Will Germans soon be picking up a free newspaper at the train station on the way to work?
The Swedish company Metro appears to be quietly preparing a bid to launch the first free daily paper in the eurozone's biggest economy but faces a fierce battle with the country's established press groups.
When Metro boss Pelle Toernberg let slip in an interview in mid-February that "we want to enter the German market at some point," it uncorked a wave of rumors about the company's intentions, which have been fueled by the group's refusal to discuss their plans.
According to one rumor, the Swedish company has signed a letter of intent with the German group Axel Springer with a view to cooperating on the venture.
Others say Metro it is about to link up with the giant Westallgemeine Zeitung (WAZ) publishing house in the Ruhr area, Germany's industrial heartland.
Metro's thinking is not hard to fathom.
"If you don't have a presence in Germany, then you don't have a presence in Europe," said Anja Pasquay, the spokeswoman for the German federation of newspaper producers (BDZV).
"With more than 22 daily newspapers, it is the fifth-biggest press market in the world and the biggest in Europe in terms of circulation. It is obvious in that context that a group like Metro looks at what is happening and asks what it can do here."
Germany's numerous regional papers are seeing young readers desert in droves, although some are defecting to national papers that are beginning to follow the example of Britain and produce daily editions in a condensed tabloid format, such as Die Welt Kompakt, the little sister of the Die Welt broadsheet.
Even if its plans are little more than rumors, Metro has got the German press world scared.
Already struggling with faltering readership, the sector saw advertising revenue fall by a third between 2000 and last year.
And the arrival of a brash young rival in a market that has seen a modest recovery in advertising would not be welcomed with open arms.
"The competition between newspapers for a share of advertising revenue has become tougher and you have to wonder if there is enough money to go round if a new competitor enters the market," Pasquay said.
Seventy percent of middle and elementary schools now conduct English classes entirely in English, the Ministry of Education said, as it encourages schools nationwide to adopt this practice Minister of Education (MOE) Cheng Ying-yao (鄭英耀) is scheduled to present a report on the government’s bilingual education policy to the Legislative Yuan’s Education and Culture Committee today. The report would outline strategies aimed at expanding access to education, reducing regional disparities and improving talent cultivation. Implementation of bilingual education policies has varied across local governments, occasionally drawing public criticism. For example, some schools have required teachers of non-English subjects to pass English proficiency
‘FORM OF PROTEST’: The German Institute Taipei said it was ‘shocked’ to see Nazi symbolism used in connection with political aims as it condemned the incident Sung Chien-liang (宋建樑), who led efforts to recall Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Lee Kun-cheng (李坤城), was released on bail of NT$80,000 yesterday amid an outcry over a Nazi armband he wore to questioning the night before. Sung arrived at the New Taipei City District Prosecutors’ Office for questioning in a recall petition forgery case on Tuesday night wearing a red armband bearing a swastika, carrying a copy of Adolf Hitler’s Mein Kampf and giving a Nazi salute. Sung left the building at 1:15am without the armband and apparently covering the book with a coat. This is a serious international scandal and Chinese
TRADE: The premier pledged safeguards on ‘Made in Taiwan’ labeling, anti-dumping measures and stricter export controls to strengthen its position in trade talks Products labeled “made in Taiwan” must be genuinely made in Taiwan, Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) said yesterday, vowing to enforce strict safeguards against “origin laundering” and initiate anti-dumping investigations to prevent China dumping its products in Taiwan. Cho made the remarks in a discussion session with representatives from industries in Kaohsiung. In response to the US government’s recent announcement of “reciprocal” tariffs on its trading partners, President William Lai (賴清德) and Cho last week began a series of consultations with industry leaders nationwide to gather feedback and address concerns. Taiwanese and US officials held a videoconference on Friday evening to discuss the
PERSONAL DATA: The implicated KMT members allegedly compiled their petitions by copying names from party lists without the consent of the people concerned Judicial authorities searched six locations yesterday and questioned six people, including one elderly Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) member and five KMT Youth League associates, about alleged signature forgery and fraud relating to their recall efforts against two Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) legislators. After launching a probe into alleged signature forgery and related fraud in the KMT’s recall effort, prosecutors received a number of complaints, including about one petition that had 1,748 signatures of voters whose family members said they had already passed away, and also voters who said they did not approve the use of their name, Taipei Deputy Chief Prosecutor
RSS