Julian Reichelt (born 15 June 1980) is a German journalist. From February 2017 to October 2021, he was chairman of the editors-in-chief and digital editor-in-chief of Bild, Germany's largest and highest-circulation tabloid.[1]

Julian Reichelt
Reichelt in 2018
Born (1980-06-15) 15 June 1980 (age 44)
Alma materAxel-Springer-Academy
OccupationJournalist
Years active2002–present
Notable creditEditor-in-chief of Bild

Early life

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Friede Springer, Mathias Döpfner, Kai Diekmann and Julian Reichelt on the roof of the US Embassy in Berlin (2019)

Julian Reichelt was born in Hamburg in 1980 and grew up in the district of Othmarschen. His mother, Katrin Reichelt, works as a freelance journalist on medical topics including homeopathy. His father, Hans-Heinrich Reichelt, was an editor of the Berlin edition of Bild and works as a freelance journalist. The couple founded a publishing house for medical journalism and GLOBULIX.net, a homeopathy-themed website.[2][3] Reichelt attended Othmarschen Gymnasium, and graduated in 2000.[4] From 2002 to 2003, he worked as a trainee for Bild before completing his training as a journalist at the Axel-Springer-Akademie.[5]

Career

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Reichelt reported from Afghanistan, Georgia, Thailand, Iraq, Sudan, and Lebanon partly as a war correspondent, and worked as a culinary reporter in 2007.[6] Starting in February 2014, Reichelt served as the editor-in-chief of Bild's digital division as successor to Manfred Hart [de].[7] In February 2017 he succeeded Kai Diekmann as chairman of the editors-in-chief of Bild.[8]

In August 2015, Reichelt was barred from reporting from the trial of alleged Islamic State fighters at the Higher Regional Court of Celle, after he published unpixellated photos of the defendants, a violation of German privacy law.[9]

In February 2016, the German Press Agency criticized Bild´s misrepresentation of Russian military operations in Syria, after it published an article headlined "Putin and Assad bomb on". The Agency accused Bild of untruthfully claiming that Russia had broken a ceasefire. Reichelt claimed that the Agency had "made itself the stooge of Kremlin propaganda".[10][11]

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In March 2021, a report by Spiegel announced that Reichelt would have to face an in-house investigation. Among other things, it described a "Reichelt system", where Reichelt used his position within the tabloid to conduct illicit relationships with younger female employees, among other accusations. In response, Bild publisher Axel Springer SE released a statement explaining that it was investigating "accusations of abuse of power in connection with consensual relationships and drug consumption in the workplace."[12][13] In March 2021, Reichelt acknowledged having "mixed professional and private relationships".

On October 17, 2021, The New York Times published a report on Bild, in connection to Axel Springer SE's recent acquisition of Politico. It summarized claims of a toxic workplace environment at Bild, where young female employees were promoted or demoted within the tabloid based on their responses to Reichelt's advances. The article also revealed that Reichelt had forged divorce papers to win over female employees, and paid at least one employee 5,000 Euros in hush money to not discuss the matter. Following the report, Reichelt was fired from his post as chairman of the editors-in-chief.[14][15][16]

Time after Springer

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From July 2022, Reichelt began the show “"Achtung, Reichelt!” on YouTube. The show, along with other projects of Reichelt's is financed by Frank Gotthard, a businessman with close ties to the CDU.[17]

"Achtung, Reichelt!" is also distributed on Nius, likewise financed by Gotthard, and as a podcast. Several of Nius' reporters were formerly employed at Bild.[18]

Recognition

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  • Axel-Springer-Prize for young journalists in the category Supraregional / National Contributions for his report from Afghanistan "You can kill us, but never defeat us", published in two parts on 12 and 13 October 2007 in Bild (2008).[19]
  • In 2018, Reichelt was awarded the "Golden Potato", a parody award for journalists who "present a distorted image of race relations in the immigration nation of Germany".[20] Reichelt attended the ceremony but turned down the award, claiming that the word "potato" had become a term of racial abuse against ethnic Germans.[21]

Publications

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  • Reichelt, Julian (2010). Kriegsreporter ich will von den Menschen erzählen (in German). Köln: Fackelträger. ISBN 978-3-404-61669-5. OCLC 663506893.
  • Reichelt, Julian; Meyer, Jan (2010). Ruhet in Frieden, Soldaten! wie Politik und Bundeswehr die Wahrheit über Afghanistan vertuschten (in German). Köln: Fackelträger. ISBN 978-3-7716-4466-6. OCLC 646132879.

