Type Daily newspaper Editor Georg Löwisch | Format Berliner Political alignment New left, Green left | |
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Publisher taz, die tageszeitung Verlagsgenossenschaft eG Founded 1978; 39 years ago (1978) | ||
Die Tageszeitung ( [diː ˈtaːɡəsˌtsaɪtʊŋ], “The Daily Newspaper”), stylized as die tageszeitung and commonly referred to as taz, is a cooperative-owned German daily newspaper administrated by its employees. Founded in 1978 in Berlin as part of a progressive and politically left-leaning movement, it has focused on current politics, social issues such as inequality, ecological crises both local and international, and other topics not covered by the more traditional and conservative newspapers. It has often supported the German Green Party, but the taz has also been critical of the SPD/Greens coalition government (1998–2005).
Contents
History
Die Tageszeitung was established in 1978. From the beginning, the taz was intended to be an alternative to the mainstream press, in its own words: "irreverent, commercially independent, intelligent and entertaining." One expression of its alternative approach to journalism was the payment of unified salaries for all employees until 1991. Nowadays, employees in highly responsible positions receive bonuses. Still, salaries paid by the taz are considerably lower than what is paid in the rest of the industry.
WOZ Die Wochenzeitung (formerly WoZ) and taz are joint editors of the German-language edition of Le Monde diplomatique as a supplement of the newspapers.
Since 1992, the Tageszeitung has been owned by currently more than 13,500 paying members. It has a circulation of more than 60,000, with almost 50,000 subscriptions. In 1995, it was the first German national newspaper to make all of the content of issue available online. In 2009, Ines Pohl became editor in chief.
From the beginning, the Tageszeitung appeared in a nationwide edition as well as in a Berlin local edition. Over the years, local editorial offices for North Rhine-Westphalia, Hamburg and Bremen were added. While the latter two were merged to "taz nord" (North) the NRW-offices were closed as of July 2007.
In the 2013 elections the magazine was among the supporters of the SPD.
The "potato Affair"
On 26 June 2006 Die Tageszeitung published a satirical article on its last page, headlined Die Wahrheit (the truth) that is reserved for satire and nonsense. It was titled Polens neue Kartoffel. Schurken, die die Welt beherrschen wollen. Heute: Lech „Katsche“ Kaczynski (Poland's new potatoes. Rogues who want to rule the world. Today: Lech „Katsche“ Kaczynski). This article ridiculed the Polish politicians President of Poland Lech Kaczyński and Prime Minister of Poland Jarosław Kaczyński. Lech Kaczyński then cancelled talks that were scheduled between Germany, Poland and France (the Weimar Triangle), officially for reasons of sickness.
Headlines
The taz is noted for its tongue-in-cheek headlines, such as:
On 5 June 2008, the paper published a picture headlined "Onkel Baracks Hütte" (Uncle Barack's Cabin) with a picture of the White House below the headline as part of an article about then-Senator Barack Obama. That headline, which made reference to the book "Uncle Tom's Cabin", was perceived as racist by some of its readership.