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German tabloid Bild to cut 200 jobs in digital shift to be profitable
Publisher Axel Springer warns that certain positions, such as page layout and proofreading, could be rendered obsolete in the future by artificial intelligence
Germany’s top-selling tabloid Bild said Monday it will cut about 200 jobs and close about one-third of its regional editions across the country as part of a shift to digital production.
The posts at the title will be lost across editorial, publishing and marketing, AFP learned.
“Current structural changes are leading to job cuts. We are moving away from products, projects and ways of doing things which will never again be profitable,” management said in an email to staff on Monday.
The company launched a major shift to go totally digital this year.
Owner publishing company Axel Springer also warned that certain jobs, particularly in areas like page layout and proofreading, could be rendered obsolete by artificial intelligence.
Axel Springer said in an email to staff reported by rival Frankfurter Allgemeine (FAZ) newspaper that it would “unfortunately also part ways with colleagues who have tasks that are carried out in the digital world by AI and/or processes are replaced or do not find themselves in this new lineup with their current capabilities.”
Axel Springer, Germany’s biggest publisher, which has a string of titles including news outlet Politico, had already announced in February it wanted to cut jobs at Bild and another flagship title, daily Die Welt.
At the time, chief executive Mathias Döpfner announced that the publisher was to be a “purely digital media company.” AI tools such as ChatGPT could “make independent journalism better than it ever was – or replace it,” he said according to a report from the UK’s Guardian newspaper on the recent developments.
Döpfner said the move was aimed at saving 100 million euros over the next three years.
Earlier this year, BuzzFeed said it would use AI to enhance content. In February, the Financial Times reported that UK tabloids the Daily Mirror and Daily Express are also looking at using ChatGPT to write local news.
However, moves to use artificial intelligence for media content have faced challenges. In April the publishers of German weekly Die Aktuelle fired the editor after the magazine published an AI-generated “interview” with former Formula One world champion driver Michael Schumacher.
Schumacher, who was F1 champion seven times, suffered a serious brain injury while skiing in 2013 and has not been seen in public ever since. His family have said they will seek legal action against the magazine.
