The Scoop
Executives at Politico and its parent company, Axel Springer, held a meeting on Monday with its journalists that touched on a recent letter from staffers who raised concerns about whether its CEO’s political views interfered with Politico’s journalism.
On Friday, Politico employees — including some in Europe and some members of its US unionized staff — sent a letter to recently named global editor-in-chief Jonathan Greenberger warning that Axel Springer CEO Mathias Döpfner’s “repeated use of POLITICO to promote his political agenda” risked “taking on the appearance of editorial slant.”
Staffers pointed to two recent op-eds written by Döpfner: a March piece in which he called on Europe to support the US and Israel in their war with Iran and another in which he said European aid to Palestine had funded terrorism, and Europe was on the “wrong side of history” by restricting aid to Israel. Signatories of the Politico letter also reiterated concerns over artwork promoting Axel Springer’s values in its Virginia offices.
“Taken together, these actions risk undermining our reputation as an impartial news source,” they wrote in the previously unreported letter.
The employees asked Döpfner to take a series of measures in response, including adding a disclaimer to all op-eds specifying that the author’s views do not represent those of Politico or staff. The letter also requested “rigorous standards review” of Döpfner’s editorials, including “clarification of erroneous claims,” and the removal of “any material promoting Axel Springer’s values from Politico offices.”
Axel Springer seems to be taking some of the concerns seriously. Döpfner, Greenberger, Politico CEO Goli Sheikholeslami, and other editors met with Politico journalists on Monday to discuss Greenberger’s editorial vision before he formally starts his job later this week.
One source familiar with the meeting said that Greenberger and Döpfner addressed some of the concerns laid out in the staffers’ letter. They reiterated the Berlin-based company’s commitment to editorial independence and attempted to reassure staff that Politico’s reporting “coexists” with Axel Springer’s stated values — which include support for free speech and democracy, the European alliance with the US, and the existence of the state of Israel.
The source also told Semafor that they discussed how to make it clear that Döpfner’s op-eds were not the opinions of Politico itself.
Politico declined to comment for this story.
Know More
Since Axel Springer bought Politico in 2021, the parent company’s “corporate constitution” has at times caused some nervousness among newsroom staffers who worried it could influence Politico’s reporting. After buying the publication, Axel Springer quickly announced that it would not require Politico employees to sign a pledge committing to the company’s stated values.
Still, Döpfner has contended that Axel Springer’s public commitment to those values has helped build trust with audiences. In an interview with Semafor in February, he said that the clear expression of company standards showed valuable transparency.
“If a media company, if a publisher, if a journalist pretends to be neutral and objective, she or he starts with a lie. Objective journalism is impossible. It’s done by human beings, hopefully with the help of AI; but it’s done by human beings, and we have emotions, we have preferences,” he said.
“And every publisher, every publishing company has hopefully certain values. So be transparent about it.”