Media Narratives in Contrast

By Ollie Standen

Throughout the past two week, the group visited the TZ/Mekur and the SZ media organisations to see how the paper and online media world functioned in Germany. Both papers cover international, national and regional news stories with reports being printed on the daily or updated every minute on their websites.

The TZ/Mekur is two separate paper companies who are under the same corporation/media group. The TZ is a tabloid styled newspaper that primarily focuses on local news and sports especially FC Bayern. With the Munchner Merkur is more of a traditional newspaper focused on the conservative daily covering broader regional and national news. Within the TZ/Mekur company itself, it is sub-sectioned into different departments that cover specific topics for the pages of the newspapers. With another floor of the department focusing on the website, providing up-to-date information as it filters through. The structure of the TZ/Mekur is very functional due to the specialisation of the reporters, and the feeling from walking around the office was very chilled and welcoming, which creates a good atmosphere to work in. Tz/Mekur has a rich history within Munich culture, the Munchner Mekur was founded in 1946, post WWII, during German democratization with the aim of supporting democratic values and offer balance, conservative regional reporting. The impact and aim of the newspaper were to shape public opinion in Bavaria, serving as a key voice in regional politics and civic life. TZ was formed as a sister paper to the Munchner Mekur, being founded in 1968 its role was that of being more populist and a tabloid-styled newspaper, focusing on entertainment, sports and accessible local news. The impact of the TZ was to appeal to a broader, more casual readership, helping bridge journalism with everyday interests.

SZ was very similar to TZ/Mekur in my opinion. More towards the Munchner Mekur readership and demographic than the TZ. Like the Mekur, the SZ is also a daily newspaper and is considered one of the most respected and influential daily newspapers. They have offices in Munich, Berlin, Dusseldorf, Frankfurt am Main, Hamburg, Karlsruhe, Leipzig and Stuttgart. They try to distribute their papers by 5/6am in the morning to the doorsteps of their customers; this means that the outskirt regions may not receive the most up-to-date news as the ones that live closer to the production plant. Therefore, in my opinion, this may annoy customers due to their newspapers potentially being more out-of-date than the ones living closer. SZ was founded in 1945 shortly after WWII and was one of the first licensed newspapers by the US Military government. The newspaper comes in the form of a daily newspaper with a strong liberal and centre-left editorial stance with its’ audiences being educated, urban readers across Germany and internationally.

Overall, I think that both SZ and TZ/Mekur both have a great and efficient structure in the way they produce news to the readers of Germany. However, I think that TZ/Mekur appeal to a wider range of audiences, making it more appealing to their readership, with a variety of categories. With SZ primarily focusing on more upper/middle class topics. The structure of the TZ/Mekur productions works and up-to-date relevant topics are better than SZ but SZ has more of an intellectual aspect.