Die Tageszeitung

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die tageszeitung

The September 17, 2010 front page of Die Tageszeitung
Type Daily newspaper
Format Berliner
Publisher taz, die tageszeitung Verlagsgenossenschaft eG
Editor Ines Pohl
Founded 1978 (1978)
Political alignment Centre-left
Language German
Headquarters Berlin
ISSN 0931-9085
Official website taz.de

die tageszeitung (English: “The daily newspaper”, often displayed as die tageszeitung and commonly referred to as taz), was founded in 1978 in Berlin. It is a cooperative-owned German daily newspaper which is administrated by a workers' self-management. Rising out of the midst of a progressive and politically left-leaning movement in the '70s, its main focus has been on current politics and societal issues such as inequality and ecological crises both at the local and global scale and not covered by the more traditional and conservative newspapers at the time. It has often supported the German Green Party, but the taz has also been critical of the SPD/Greens coalition government (1998–2005).

History

From the beginning, the taz was intended to be an alternative to the mainstream press, in its own words: "irreverent, commercially independent, intelligent and entertaining." One expression of its alternative approach to journalism was the payment of unified salaries for all employees until 1991. Nowadays, employees in highly responsible positions receive bonuses. Still, salaries paid by the taz are considerably lower than what is paid in the rest of the industry.[citation needed]

Since 1992, the Tageszeitung has been owned by currently more than 10,000 paying members. It has a circulation of more than 60,000, with almost 50,000 subscriptions. In 1995, it was the first German national newspaper to make all of the content of issue available online. In 2009, Ines Pohl became editor in chief.

From the beginning, the Tageszeitung appeared in a nation-wide edition as well as in a Berlin local edition. Over the years, local editorial offices for North Rhine-Westphalia, Hamburg and Bremen were added. While the latter two were merged to "taz nord" (North) the NRW-offices are closed as of July 2007.

The "potato Affair"

On 26 June 2006 Die Tageszeitung published an article on its last page, headlined Die Wahrheit (the truth) that is reserved for satire and nonsense. It was titled Polens neue Kartoffel. Schurken, die die Welt beherrschen wollen. Heute: Lech „Katsche“ Kaczynski (Poland's new potatoes. Rogues who want to rule the world. Today: Lech „Katsche“ Kaczynski).[1] This article satirized the Polish politicians Lech Kaczyński and Jarosław Kaczyński. Lech Kaczyński then cancelled talks that were scheduled between Germany, Poland and France (the Weimar Triangle), officially for reasons of sickness.

Headlines

The taz is noted for its tongue-in-cheek headlines,[2] such as:

  • Oh mein Gott! (Oh my god!) – On the election of Joseph Ratzinger as Pope Benedict XVI
  • Es ist ein Mädchen (It's a girl) – On the election of Angela Merkel as the first female Chancellor of Germany
  • Oops – they did it again! – On the re-election of George W. Bush as President of the United States

On 5 June 2008, the paper published a picture headlined "Onkel Barack's Hütte" (Uncle Barack's Cabin) with a picture of the White House below the headline as part of an article about then-Senator Barack Obama. That headline, which made reference to the book "Uncle Tom's Cabin", was perceived as racist by some of its readership.[3]

See also

Footnotes

  1. ↑ Polens neue Kartoffel. In: taz, 26 June 2006. (German) ISSN 0931-9085
  2. ↑ "Happy Birthday, taz!". Die Zeit (in German). 17 April 2009. Retrieved 2009-04-17. 
  3. ↑ http://www.taz.de/1/leben/medien/artikel/1/is-uncle-baracks-cabin-racist/

Literature

  • taz - die tageszeitung. Die Tageszeitung Verlagsgenossenschaft e. G., Berlin 1.1987,1ff. ISSN 0931-9085
  • Oliver Tolmein/Detlef zum Winkel: tazsachen. Kralle zeigen - Pfötchen geben. Hamburg 1988. ISBN 3-922144-76-4
  • Jörg Magenau: Die taz. Eine Zeitung als Lebensform. München 2007, ISBN 978-3-446-20942-8
  • Nora Münz: Links und liebenswert. Nutzungsmotive von Lesern der tageszeitung (taz). In: Senta Pfaff-Rüdiger / Michael Meyen (Hg.): Alltag, Lebenswelt und Medien. Lit Verlag. Münster 2007. S. 215-235. ISBN 978-3-8258-0897-6

External links

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