''Die Tageszeitung'' (, “The Daily Newspaper”), is counted as being one of modern Germany's most important newspapers and amongst the top seven. taz is stylized as ''die tageszeitung'' and commonly referred to as ''taz'', is a

cooperative A cooperative (also known as co-operative, co-op, or coop) is "an autonomous association of persons united voluntarily to meet their common economic, social and cultural needs and aspirations through a jointly owned and democratically-control ...

-owned

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) ** Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ge ...

daily

newspaper A newspaper is a periodical publication containing written information about current events and is often typed in black ink with a white or gray background. Newspapers can cover a wide variety of fields such as politics, business, sports a ...

administrated by its employees and a co-operative of shareholders who invest in a free independent press, rather than to depend on advertising and, these days, pay-walls. Founded in 1978 in

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...

as part of an independent, progressive and politically

left-leaning Left-wing politics describes the range of political ideologies that support and seek to achieve social equality and egalitarianism, often in opposition to social hierarchy. Left-wing politics typically involve a concern for those in soci ...

movement, it has focused on current politics, social issues such as inequality, ecological crises both local and international, and other topics not covered by the more traditional and conservative newspapers. It mostly supports the alternative green political sphere and the

German Green Party Alliance 90/The Greens (german: Bündnis 90/Die Grünen, ), often simply referred to as the Greens ( ), is a green political party in Germany. It was formed in 1993 as the merger of The Greens (formed in West Germany in 1980) and Alliance 90 (fo ...

, but ''Die Tageszeitung'' has also been critical of the

SPD The Social Democratic Party of Germany (german: Sozialdemokratische Partei Deutschlands, ; SPD, ) is a centre-left social democratic political party in Germany. It is one of the major parties of contemporary Germany. Saskia Esken has been t ...

/Greens coalition government (1998–2005). It is being described as alternative-left and critical of existing current structures (systemkritisch). The newspaper's logo, a paw print, derives from the similarity of the name "''taz''" to a

word for paw, ''Tatze''. Its position in the Media landscape varies between the fifth and the sixth most read newspaper of Germany. In 2021 taz overtook for the first time the conservative

Die Welt ''Die Welt'' ("The World") is a German national daily newspaper, published as a broadsheet by Axel Springer SE. ''Die Welt'' is the flagship newspaper of the Axel Springer publishing group. Its leading competitors are the ''Frankfurter Allg ...

as the fifth most read daily newspaper of Germany.

History

''Die Tageszeitung'' was established in 1978. From the beginning, ''Die Tageszeitung'' was intended to be an alternative to the mainstream press, in its own words: "irreverent, commercially independent, intelligent and entertaining." One expression of its alternative approach to journalism was the payment of unified salaries for all employees until 1991. Nowadays, employees in highly responsible positions receive bonuses. Still, salaries paid by ''Die Tageszeitung'' are considerably lower than what is paid in the rest of the industry. Since 1995, the ''

WOZ Die Wochenzeitung ''WOZ Die Wochenzeitung'', (commonly abbreviated as ''WOZ'' or ''Wochenzeitung''), is a Swiss, German-language weekly newspaper, published in Zürich (Switzerland). History ''Die WochenZeitung'' (WoZ) first appeared on 1 October 1981. It was ba ...

'' (formerly ''WoZ'') and ''Die Tageszeitung'' add a German-language edition of the monthly ''

Le Monde diplomatique ''Le Monde diplomatique'' (meaning "The Diplomatic World" in French) is a French monthly newspaper offering analysis and opinion on politics, culture, and current affairs. The publication is owned by Le Monde diplomatique SA, a subsidiary com ...

'' as a supplement of the newspapers. Most of the articles in the monthly supplement are translations of the French language edition of the ''Le Monde diplomatique''. When it existed, taz also added the Turkish language newspaper of Germany '' Perşembe.'' Since 1992, ''Die Tageszeitung'' has been owned by currently more than 22,214 paying members (as of August 2022). Its circulation has dropped in recent years, with subscriptions including e-paper now down to 42,000. In 1995, it was the first German national newspaper to make all of the content of issue available online. ''Die Tageszeitung'' has announced that it will phase out its printed daily edition until 2022. From the beginning, ''Die Tageszeitung'' appeared in a nationwide edition as well as in a Berlin local edition. Over the years, local editorial offices for

North Rhine-Westphalia North Rhine-Westphalia (german: Nordrhein-Westfalen, ; li, Noordrien-Wesfale ; nds, Noordrhien-Westfalen; ksh, Noodrhing-Wäßßfaale), commonly shortened to NRW (), is a States of Germany, state (''Land'') in Western Germany. With more tha ...

Hamburg (male), (female) en, Hamburger(s), Hamburgian(s) , timezone1 = Central (CET) , utc_offset1 = +1 , timezone1_DST = Central (CEST) , utc_offset1_DST = +2 , postal ...

and

Bremen Bremen (Low German also: ''Breem'' or ''Bräm''), officially the City Municipality of Bremen (german: Stadtgemeinde Bremen, ), is the capital of the German state Free Hanseatic City of Bremen (''Freie Hansestadt Bremen''), a two-city-state consis ...

were added. While the latter two were merged to "taz nord" (North) the NRW-offices were closed as of July 2007. In the 2013 elections the magazine was among the supporters of the

. taz was the first and only newspaper to have an independent Turkish language edition online, known as taz.gazete between 2017 and 2020. It also was amongst the first to have articles in simple German for neuro-diverse people. It publishes from time to time in English unde
taz in English

"Potato Affair"

On 26 June 2006 ''Die Tageszeitung'' published a

satirical Satire is a genre of the visual, literary, and performing arts, usually in the form of fiction and less frequently non-fiction, in which vices, follies, abuses, and shortcomings are held up to ridicule, often with the intent of shaming or e ...

article on its last page, headlined ''Die Wahrheit'' (''the truth'') that is reserved for

satire Satire is a genre of the visual, literary, and performing arts, usually in the form of fiction and less frequently non-fiction, in which vices, follies, abuses, and shortcomings are held up to ridicule, often with the intent of shaming ...

and

nonsense Nonsense is a communication, via speech, writing, or any other symbolic system, that lacks any coherent meaning. Sometimes in ordinary usage, nonsense is synonymous with absurdity or the ridiculous To be ridiculous is to be something which is ...

