Political debate in Germany is becoming more and more difficult. Fake news, “alternative facts,” and one‑sided coverage lead to an increasingly hardened discourse—and, via the nationalism that this dynamic reinforces, quite logically to a massive crisis of multilateralism. All of this is happening at a time when the global community, facing challenges like climate change, would need trustworthy cooperation more urgently than ever.

There is a medium that, out of helplessness, crawls behind paywalls into a digital depression cave—and yet reports seriously and reliably (even if with varying emphasis). At least it still puts different perspectives side by side—just when we need that the most. It’s called the “daily newspaper.”

Visiting the Digital Depression Cave

Because I like to know different viewpoints on a topic, I follow a range of media outlets. That’s why the Deutschlandfunk program “Presseschau” is part of my daily routine. From taz to Handelsblatt, Süddeutsche, FAZ, and WELT—there are worlds between them in how they interpret day‑to‑day politics. And as so often, the truth isn’t black or white, but somewhere in between.

Maybe comparing culture-section pieces is less interesting than comparing front pages. So: buy an entire newspaper just for that? In the analog paper world, hardly anyone does. But digitalization could give publishers the chance to win over regular readers of other newspapers, too.

But instead of shared apps, simple microtransactions, and affordable subscription models, newspapers hide behind paywalls—and wait for death by being forgotten.

This kind of fragmentation is completely outdated in the age of Netflix—especially with prices of €20–€50 per month for a single newspaper. Instead of pooling resources for a truly good app, every publisher reinvents the wheel.

An Angry Letter

All of this annoyed me so much today that I sent the following angry email to the “Bundesverband Deutscher Zeitungsverleger e.V.” (Federal Association of German Newspaper Publishers).

Hello,

in times of digitalization and shrinking circulation numbers, I wonder why German newspaper publishers still haven’t been able to agree on a joint digital offering at an affordable monthly subscription price.

If Netflix can provide access to thousands of series and films for €10 a month, why can’t German newspaper publishers offer access to many newspaper articles for €10 a month—instead of trying to win subscribers with absurd subscription prices of €50 a month?

Hiding the online offering behind paywalls achieves nothing. As a reader, I’m not willing to take out a digital subscription for an article from the “Buxtehude Remscheider Anzeiger” just because that paper happens to show up once a year in my Twitter timeline and the article looks interesting. And no, as a user I’m also not willing to click through five different pages, dig out my credit card or PayPal details, and approve a microtransaction just to unlock a single article. Then I simply won’t read it—or the person who linked it on social media will post a screenshot after 50 comments like “Paywall, can’t read it” roll in. The publisher gains nothing from that. Oh right, I forgot—there’s VG Wort for that 😂.

As part of the digital generation, I can promise you one thing: this is how journalism in Germany will die. Not because the “digital generation” isn’t willing to pay for journalism, but because publishers haven’t understood how digital business models work.

Best regards, Maximilian Ruta

If I receive a reply, I’ll publish it here as well.