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Kai Diekmann (born 27 June 1964 in
Ravensburg Ravensburg ( Swabian: ''Raveschburg'') is a city in Upper Swabia in Southern Germany, capital of the district of Ravensburg, Baden-Württemberg. Ravensburg was first mentioned in 1088. In the Middle Ages, it was an Imperial Free City and an imp ...
) is a German journalist. From 1998 until 2000 he was editor of '' Welt am Sonntag'' (English: World on Sunday). From January 2001 to December 2015 he was chief editor of ''
Bild ''Bild'' (or ''Bild-Zeitung'', ; ) is a German tabloid newspaper published by Axel Springer SE. The paper is published from Monday to Saturday; on Sundays, its sister paper '' Bild am Sonntag'' ("''Bild on Sunday''") is published instead, whic ...
''. He is also a member of the executive board of the Turkish daily ''
Hürriyet ''Hürriyet'' (, ''Liberty'') is one of the major Turkish newspapers, founded in 1948. , it had the highest circulation of any newspaper in Turkey at around 319,000. ''Hürriyet'' has a mainstream, liberal and conservative outlook. ''Hürriyet ...
''.


Life

Diekmann grew up in Bielefeld. After his
Abitur ''Abitur'' (), often shortened colloquially to ''Abi'', is a qualification granted at the end of secondary education in Germany. It is conferred on students who pass their final exams at the end of ISCED 3, usually after twelve or thirteen yea ...
(or matura) exam and mandatory military service, which he completed on the editorial staff of a military newspaper, he studied at the University of Münster. There he became a member of the
Burschenschaft A Burschenschaft (; sometimes abbreviated in the German ''Burschenschaft'' jargon; plural: ) is one of the traditional (student associations) of Germany, Austria, and Chile (the latter due to German cultural influence). Burschenschaften were ...
Franconia. He interrupted his studies in 1985 when he began his Volontariat (roughly: traineeship) at the
Axel Springer AG Axel Springer SE () is a German digital and popular periodical publishing house which is the largest in Europe, with numerous multimedia news brands, such as ''Bild'', ''Die Welt'', and ''Fakt'' and more than 15,000 employees. It generated tota ...
through the Axel Springer Journalist School, from which he quickly began a career for the publisher, beginning as a correspondent in
Bonn The federal city of Bonn ( lat, Bonna) is a city on the banks of the Rhine in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia, with a population of over 300,000. About south-southeast of Cologne, Bonn is in the southernmost part of the Rhine-Ruhr ...
. From 1989-1991 he was the chief reporter for the
Hubert Burda Media Hubert Burda Media Holding is a German media group with headquarters in Offenburg. It originated as a small printing business, founded by Franz Burda Snr in Philippsburg, in 1903. In 1986, the corporate group was divided up between Franz Jn ...
-published illustrated
Bunte ''Bunte'' (company's preferred spelling in capital letters) is a German-language weekly celebrity gossip magazine published by Hubert Burda Media. The first edition was published in 1948 under the name ''Das Ufer''. Under the leadership of Huber ...
, a weekly featuring articles on celebrities, gossip, and lifestyle. After a short detour at the
Ullstein-Verlag The ''Ullstein Verlag'' was founded by Leopold Ullstein in 1877 at Berlin and is one of the largest publishing companies of Germany. It published newspapers like '' B.Z.'' and '' Berliner Morgenpost'' and books through its subsidiaries ''Ullstein ...
-published tabloid B.Z., in 1992 he transferred to ''
Bild ''Bild'' (or ''Bild-Zeitung'', ; ) is a German tabloid newspaper published by Axel Springer SE. The paper is published from Monday to Saturday; on Sundays, its sister paper '' Bild am Sonntag'' ("''Bild on Sunday''") is published instead, whic ...
'', the best-selling daily newspaper in Germany known for sensationalist news stories. In 1992, he became editor of ''Welt am Sonntag'', and in 2001 returned to ''Bild'' where he became editor. Since 2004, in addition to being editor, he is also the publisher of ''Bild'' as well as ''Bild am Sonntag''. In March 2004, the first volume of the definitive memoirs of former Bundeskanzler
Helmut Kohl Helmut Josef Michael Kohl (; 3 April 1930 – 16 June 2017) was a German politician who served as Chancellor of Germany from 1982 to 1998 and Leader of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) from 1973 to 1998. Kohl's 16-year tenure is the longe ...
was published, edited by Diekmann. Diekmann is a member of the
Atlantik-Brücke Atlantik-Brücke (, ''Atlantic Bridge'') is a leading private non-profit association to promote German-American understanding and Atlanticism. Founded in Hamburg in 1952, it was located in Bonn between 1983 and 1999 and is now located in Berli ...
, an organization that aims to further relationships between Germany and especially the United States.


