Der Spiegel (online)

Der Spiegel (online) is a German news website. Before the renaming in January 2020, the website's name was Spiegel Online (short SPON).

Der Spiegel (online)

Type of site	News website
Available in	German, English
Headquarters	Hamburg
Country of origin	Germany
Owner	DER SPIEGEL GmbH & Co. KG
Chairperson	Thomas Hass
Managing director	Thomas Hass Stefan Ottlitz
URL	www.spiegel.de
Commercial	Yes
Registration	Optional
Launched	25 October 1994; 28 years ago (1994-10-25)
Current status	Active

It was founded in 1994^[1][2] as the online offshoot of the German news magazine, Der Spiegel, with a staff of journalists working independently of the magazine. Today, it is the most frequently quoted online media product in Germany.^[3] Spiegel Online International, a section featuring articles translated into English, was launched in autumn 2004.^[4] In 2019, its editorial office was merged with the one of the printed Spiegel and in 2020, the website was renamed accordingly.^[5][6]

Company and editorial staff

The news website Der Spiegel (online) is run by Der Spiegel GmbH & Co. KG (formerly Spiegel Online GmbH & Co. KG), itself a wholly owned subsidiary of Spiegel-Verlag. The editorial offices of the news website and the print magazine Der Spiegel were separate operations, that had their own offices, authors and content until January 2020. Now, content for both media is created by a shared editorial team.

Der Spiegel (online) has a record of profitability.^[7] Regular staff includes 150 people in the Hamburg headquarters,^[8] complemented by freelancers, and domestic and international news bureaus. In the German capital, Berlin, 15 correspondents cover the German federal government, political parties, corporations and artists. The Munich and Düsseldorf offices have one correspondent each. There are journalists based in Washington, D.C., New York, London, Moscow, New Delhi and Istanbul. The online news staff also receives support from Der Spiegel magazine's network of correspondents in Germany and abroad. The site also uses content from news agencies such as AFP, AP, dpa and Reuters.

Wolfgang Büchner was editor-in-chief of Der Spiegel and Der Spiegel (online) from September 2013 to December 2014. Büchner's former deputies, Florian Harms and Barbara Hans, headed Der Spiegel (online) after Büchner left the company. On 13 January 2015, Harms was appointed sole editor-in-chief.^[9] After Florian Harms had to leave the company on 6 December 2016, Barbara Hans was promoted to editor-in-chief.^[10]

History

 

The old logo, in use till January 2020

Online journalism pioneer

The news website first went up on 25 October 1994 under the name Spiegel Online,^[11] making it the first online presence of an established news magazine, one day before the Time site. Spiegel Online started as a service on CompuServe.^[12] The web domain spiegel.de was established one year later. Spiegel Online's content initially consisted of hand-picked articles from the print magazine. As early as 1995, however, original content first appeared in a section called "Scanner", which was only available online. In the following year, Spiegel Online was relaunched and commenced featuring breaking news as well.^[13]

Rebranding in 2020

In 2019, its editorial office was merged with the printed Der Spiegel. In January 2020, the website was rebranded, now using the same media brand as the printed format.^[14][15]

Popularity

Currently, Der Spiegel (online) is included in the top 30 most-visited websites in Germany.^[16] It is among the five widest-reaching news website in Germany.^[17][18][19]

See also

• List of magazines in Germany

References

1. Schäffner, Christina (2005). "Bringing a German Voice to English-speaking Readers: Spiegel International". Language and Intercultural Communication. 5 (2): 154–167. doi:10.1080/14708470508668891. S2CID 143954235.
2. Anne Penketh; Philip Oltermann; Stephen Burgen (12 June 2014). "European newspapers search for ways to survive digital revolution". The Guardian. Paris, Berlin, Barcelona. Retrieved 7 January 2015.
3. PMG-Pressemonitor: Meistzitierte nationale Medien (Top 30) Archived 17 January 2014 at the Library of Congress Web Archives
4. Greenslade, Roy (15 August 2006). "Der Spiegel's English site seeks young recruits". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 31 January 2019.
5. "Umstrukturierung beim "Spiegel": Bis alle Onliner in der Mitarbeiter KG sind, dauert es noch zehn Jahre | MEEDIA". 19 June 2019.
6. "Umfassender Relaunch: "Spiegel Online" ist Geschichte".
7. medienMITTWEIDA: "SPIEGEL ONLINE ist das Maß aller Dinge", 10 May 2007. The article reports figures for 2006, when Spiegel Online's turnover amounted to €15 million, yielding €2 million in earnings.
8. Spiegel-Gruppe: Spiegel Online
9. Florian Harms ist neuer Chefredakteur von SPIEGEL ONLINE. Pressemitteilung der Spiegel-Gruppe.
10. Huber, Joachim (6 December 2016). "Überraschend Chefredakteurin von 'Spiegel Online'". Der Tagesspiegel (in German). Retrieved 4 July 2019.
11. "Bereits am 25. Oktober 1994 konnte man auch den SPIEGEL im Internet finden". Retrieved 31 July 2011.
12. Bönisch, Julia. Meinungsführer oder Populärmedium? Das journalistische Profil von Spiegel Online. Berlin: Lit Verlag, 2006.
13. Spiegel Online: "Aussehen von Spiegel Online 1996" Spiegel
14. "Umstrukturierung beim "Spiegel": Bis alle Onliner in der Mitarbeiter KG sind, dauert es noch zehn Jahre | MEEDIA". 19 June 2019.
15. "Umfassender Relaunch: "Spiegel Online" ist Geschichte".
16. Top sites in Germany 6 July 2020 at the Wayback Machine - Alexa Rank
17. IVW (April 2020): Reach statistics for German online portals for April 2020.
18. Statista (April 2020): IVW: Number of visits (Online + Mobile + CTV) of news portals in Germany in April 2020.
19. "Top News And Media Websites Ranking in Germany in November 2022 | Similarweb". Similarweb. November 2022. Retrieved 13 December 2022.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)

External links

• News website Der Spiegel (online)
• International part of the website