Neues Deutschland

East Germany

ND was formed in 1946

While Neues Deutschland was the SED's Zentralorgan, its journalists were recruited from the party's broad membership.

Before the reunification of Germany in October 1990, ND had a circulation of a million and was second only to the youth newspaper junge Welt in readership. During this period the editor-in-chief of ND was Wolfgang Spickermann. However, it has been claimed that Neues Deutschland failed to reach much of the East German population.

After reunification

After reunification, NDs readership diminished greatly. In 2020, ND had a circulation of 18,595. While most large newspapers in Germany have a problem with declining circulation, ND is particularly vulnerable in that the majority of its readers are over 60 years old. ND produces both a national edition and regional editions for Berlin and Brandenburg.

Jürgen Reents, who had political roots in both the Party of Democratic Socialism and the Green Party, became the editor in chief of ND in 1999. One of his major goals was to transform NDs image from a propaganda leaflet to a more respected newspaper. In October 2005 the editors moved from Elsenbrücke to Franz-Mehring Platz in Berlin. Three months later, Olaf Koppe took over management of the newspaper.

Each issue of the daily between 1945 and 1990 was digitalized by the Berlin State Library in June 2013.

Profile

ND is now oriented towards a democratic socialist viewpoint and was owned partially by the political party The Left, a direct descendant of the SED. The twin goals of the newspaper are to give those in eastern Germany a voice and to represent the democratic socialist viewpoint without being the organ of The Left or any other political party. While eastern German themes dominate the features and the community pages, the political section looks at leftist politics throughout Germany. Authors and politicians from diverse political backgrounds have also been represented on the pages of the newspaper. For example, Friedrich Schorlemmer, a known critic of The Left and the political left in general, has been a guest writer.

Other traditional sections of a newspaper are also included, such as an advice page, a television guide, notifications and classifieds, opinion columns, and theme sections dealing with health, environment, and other issues. The letters to the editor are often cited as examples of viewpoints of the Left party from other media sources. As with most daily German newspapers, ND is published daily Monday through Friday, with a weekend edition published on Saturdays.

In November 2006, the newspaper also started a youth insert called Sacco and Vanzetti. Beginning in March 2007, ND started publishing online.

From 1 January 2022, the newspaper is published by a cooperative, thereby becoming independent from The Left. It also officially took on the name "nd".

References

References

1. "Titelanzeige | Informationsgemeinschaft zur Feststellung der Verbreitung von Werbeträgern e.V".
2. Wilder, Charly. (27 June 2013). "Digitizing the GDR: East German Papers Offer Glimpse of History". [[Der Spiegel]].
3. (22 April 2020). "IVW-Blitz-Analyse Tages- und Wochenzeitungen: Zeit gewinnt erneut Auflage, Welt bricht völlig ein | MEEDIA".
4. (1 January 2022). "Zeitung "Neues Deutschland" wird zu "nd" – Genossenschaft startet". [[Deutschlandfunk Kultur]].
5. (27 August 2008). "Memory Matters: Generational Responses to Germany's Nazi Past in Recent Women's Literature". [[Walter de Gruyter]].
6. (November 2019). "German paper that ignored fall of Berlin Wall still stands up for Socialism". [[Financial Times]].
7. (December 1991). "The East German press during the political transformation of East Germany". [[International Communication Gazette]].
8. (23 March 2000). "Politics and Popular Opinion in East Germany, 1945-1968". [[Manchester University Press]].
9. (31 December 2021). "Genossenschaft startet – Zeitung "Neues Deutschland" wird zu "nd"". [[Deutschlandfunk]].