Lawsuits

Kai Diekmann sued the Berlin daily '' Die Tageszeitung'', after, on 8 May 2002, the paper's satire page "''Die Wahrheit''" (The Truth) claimed that he had sought an operation to use parts of corpses to enlarge his allegedly extremely small penis. Diekmann sued the paper for 30,000 Euro in damages for illegal violations of his privacy as well as libel and defamation of character. A Berlin court ruled that there was indeed negligence on the part of the newspaper, but denied the monetary compensation demanded by Diekmann saying that, as editor of ''Bild'', he "consciously seeks economic advantage from the violation of others' privacy" and therefore "is less heavily burdened by the violation of his own privacy," and furthermore that he should "assume that those standards that he lays on others are also of importance for himself." An appeal against the ruling was given no chance of success by the higher court and both sides withdrew their appeals.


Family

From 1995 until 1997 Diekmann was married to Jonica Jahr, the daughter of Hamburg publisher John Jahr, Jr. On 28 January 2002 he married Bild columnist Katja Kessler, with former
Chancellor Chancellor ( la, cancellarius) is a title of various official positions in the governments of many nations. The original chancellors were the of Roman courts of justice—ushers, who sat at the or lattice work screens of a basilica or law cou ...
of Germany
Helmut Kohl Helmut Josef Michael Kohl (; 3 April 1930 – 16 June 2017) was a German politician who served as Chancellor of Germany from 1982 to 1998 and Leader of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) from 1973 to 1998. Kohl's 16-year tenure is the longe ...
serving as his
best man A groomsman or usher is one of the male attendants to the groom in a wedding ceremony and performs the first speech at the wedding. Usually, the groom selects close friends and relatives to serve as groomsmen, and it is considered an honor to be s ...
. Diekmann and Kessler have four children, Yella, Caspar, Kolja and Lilly.


Publications

* Kai Diekmann, ''Hat die christliche Botschaft keinen Platz mehr in den Medien? Referate und Stellungnahmen bei einer Medientagung zum 25jährigen Jubiläum der Nachrichtenagentur Idea.'' Wetzlar: Evangelische Nachrichtenagentur, 1995. ISSN 1614-502X * Helmut Kohl (Kai Diekmann, Ralf G. Reuth, eds.), ''Ich wollte Deutschlands Einheit.'' Berlin: Ullstein, 2000. * Kai Diekmann, ''Der große Selbstbetrug: Wie wir um unsere Zukunft gebracht werden.'' 3rd ed. Munich: Piper, 2007. * Kai Diekmann, Süper Freunde: ''Was Türken und Deutsche sich wirklich zu sagen haben.'' Munich, Piper, 2008. * Kai Diekmann, ''Die Mauer: Fotografien 1961 - 1992''. Fackelträger, 2009. * Kai Diekmann, ''Die längste Nacht, der größte Tag: Deutschland am 9. November 1989.'' Munich, Piper, 2009.


Awards

* Goldene Feder 2000, 2005 * World Media Award 2002 * Blogger Newcomer of the Year, 2009 * Media Man of the Year, 2009


See also

*
Friede sei mit Dir The relief sculpture ''Friede sei mit Dir'' (), also known as the cock of Berlin is an artwork by sculptor Peter Lenk. It is located in Berlin at the former building of the editorial staff of German newspaper taz. The sculpture displays living ...


References


External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Diekmann, Kai 1964 births Living people German male journalists German journalists German newspaper journalists 20th-century German journalists 21st-century German journalists German Roman Catholics German male writers Axel Springer SE Bild people Welt am Sonntag editors