GoKawiilThe owner of the Telegraph and Politico has said the outlets' journalists must back Israel or resign, prompting accusations that the newsroom’s independence is under threat.
Tensions inside Politico were laid bare this week after Axel Springer CEO Mathias Dopfner told staff that backing Israel forms a core value of working at the outlet. Axel Springer acquired the political news site in 2021.
The remarks came during a tense internal meeting on Monday, convened after Politico journalists sent a letter to incoming editor-in-chief Jonathan Greenberger accusing the media mogul Dopfner of using the publication “to promote his political agenda”.
Staff warned that his recent opinion pieces “risk undermining” the outlet’s “reputation as an impartial news source”, the Jewish Insider reported.
The controversy deepens scrutiny of Axel Springer’s expanding media empire, particularly after it secured approval earlier this month to acquire the Daily Telegraph.
Journalists fear the ideological direction set at the top could reshape editorial lines across its titles, skewing coverage of Israel, which faces a case at the International Court of Justice over the Gaza genocide that has killed at least 72,599 people and left more than 172,411 wounded.
Dopfner, however, has made his position explicit.
He insists that loyalty to Israel sits at the heart of the company’s identity, presenting it as part of a broader framework of five core values called the “essentials” that also includes “freedom, free markets, individual freedom and freedom of speech.”
He places support for Israel immediately after those principles.
“If that is something that somebody wants to question, then we are really reaching the very fundamental principles of our values,” Dopfner told staff.
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