Our Media Field Trips: Exploring Munich’s Newspapers

Over the past few weeks, our media class was provided the chance to visit two influential newspaper organisations based in Munich. I was really looking forward to these fieldtrips, as I had never seen the inner workings of a print or press house before. Media and Communications is not my major, more something I chose on a whim. I doubt I would have ever visited or learned about these institutions otherwise, and I’m glad I made this decision before starting my second semester here.

Our class first visited the Münchner Merkur/tz print house, and we were given an introduction on the current newspaper landscape in Germany. Our guide explained in depth the simple yet challenging task of deciding which topical issue to place on the front page. She highlighted how tz featured large, bold lettering with wordplay in their headline about noise complaints from local football fans, while Münchner Merkur chose a picturesque photo of the full moon over the Alps. I found the contrast interesting, it helped me understand the distinction in demographic and style between the two papers.

We were also shown copies of newspapers from different publishers in Munich. For example, as a tabloid newspaper BILD tends to incorporate more shock value, opinionated headlines whereas Süddeutsche Zeitung provides informative discourse around politics and society.

At the end of the trip, we were kindly given a personalised copy of a classic tz front page, which I think is something I’ll enjoy looking back on.

The following week we visited the Süddeutsche Zeitung print house. We first learned about how the newspaper had evolved over time, while maintaining its reputable position in Germany. The initial perception of colour print was its association with tabloid journalism, so SZ avoided using it for a long period. The company’s first ever use of colour appeared on a sports page, then was gradually introduced throughout the paper. Our guide explained that SZ attracts well-educated individuals willing to spend significantly more on their regular newspaper, which emphasised to me how SZ positions itself differently from other publishers in Munich.

Afterwards we were shown the different stages involved in creating a newspaper, and I was amazed by the sheer scale of it all. It was really cool to see how everything came together.