References

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  1. ^ Nach neuen Erkenntnissen: Axel Springer entbindet Julian Reichelt von seinen Aufgaben www.axelspringer.com, retrieved 18 October 2021.
  2. ^ "Julian Reichelt – Munzinger Biographie". www.munzinger.de. Retrieved 1 March 2023.
  3. ^ "BILD-Chefreporter Julian Reichelt: Von Geschichten, die sein Leben veränderten". Bild. 27 February 2009.
  4. ^ Susanne Herrmann (15 November 2018). "Brillantes Schülerinterview mit Bild-Chef Reichelt". Werben & Verkaufen.
  5. ^ Reichelt hat bei der "Bild"-Gruppe künftig das letzte Wort. In: Süddeutsche Zeitung. 6 February 2017, retrieved 11 November 2017.
  6. ^ Julian Reichelt, Reporter-Forum, retrieved 25 August 2014.
  7. ^ Manfred Hart wird Chefredakteur für digitale Entwicklungsprojekte bei BILD/ Julian Reichelt übernimmt Chefredaktion von BILD.de. Archived 3 April 2014 at the Wayback Machine axelspringer.de, 19 November 2013.
  8. ^ gia: Julian Reichelt wird Vorsitzender der Chefredaktionen. In: Spiegel Online, 6 February 2017, retrieved 11 April 2017.
  9. ^ kue/dpa: "Bild"-Reporter von IS-Prozess ausgeschlossen. In: faz.net. 4 August 2008.
  10. ^ Entscheidung des Beschwerdeausschusses 1 in der Beschwerdesache 0160/16/1-BA. In: Deutscher Presserat [de]. 7 June 2016, retrieved 11 April 2017 (PDF).
  11. ^ "Presserat weist Vorwürfe von Bild.de-Chef Reichelt zurück: "Geht in eine gesinnungspolitische Richtung" › Meedia". meedia.de. 17 June 2016.
  12. ^ Alexander Kissler, Marc Felix Serrao (13 March 2021). "Böse, böser, "Bild"-Zeitung? Bei der Berichterstattung über den Chef von Deutschlands auflagenstärkster Zeitung setzen auch seriöse Medien auf feucht-fröhliche Spekulationen". Neue Zürcher Zeitung.
  13. ^ Peter Weissenburger, Erica Zingher (19 March 2021). "Verfahren gegen "Bild"-Chef Reichelt: Viel größer als Julian". Die Tageszeitung.
  14. ^ At Axel Springer, Politico's New Owner, Allegations of Sex, Lies and a Secret Payment, The New York Times, retrieved 17 October 2021.
  15. ^ Hintergründe zur Entlassung Julian Reichelts als "Bild"-Chef, Tagesschau (ARD) auf Youtube, 19 October 2021.
  16. ^ Axel Springer removes a top editor after a Times report on workplace behavior, The New York Times, 18 October 2021.
  17. ^ Nowak, Peter (24 February 2023). ""Achtung, Reichelt!" auf Youtube: Der schwarze Kanal". Die Tageszeitung: taz (in German). ISSN 0931-9085. Retrieved 27 September 2023.
  18. ^ Gürgen, Malene (18 July 2023). "Rechtes Medienportal "Nius": Grundprinzip verdrehte Fakten". Die Tageszeitung: taz (in German). ISSN 0931-9085. Retrieved 27 September 2023.
  19. ^ "Axel-Springer-Preis 2008: Preisträger Print". Archived from the original on 16 July 2014. Retrieved 23 February 2021.
  20. ^ Ein Meister der Panik-Schlagzeile. In: Deutschlandfunk. 23 October 2018. Konstantina Vassilou-Enz im Gespräch mit Vladimir Balzer.
  21. ^ #5 Traurige Kartoffeln – Reden wir über Rassismus?. In: Deutschlandfunk. 8 November 2018.
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