German newspaper publisher throws heirs out the door
The board of directors of the Cologne-based newspaper group M. DuMont Schauberg has had enough. After weeks of bickering, it has shown the publishing heir, Konstantin Neven DuMont, the door.
The Board of Directors has decided to dismiss Neven DuMont as publisher of the Kölner Stadt-Anzeiger, Express and Mitteldeutsche Zeitung newspapers, Germany's fourth-largest publishing house announced on Tuesday. The 41-year-old had made "detrimental and business-damaging comments" about his own company in public and even in competing newspapers. The step was therefore necessary to prevent further damage. Previously, Konstantin Neven DuMont had already lost his position as editor of the Frankfurter Rundschau.
Entries in a well-known internet media blog were the newspaper heir's undoing. He is said to have left some crude comments there under different names. The publisher's son denied the suspicion. A short time later, he was relieved of his duties and sent on vacation. Since then, however, Neven DuMont has repeatedly returned with critical interviews about the traditional publishing house. Most recently, he even had a showdown with his father, publishing director Alfred Neven DuMont, and asked him to resign.
Entries in a well-known internet media blog were the newspaper heir's undoing. He is said to have left some crude comments there under different names. The publisher's son denied the suspicion. A short time later, he was relieved of his duties and sent on vacation. Since then, however, Neven DuMont has repeatedly returned with critical interviews about the traditional publishing house. Most recently, he even had a showdown with his father, publishing director Alfred Neven DuMont, and asked him to resign.
