A SMALL TALK WITH
Ulrike Teschke, Managing Director, Verlag der Tagesspiegel

1.  Why are you involved as a Berlin-Partner?  

We are involved because, on the one hand, we feel deeply connected to the city and its people and define ourselves as part of Berlin as a business location. On the other hand, we consider objective, analytical and knowledgeable reporting about Berlin, the metropolitan region and the economy to be part of our core competence.
 

2.  What moves your company, what are you currently working on?

Der Tagesspiegel is continuing to invest in the future. For us, this means: From now on, readers will receive the newspaper as a handy tabloid with two separately stapled books. The new format conveys a content offensive that focuses on Berlin and its metropolitan region as well as upgraded national reporting. The Berlin section in particular will delight our readers here on the ground, as the politics, business, culture, sports and science sections will be given their own units for reporting from Berlin. We also provide daily news from the twelve districts as well as from Potsdam and the surrounding area. The capital region leads the way in many new developments - in Germany and internationally. That's why it's especially important for the Tagesspiegel to be present everywhere in its own city.
 

3.  What do you appreciate about Berlin as a business location?

Berlin's economy is capable of a lot and has developed very well in recent years - despite crises. With their creativity, their courage, their commitment and their employees, the companies based here are ensuring that Berlin is becoming an increasingly attractive business location. What is special about this is the mix of traditional medium-sized companies, startups and, more recently, an increasing number of large corporations that are settling here. All of this secures our social prosperity in Berlin and beyond. 
 

4.  What makes your company stand out in terms of innovation? 

We've been around since 1945, and since then, through a lot of creativity and entrepreneurial courage, we've developed from a six-page daily newspaper into a multimedia publishing house with a diversified portfolio. We've been a firm part of Berlin for decades, and yet we're always good for a surprise. And this year we have completely reinvented ourselves as a brand once again. First, the Tagesspiegel relaunched its digital offerings. The focus was on tagesspiegel.de, our high-reach website. With the overhaul, we brought more clarity to the site, developed a modern design and created new design options for our editorial team. The second step followed at the end of November: We completely rethought and redesigned the content and look of our printed newspaper. Today, anyone who buys the Tagesspiegel gets two newspapers in one. The first 40 pages are about Germany and the world, the second 40 pages are about the capital region. The focus is on analysis and information. To give readers from Berlin and all over Germany a better overview of supra-regional events, cooperative ventures have been launched with other media, websites and blogs, including the sister title Handelsblatt. A global network of experts working at universities, for foundations or think tanks has also been established. This is unique in Germany and is a result of our innovative strength.