At Axel Springer, Politico’s New Owner, Allegations of Sex, Lies and a Secret Payment

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He also claimed the Bild place of work culture would not be replicated in the United States. “We will not tolerate any behavior in our corporations around the world that does not stick to our incredibly distinct compliance insurance policies. We aspire to be the greatest digital media organization in the democratic environment with the maximum moral requirements and an inclusive, open tradition,” he said.

Axel Springer forwarded a letter from legal professionals stating that Bild was not lawfully obliged to fireplace Mr. Reichelt.

But a March 1 information from Mr. Döpfner to a friend with whom he afterwards experienced a falling out above the way the organization handled the allegations from Mr. Reichelt, Benjamin von Stuckrad-Barre, indicates that, when Mr. Döpfner was central to selecting how to act on the investigation’s results as chief executive, he may possibly not have been impartial. In the information, despatched immediately after Axel Springer had turn out to be mindful of the allegations, but just before the investigation was underway, Mr. Döpfner referred to an feeling column by Mr. Reichelt complaining about Covid constraints.

Mr. Döpfner wrote that “we have to be specifically careful” in the investigation, due to the fact Mr. Reichelt “is actually the very last and only journalist in Germany who is nonetheless courageously rebelling in opposition to the new GDR authoritarian point out,” according to a copy of the message that I attained. (The reference to GDR, or Communist East Germany, in this context, is a little bit like “woke mob.”) Mr. Döpfner also wrote that Mr. Reichelt had “powerful enemies.”

Mr. Döpfner’s political statement in that concept might seem to be at odds with his said programs for his new American qualities, which The Wall Avenue Journal described very last 7 days, will “embody his vision of impartial, nonpartisan reporting, compared to activist journalism, which, he stated, is boosting societal polarization in the U.S. and elsewhere.”

As Axel Springer was struggling to contain the fallout from the Bild investigation, Mr. Döpfner’s emphasis was on Washington. This spring and summertime, he done key, parallel discussions with executives at two rival information organizations dependent in Washington, Politico and Axios, the web site began in 2016 by the previous Politico journalists Jim VandeHei, Mike Allen and Roy Schwartz.

Mr. Döpfner’s intention was to invest in each and mix them into a mighty competitor to the nation’s major information stores. The Politico acquisition, announced in August, was a triumph for his business. But powering the scenes, Axel Springer’s courting design and style experienced alienated its other concentrate on.