Der Spiegel

"Say what is", the motto of Spiegel founder Rudolf Augstein, describes the standards Spiegel sets for itself. This motto is the driving force behind the editorial team. The news magazine has stood for investigative journalism for more than 75 years. The first issue was published in 1947, back then still in Hanover. SPIEGEL journalism is characterized by thorough research and reliable quality. Spiegel editors report independently of political, economic, ideological and religious interests, carefully and truthfully.
With its reporting, the editorial team of around 500 people uncovers grievances, sets the news, provides context in a complex world and sets the pace in public debate. It stands for investigative journalism. Its reach and journalistic standards make the DER SPIEGEL brand a highly trusted authority in the German media landscape.
Two years after it was founded, DER SPIEGEL published its statutes from 1949, providing a stable foundation on which the news magazine was able to build its reputation as a quality medium. At the end of 2018, the Relotius case shook the German media landscape. Journalist Claas Relotius, a renowned Spiegel reporter up to that point, was caught falsifying or inventing extensive information in numerous of his articles. This major journalistic scandal led to the development of the Spiegel standards in 2021, which are seen as a reaction to the Relotius case, but also as a contemporary return to the principles according to which the Spiegel editorial team works. At a time when the truthfulness of the media is being called into question, this is important in order to defend quality journalism, according to Spiegel. The publishing house and editorial team also developed standards for editorial projects financed by foundations as well as standards for advertisements, commercial partnerships and third-party funding.
Today, Der Spiegel has around 30 editorial offices in Germany and around the world. Around 60 fact-checkers in the documentation department also support the editorial offices of the Spiegel Group in their research and check finished articles. Their main task is verification and fact-checking. Spiegel-Dokumentation is also responsible for Digas, the Spiegel Group's press database with more than 100 million articles from German and international daily, weekly and monthly newspapers and magazines, trade press and agencies. According to Spiegel, more than 10,000 articles are added every day.
Spiegel's paid circulation is 695,004 copies (IVW 2023, incl. e-paper). The weekly reach of the print edition and its digital counterpart is over 12 million people.
Although Der Spiegel has produced award-winning research and revelations in its more than 75-year history, there have been some epoch-making events and scandals that have often presented the publisher and editorial team with major challenges.
Alongside the Relotius case (2018), the most famous scandal in which Der Spiegel itself was at the center is probably the Spiegel affair of 1962. The scandal began when the magazine published an article questioning the Bundeswehr's readiness to defend itself. This led to raids on Spiegel's offices and the arrest of several editors, including the publisher Rudolf Augstein. The accusation was treason. The affair led to massive protests and is considered a decisive moment for press freedom in Germany. In 2013, Der Spiegel reported in detail on the systematic surveillance by the NSA, based on the revelations of Edward Snowden. The reports caused a worldwide stir and contributed significantly to the debate on privacy and state surveillance.
These scandals not only shaped the history of the magazine itself, but also triggered far-reaching discussions about freedom of the press, journalistic ethics and the role of the media in society. The quality medium lives up to its motto, "Tell it like it is", time and time again through such publications.