The “Wiener Zeitung” was published from 1703 to 2023, on June 30th the last edition of the oldest daily newspaper still published will be on the market, from July 1st it will appear as a purely online medium.
After the corresponding resolutions in Parliament, cuts are now pending in the medium published by the Republic of Austria. According to APA information, there should be 50 to 60 contract terminations and 20 to 30 change notices.
“Wiener Zeitung” managing director Martin Fleischhacker did not want to confirm these figures in the APA interview for the time being. But it is clear: “We are holding talks with the works council and we have to part with employees.”
From July 1st, the editorial staff of the “Wiener Zeitung” will have 20 to 30 journalists. According to Fleischhacker, product development for the future range is in progress. “We understand our public service mandate to be broader online. We want to follow the trend of constructive and solution-oriented journalism.”
Managing director reassures publishers: no competition
According to the managing director of the “Wiener Zeitung”, the aim is to move away from the daily news and rather to be an “enlightening compass medium”. In any case, it shouldn’t be a red page as a counterpart to the “blue page” ORF.at, Fleischhacker reassures the private publishers. Rather, cooperation with other media is being considered.
There has recently also been criticism from the media and communications industry about the journalist training program in the Media Hub Austria, which is based at the “Wiener Zeitung”, and the Content Agency Austria, which is supposed to prepare content for the government.
Fleischhacker attributes the critical debates primarily to the currently “heated discussions” in the media landscape: “Many have misunderstood it, many wanted to misunderstand it.”
