The newspaper, which is known for its politically-driven and often sensationalist reporting, is still grappling with the fallout from the ousting of former editor Julian Reichelt following accusations he abused his position to pressurise junior staff members into sleeping with him.
Bild paid a €2 million ($3.2 million) settlement to Reichelt, who has denied the allegations, and is still locked in a legal battle against him.
In April, Mathias Döpfner, the media mogul at the helm of Axel Springer, was forced to apologise after leaked text messages revealed his efforts to use Bild to influence the outcome of the last German election, as well as his views attacking climate change activism and “intolerant Muslims”.
Mathias Döpfner is the media mogul at the helm of Bild’s owner Axel Springer.Credit: AP
Meanwhile, bosses are trying to staunch a decline in audience numbers at Bild, which saw its circulation drop to just over 1 million at the end of last year, down from a peak of 4.5 million at the turn of the millennium.
Axel Springer has set out plans to improve earnings from Bild and sister title Welt by €100 million over the next three years by boosting sales and cutting costs.
Döpfner has said he wants to make Bild and Welt “digital only” in the coming years with the aim of reaching more than 20 million online visits per day by 2026.
The group, whose largest shareholder is private equity giant KKR, is also looking to expand in the US, where it owns Politico and Insider.
The overhaul at Bild will see the company’s total number of regional papers reduced from 18 to 12, with a string of city-specific titles merged into broader regional publications and smaller offices closed.
The cuts have been met with criticism by the German Journalists Association (DJV).
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Frank Überall, DJV federal chairman, said: “If Mathias Döpfner wants to slaughter the cash cow of the group, that’s not only unfair to the employees but also economically extremely stupid.
“Less regional reporting means less service for the readers and therefore fewer readers.”
Axel Springer has been contacted for comment.
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