B.Z. and BILD Berlin in future produced by one editorial office / Expansion of online reporting in BILD's regional newsrooms with focus on five main locations / Office in Los Angeles opens September 1, 2013
B.Z. and BILD Berlin shoulder to shoulder
The editorial staff of Axel Springer's tabloids, B.Z. and BILD, are pooling their resources and thereby repositioning themselves for the challenges of digitization. From November 2013, B.Z., Berlin's largest newspaper, and BILD Berlin will be produced in a joint editorial office. This co-operation will create Berlin's biggest regional newsroom. Both titles will retain their journalistic independence.
The online services provided by the titles will be completely merged, and the B.Z. will take over BILD's editorial systems for the production of the printed newspaper and for the website. All the B.Z. staff will return from Kurfürstendamm to the Berlin Axel Springer Building on November 3, 2013.
"With the closing of ranks between B.Z. and BILD, two strong brands in Berlin's competitive newspaper market are combining their journalistic forces. In doing so, we are creating the ideal conditions for us to be even faster and closer to our readers in future on all media channels", says Peter Huth, editor-in-chief of the B.Z. and in future also deputy to BILD editor-in-chief Kai Diekmann.
Miriam Krekel, 36, editorial director of BILD Berlin, is also appointed deputy editor-in-chief of the B.Z. Michael Pagel, 38, deputy editor-in-chief of the B.Z., is in future also editorial director of BILD Berlin. Kai Diekmann, BILD editor-in-chief and publisher of all BILD titles, becomes simultaneously the publisher of the B.Z. from November 1, 2013.
BILD develops its digital expertise regionally and internationally
BILD is strengthening its digital expertise in the regions, thereby adapting to changes in media use. The regional editorial structures are being optimized and adapted to create new capacities for digital expansion: In Hamburg (north), Essen (NRW), Frankfurt (southwest), Munich (south) and Leipzig (east) new editorial positions for online reporting are being created, which until now had been mainly based at BILD.de in Berlin. At the same time BILD will focus all its editorial and coordinating tasks for all its regional editions at these five locations – each controlled by a single editorial board. BILD Berlin will continue to report from the capital city and from Brandenburg.
In BILD's 15 other regional newsrooms, reporters and photographers will in future be able to concentrate solely on their journalistic work – research as well as the production of content for the online channels. BILD is investing in technical equipment for reporters, in order to expand its multimedia reporting significantly.
In view of the requirements of the digital media landscape, and with the aim of establishing 24-hour online reporting, a new office will be opened in Los Angeles on September 1, 2013, while the correspondent's office in Rome will be closed. Due to the time difference, the Los Angeles office will make it possible for BILD to observe the global news situation more intensively around the clock – and above all during the night in Germany – and to provide important information even more topically to German users.
Kai Diekmann, BILD editor-in-chief: "BILD is always where readers are. For this to continue to remain the case in future, the editorial offices have to constantly change and re-invent themselves. With our new regional and international setup, we are creating room to maneuver and better opportunities to allow us to tune our journalistic work even more to the usage habits and expectations of our readers. In addition to this, we are also in a position to serve all the digital platforms, in addition to the printed newspapers, more consistently."
The measures will be implemented by the end of 2013.