. It was titled ''Polens neue Kartoffel. Schurken, die die Welt beherrschen wollen. Heute: Lech „Katsche“ Kaczynski'' (''The new potato of Poland. Rogues who want to rule the world. Today: Lech „Katsche“ Kaczynski''). This article ridiculed the

Polish Polish may refer to: * Anything from or related to Poland, a country in Europe * Polish language * Poles Poles,, ; singular masculine: ''Polak'', singular feminine: ''Polka'' or Polish people, are a West Slavic nation and ethnic group, w ...

politicians

President of Poland The president of Poland ( pl, Prezydent RP), officially the president of the Republic of Poland ( pl, Prezydent Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej), is the head of state of Poland. Their rights and obligations are determined in the Constitution of Polan ...

Lech Kaczyński Lech Aleksander Kaczyński (; 18 June 194910 April 2010) was a Polish politician who served as the city mayor of Warsaw from 2002 until 2005, and as President of Poland from 2005 until his death in 2010. Before his tenure as president, he prev ...

and

Prime Minister of Poland The President of the Council of Ministers ( pl, Prezes Rady Ministrów, lit=Chairman of the Council of Ministers), colloquially referred to as the prime minister (), is the head of the cabinet and the head of government of Poland. The responsibi ...

Jarosław Kaczyński Jarosław Aleksander Kaczyński (; born 18 June 1949) is a Polish politician who is currently serving as leader of the Law and Justice party (known by its Polish acronym PiS), which he co-founded in 2001 with his twin brother, Lech Kaczyński, ...

. Lech Kaczyński then cancelled talks that were scheduled between Germany, Poland and France (the

Weimar Triangle The "Weimar Triangle" is, loosely, a grouping of France, Germany, and Poland. The group is intended to promote co-operation between the three countries in crisis zones. It exists mostly in the form of summit meetings between the leaders of these ...

), officially for reasons of sickness.

Headlines

The ''taz'' is noted for its

tongue-in-cheek The idiom tongue-in-cheek refers to a humorous or sarcastic statement expressed in a serious manner. History The phrase originally expressed contempt, but by 1842 had acquired its modern meaning. Early users of the phrase include Sir Walter Scott ...

headlines, such as: * ''Oh mein Gott!'' (Oh my god!) – On the election of

Joseph Ratzinger Pope Benedict XVI ( la, Benedictus XVI; it, Benedetto XVI; german: link=no, Benedikt XVI.; born Joseph Aloisius Ratzinger, , on 16 April 1927) is a retired prelate of the Catholic church who served as the head of the Church and the sovereign ...

as Pope Benedict XVI * ''Es ist ein Mädchen'' (It's a girl) – On the election of

Angela Merkel Angela Dorothea Merkel (; ; born 17 July 1954) is a German former politician and scientist who served as Chancellor of Germany from 2005 to 2021. A member of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU), she previously served as Leader of the Oppo ...

as the first female

Chancellor of Germany The chancellor of Germany, officially the federal chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany,; often shortened to ''Bundeskanzler''/''Bundeskanzlerin'', / is the head of the federal government of Germany and the commander in chief of the Ge ...

* ''Oops – they did it again!'' – On the re-election of

George W. Bush George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009. A member of the Republican Party, Bush family, and son of the 41st president George H. W. Bush, he ...

as President of the United States On 5 June 2008, the paper published a picture headlined ''"Onkel Baracks Hütte"'' (Uncle Barack's Cabin) with a picture of the White House below the headline as part of an article about then-Senator

Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, Obama was the first African-American president of the U ...

. That headline, which made reference to the book ''

Uncle Tom's Cabin ''Uncle Tom's Cabin; or, Life Among the Lowly'' is an anti-slavery novel by American author Harriet Beecher Stowe. Published in two volumes in 1852, the novel had a profound effect on attitudes toward African Americans and slavery in the U. ...

'', was perceived as racist by some of its readership.

Footnotes

Literature

* ''taz - die tageszeitung''. Die Tageszeitung Verlagsgenossenschaft e. G., Berlin 1.1987,1ff. *

Oliver Tolmein Oliver may refer to: Arts, entertainment and literature Books * ''Oliver the Western Engine'', volume 24 in ''The Railway Series'' by Rev. W. Awdry * ''Oliver Twist'', a novel by Charles Dickens Fictional characters * Ariadne Oliver, ...

/Detlef zum Winkel: ''tazsachen. Kralle zeigen - Pfötchen geben.'' Hamburg 1988. * Jörg Magenau: ''Die taz. Eine Zeitung als Lebensform.'' München 2007, * Nora Münz: ''Links und liebenswert. Nutzungsmotive von Lesern der tageszeitung (taz)''. In: Senta Pfaff-Rüdiger / Michael Meyen (Hg.): ''Alltag, Lebenswelt und Medien.'' Lit Verlag. Münster 2007. S. 215–235.

External links