Formal rules to separate newsrooms from management, including the board, rarely exist in private media, but are legally laid down in public service media. In daily practice, editors-in-chief report that they enjoy full independence from the management and the sales department. They say, “We are journalistically independent of the advertising department. There would be an immediate uproar if the advertising department wanted to have a say in journalistic issues”. In one leading newspaper, this is laid down in a formal statute, while the others claim that the management fully accepts this independence.
However, in some management structures, journalists are also represented. Others report there is informal cooperation with the advertising sales department, referring to more general strategies on how to reach target groups. They say, “Yes, of course, you talk to each other more than before […] The market demands this, and we would be blind to refuse”. Nevertheless, editors-in-chief report a high sensitivity to advertising influence and claim to have no knowledge about the specific data on advertising revenues. They have no formal cooperation with the advertising sales department, and at most, they know which industries have the largest share of advertising.
Generally, the editor-in-chief is the formal leader of newsroom work. Furthermore, the German language and the practice in German newspapers differentiate between a publisher and a sort of general editor [Verleger – Herausgeber] who only has a responsibility for the general orientation of the news medium.
