UPM_News_2016

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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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