Frankfurter Rundschau

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Rundschau-House (Colosseo)

The Frankfurter Rundschau is a German daily newspaper, based in Frankfurt am Main. It published its first issue on 1 August 1945, as the first newspaper in the US sector in occupied Germany and the second in post-war Germany. Today it is owned by Druck und Verlagshaus Frankfurt am Main GmbH and boasts a circulation of over 181,000.

The Rundschau was the second German daily in print after World War II, and the first daily licensed to print in the American sector. Hans Habe, a prolific post-war German journalist, set up the Rundschau to promote liberal-parliamentary ideas.

The Rundschau's layout is modern and its editorial stance is progressive, or left-liberal. It holds that "independence, social justice and fairness" underlie its journalism.

Dr. Wolfgang Storz's term as editor-in-chief ended abruptly on 16 May 2006. The appointed next editor-in-chief will be Dr. Uwe Vorkötter (effective 1 July 2006).

Local major competitors are the conservative-liberal Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, the conservative Frankfurter Neue Presse, and also the local edition of the conservative tabloid Bild-Zeitung, the best-selling newspaper in Europe.

In 2003, the paper had financial difficulties and was supported by a guarantee from the federal state Hesse. In May 2004 the SPD (social democratic party)-owned holding DDVG acquired ninety percent of the shares of the Druck- und Verlagshaus Frankfurt am Main (DUV), the publisher of the Frankfurter Rundschau. The social democrats emphasized, they wanted to assure the future of one of the few left-liberal daily newspapers in Germany and asserted they would not exert influence on the articles.

Until 2006 latest, the social democrats want to reduce their share to under fifty percent. In order to save the paper from insolvency, the DDVG drastically cuts back expenditures. By means of dismissals and outsourcing, the number of employees shrank within the last three years from 1700 to 750.