circulation losses and plans to reduce costs and personnel cuts. Some publishers even consider selling their regional newspapers, while others try to establish digital offers to compensate for losses in the printing business. The change towards digital content is increasingly demanded by readers, which results in a change of strategy of the publishers.

The need for local journalism is available, but the challenges with which the industry is faced are clearly noticeable. However, platforms such as Merkurist.de offer new opportunities for citizen participation and interactive reporting, which represents a glimmer of hope for the future of local journalism.