Julian Reichelt (born 15 June 1980) is a German journalist. He is editor-in-chief of right-wing populist news-site "Nius".
From February 2017 to October 2021, he was chairman of the editors-in-chief and digital editor-in-chief of Bild, Germany's largest and highest-circulation tabloid.[ Nach neuen Erkenntnissen: Axel Springer entbindet Julian Reichelt von seinen Aufgaben www.axelspringer.com, retrieved 18 October 2021.]
Early life
Julian Reichelt was born in Hamburg in 1980 and grew up in the district of
Othmarschen. His mother, Katrin Reichelt, works as a freelance journalist on medical topics including
homeopathy. His father, Hans-Heinrich Reichelt, was an editor of the Berlin edition of
Bild and works as a freelance journalist. The couple founded a publishing house for medical journalism and GLOBULIX.net, a homeopathy-themed website.
Reichelt attended Othmarschen Gymnasium, and graduated in 2000.
From 2002 to 2003, he worked as a trainee for
Bild before completing his training as a journalist at the Axel-Springer-Akademie.
[ Reichelt hat bei der "Bild"-Gruppe künftig das letzte Wort. In: Süddeutsche Zeitung. 6 February 2017, retrieved 11 November 2017.]
Career
Reichelt reported from Afghanistan, Georgia, Thailand, Iraq, Sudan, and Lebanon partly as a war correspondent, and worked as a culinary reporter in 2007.
[ Julian Reichelt, Reporter-Forum, retrieved 25 August 2014.] Starting in February 2014, Reichelt served as the
editor-in-chief of
Bilds digital division as successor to .
[ Manfred Hart wird Chefredakteur für digitale Entwicklungsprojekte bei BILD/ Julian Reichelt übernimmt Chefredaktion von BILD.de. axelspringer.de, 19 November 2013.] In February 2017 he succeeded
Kai Diekmann as chairman of the editors-in-chief of Bild.
[gia: Julian Reichelt wird Vorsitzender der Chefredaktionen. In: Spiegel Online, 6 February 2017, retrieved 11 April 2017.]
In August 2015, Reichelt was barred from reporting from the trial of alleged Islamic State fighters at the Higher Regional Court of Celle, after he published unpixellated photos of the defendants, a violation of German privacy law.[kue/dpa: "Bild"-Reporter von IS-Prozess ausgeschlossen. In: faz.net. 4 August 2008.]
In February 2016, the German Press Agency criticized Bild´s misrepresentation of Russian military operations in Syria, after it published an article headlined "Putin and Assad bomb on". The Agency accused Bild of untruthfully claiming that Russia had broken a ceasefire. Reichelt claimed that the Agency had "made itself the stooge of Kremlin propaganda".[ Entscheidung des Beschwerdeausschusses 1 in der Beschwerdesache 0160/16/1-BA. In: . 7 June 2016, retrieved 11 April 2017 (PDF).]
Legal issues
In March 2021, a report by
Spiegel announced that Reichelt would have to face an in-house investigation. Among other things, it described a "Reichelt system", where Reichelt used his position within the tabloid to conduct illicit relationships with younger female employees, among other accusations. In response,
Bild publisher Axel Springer SE released a statement explaining that it was investigating "accusations of abuse of power in connection with consensual relationships and drug consumption in the workplace."
In March 2021, Reichelt acknowledged having "mixed professional and private relationships".
On October 17, 2021, The New York Times published a report on Bild, in connection to Axel Springer SE's recent acquisition of Politico. It summarized claims of a toxic workplace environment at Bild, where young female employees were promoted or demoted within the tabloid based on their responses to Reichelt's advances. The article also revealed that Reichelt had forged divorce papers to win over female employees, and paid at least one employee 5,000 Euros in hush money to not discuss the matter. Following the report, Reichelt was fired from his post as chairman of the editors-in-chief.[ At Axel Springer, Politico's New Owner, Allegations of Sex, Lies and a Secret Payment, The New York Times, retrieved 17 October 2021.][ Hintergründe zur Entlassung Julian Reichelts als "Bild"-Chef, Tagesschau (ARD) auf Youtube, 19 October 2021.][ Axel Springer removes a top editor after a Times report on workplace behavior, The New York Times, 18 October 2021.]
Time after Springer
From July 2022, Reichelt began the show ""Achtung, Reichelt!" on YouTube. The show, along with other projects of Reichelt's is financed by
Frank Gotthard, a businessman with close ties to the CDU.
"Achtung, Reichelt!" is also distributed on Nius, likewise financed by Gotthard, and as a podcast. Several of Nius' reporters were formerly employed at Bild.
In 2024, the operating company of Nius, Vius SE, applied to the Berlin-Brandenburg State Media Authority (MABB) for approval for a nationwide television and radio program.
Recognition
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Axel-Springer-Prize for young journalists in the category Supraregional / National Contributions for his report from Afghanistan "You can kill us, but never defeat us", published in two parts on 12 and 13 October 2007 in Bild (2008).
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In 2018, Reichelt was awarded the "Golden Potato", a parody award for journalists who "present a distorted image of race relations in the immigration nation of Germany".
[ Ein Meister der Panik-Schlagzeile. In: Deutschlandfunk. 23 October 2018. Konstantina Vassilou-Enz im Gespräch mit Vladimir Balzer.] Reichelt attended the ceremony but turned down the award, claiming that the word "potato" had become a term of racial abuse against Germans.[ #5 Traurige Kartoffeln – Reden wir über Rassismus?. In: Deutschlandfunk. 8 November 2018.]
Publications
External links
