DIR Return Create A Forum - Home
---------------------------------------------------------
Even Greener Pastures
HTML https://evengreener.createaforum.com
---------------------------------------------------------
*****************************************************
DIR Return to: Cultural Miscellanea
*****************************************************
#Post#: 9408--------------------------------------------------
German print media
By: Alharacas Date: November 21, 2018, 6:02 pm
---------------------------------------------------------
Tabloid: Die Bildzeitung, BILD in short. Fortunately, just the
one seems to cover the needs of the German populace at large.
Reactionary to the core, it never lets itself be deterred from
printing a sensational story by the actual truth of the matter,
"Man bites Dog" being one of its favourite topics. Also features
boobs on page 3. Or something. Not quite sure as I wouldn't
touch it with the proverbial barge pole.
Daily newspapers: if you're serious about current affairs, or
just serious, full stop (and which good German isn't? Well... I,
for one) you either read the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, FAZ
in short, bankers' and businessmen's preferred reading material.
Or the Süddeutsche Zeitung, SZ in short, which is for the
thinking part of the population. Or the part which likes to
think of itself as thinking. Or would like to be thought of as
thinking. Whatever. There are probably some important political
issues dividing their readers. Unfortunately, I can't tell you
about those, since both papers weigh several kilos each, and the
mere thought of reading one of them every single bleeding day
gives me severe carpal tunnel syndrome.
For the really discerning public, there is the tageszeitung, taz
in short. No capital letter. This will tell you where on the
political spectrum it's located. Highly recommend it to Steven.
Used to be a collective, i.e. self-exploitation is their
writers' motto. Most excellent starting point for ambitious
journalists wanting to eventually become editor-in-chief of
BILD, FAZ, SZ or one of the more important -> weeklies.
Of course, there are also local newspapers. Lots of them. Each
with a circulation of about, er, 50,000. They contain a few
unadulterated news agency reports, have a picture of the local
fire fighter team's new garage and granny Müller receiving a
bouquet from the mayor for her 102nd birthday, plus several
pages worth of birth and death notices. Not to forget the
overwhelming number of sometimes rather entertaining typos.
These are only interesting if you're a doctor, an undertaker,
retired with FAR too much time on your hands - or in dire need
of wrapping paper.
Weeklies:
- Der Spiegel. Snappy style, memorably once managed to make
entertaining reading of a fight about fishing rights within the
EU. The legendary scope of its informers once led to the
magazine's offices being raided by the police - something
otherwise unheard of in Germany. Want to learn about the latest
political scandal in Germany or abroad, be the first to know the
names of up-and-coming politicians or racing car drivers? This
is what you read.
- Der Stern. Invariably found in waiting rooms. Prominent German
politician getting divorced? Get a detailed view of his dirty
linen here, interview with wronged ex/hopeful future wife
included. It does have the best cartoonists, though.
Unforgettably made a laughing stock of itself by publishing the
- fake - Hitler diaries several decades ago. Also unforgettably
managed to get German abortion laws liberalized in its heyday
(the 70s), by publishing photos of several dozen women under the
heading of "Wir haben abgetrieben" (we've had abortions).
- Die Zeit. Provides an endless supply of those enormous
sentences with several clauses and various sub-clauses so hated
by learners of German.
Care for several pages about the life of Rumanian
subcontract-workers in the German meat industry? An in-depth
article on harvesting hazelnuts in Turkey? Detailed information
about the rivalries, alliances and economic interests behind the
war in Syria? Lengthy opinion piece on the probable causes of
the rise of the new Ultra-Right? Yeah. It's also the perfect
newspaper for reading on a crowded train, as it's so HUGE that
people sitting next to you will perforce have to move away.
google images: die Zeit lesen
#Post#: 9409--------------------------------------------------
Re: German print media
By: NealC Date: November 21, 2018, 6:12 pm
---------------------------------------------------------
Can I get a subscription to the one with boobs on page 3?
You have to go all the way to page 6 for boobs in the UK papers.
#Post#: 9413--------------------------------------------------
Re: German print media
By: SHL Date: November 21, 2018, 10:07 pm
---------------------------------------------------------
Ah, Die Bildzeitung is one of my favorites! :)
Actually, it`s a lot of fun. I remember I bought one last Summer
in Esens, (Landkreis Wittmund) in Ostfriesland (what East
Friesland in English?). I had to go over there because that was
the only town within a 20 miles radius of where I was staying
that had a coin-operated laundry (very exciting I know). So,
when I got there their machines only took 1€ coins, I think 4 or
so for one wash and 3 for a dry, so you needed a bagful to get
any laundry clean. And the machines weren`t very big either, So
not having enough coins, I started wandering around the town
wondering how I was going to get enough coins, with just just
the money in my pocket, and I didn`t want to walk into just any
store without buying anything, and ask for change, and all the
banks were closed too. So, I went into this little kiosk place,
with all the newspapers are and bought Die Bild, and then asked
the guy for the change I needed, and told him I needed it to do
my laundry down the street. He was really nice about it and I
got all the coins I needed and thanked him.
Esens is a really cute little town (this is my favorite area of
Germany) and it`s not far from the North Sea coast. The area
reminds me of a Germanized Holland, with windmills and cows.
So, I read Die Bild Zeitung while doing my laundry. But, its
pages are huge, really enormous as I recall, and the print is
enormous too, so I doubt the near-sighted need glasses reading
it. And, the articles are short and to-the-point. And,
everything is a Schlagzeile (headline). I think a big news-story
for them would be „Trump hat Hämorrhoiden“ (Trump has
hemorrhoids) or something similar. I think I finished reading it
before the first cycle of the wash was done and the old lady
sitting next to me on the bench asked if she could have a look
at it, and I said sure, she could keep it.
I had to laugh because I heard this German guy on YouTube say
Die Bildzeitung was a bit „niveaulos“ for him, sort of
„lowbrow.“ But, it`s fun and a lot better than our National
Enquirer, if you just want a fast read of some rather trivial
stories (In all fairness they do have an occasional piece that`s
more serious).
I like Die Zeit, and get some sort of auto-newsfeed from it. I
just finished an article in it on Trump where he was criticizing
a Judge in San Francisco who put a temporary hold on some asylum
decree that Trump recently signed calling the Judge an „Obama
Judge“ who was endangering the country. When is Trump going to
learn that to make laws by just signing decrees he first has to
become a dictator? Even Roberts, a conservative Supreme Court
Justice, Chief Justice now I think, called Trump out on it. It
seems the drama never ends. (Trump doesn`t seem to get that
other people get to make laws here, and his decrees are not all
there is to it).
The FAZ is more like a Wall Street Journal to me, like if you`re
interested in business stuff. Die Süddeutsche Zeitung is good
too, but like Alharacas said long. A lot to get into. I bought
the Berliner Morgenpost right before I left and I still have it.
It wasn`t bad (I`m sure Alharacas knows that one well). The only
thing is it`s full of these full-pages ads for Kaufland, but
it`s a large-sized big paper too. They all are much bigger than
you`d think and they seem bigger than US papers. The paper
Alharacas recommended for me, taz, looks good. I just read a
short article on their online version, which was very good.
The magazine are all good too, with Der Spiegel being a classic.
I`ve always thought it was a notch above Der Stern.
But, Die Bild is definitely in a class all its own. And, it`s
the best selling paper in the country, according to wikipedia.
*****************************************************