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Funke Mediengruppe:
still loving
analogue
While most media companies are busy developing
their online presence, Germany’s Funke Mediengruppe
has recently made a huge investment in print.
Heinz
Schwieger
, head of the purchasing division, sees signs
of a counter-trend moving back towards analogue.
f you ask Heinz Schwieger which
media he chose for reading the news
this morning, he replies with a boom-
ing laugh: “Mine!”
And “mine” certainly comprises a
vast selection every day. From his of-
fice in Essen in the heart of Germa-
ny’s Ruhr region, he heads the purchas-
ing division at Funke Mediengruppe,
which has a total output of over 700
titles.
Funke is the third-largest publishing
house in Germany and also one of the
largest regional newspaper publishers
in the whole of Europe. Its portfolio en-
compasses 12 daily newspapers, more
than 170 consumer and trade maga-
zines, over 70 advertising journals,
400 customer magazines and a varie-
ty of internet publications. If Schwieg-
er were to read them all, it would keep
him busy for at least one full working
month, let alone for one morning.
Foot in two camps
“Of course,” he reflects aloud, “we are
positioned directly between two poles:
analogue and digital.” The key chal-
lenge of the moment for Funke, as for
all media companies, is the question of
how print and online journalism will
evolve and, above all, how the two can
be integrated most intelligently. So far,
he admits, he is no closer to finding the
ideal solution than his colleagues in
competing media groups.
Text:
Christine Wahl
Photos:
Funke Mediangruppe
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