It's all in the opinion
Oliver Classen on cabal, Köppel and corporate columns.
Oliver Classen on cabal, Köppel and corporate columns.Opinion pages (like this one) are paper lighthouses in an ever-increasing flood of information. They are intended to provide readers with orientation, but also as a source of friction. Friction is known to generate heat. Which, in the language of publishing marketing, means reader loyalty. So it's no wonder that opinion leaders are increasingly being heaved into the paper by the publisher himself, such as Roger Köppel's column in the HandelsZeitung. How else can the - to put it mildly - unprominent placement of his first contribution in the fold between pages seven and eight instead of on the opinion page introduced specifically for this purpose last fall be interpreted, if not as the hidden revenge of a duped editor-in-chief who has been overshadowed? This impression is reinforced by the simultaneous aggressive promotion of the newcomer by the publisher via notices and advertisements, but also by the editor-in-chief's usual balanced, i.e.: frictionless editorial.
There is a venerable tradition of publishers shaping the ideological orientation of their products, or allowing it to be shaped, and there is nothing fundamentally reprehensible about this - even if, as in this case, the suspicion of corporate opinion journalism can arise. After all, the HandelsZeitung and Die Welt, where Köppel has recently taken the lead, are part of the Springer portfolio.
The EU bashing of his first guest column was read at least as attentively in Berlin as it was in Zurich. Does this already herald the expected change of direction for Köppel's new editorial team, which until now has been decidedly pro-Brussels? After all, Köppel was brought into the world because of his repositioning expertise. However, it is questionable whether he will be able to help Springer's struggling prestige title with anti-European reflexes (imported from Switzerland). If not, the HandelsZeitung would certainly welcome him as opinion-leading co-editor-in-chief.
> Oliver Classen, Editor
There is a venerable tradition of publishers shaping the ideological orientation of their products, or allowing it to be shaped, and there is nothing fundamentally reprehensible about this - even if, as in this case, the suspicion of corporate opinion journalism can arise. After all, the HandelsZeitung and Die Welt, where Köppel has recently taken the lead, are part of the Springer portfolio.
The EU bashing of his first guest column was read at least as attentively in Berlin as it was in Zurich. Does this already herald the expected change of direction for Köppel's new editorial team, which until now has been decidedly pro-Brussels? After all, Köppel was brought into the world because of his repositioning expertise. However, it is questionable whether he will be able to help Springer's struggling prestige title with anti-European reflexes (imported from Switzerland). If not, the HandelsZeitung would certainly welcome him as opinion-leading co-editor-in-chief.
> Oliver Classen, Editor
