05.05.15

Wolfgang Büchner named as new Managing Director of the Blick Group

The former editor-in-chief of Der Spiegel and Spiegel Online, Wolfgang Büchner, will be the new Managing Director of the Zurich-based Blick Group. Büchner will assume his new duties in July 2015.

Wolfgang Büchner, who is 48, was editor-in-chief of the news magazine Der Spiegel and of Spiegel Online from September 1, 2013 to December 31, 2014. Prior to that, he ran the Deutsche Presse Agentur (dpa) as the agency’s editor-in-chief. Born in Speyer am Rhein, Wolfgang Büchner began his career working on a freelance basis for his local newspaper. In the early 1990s he worked in Halle/Saale and Magdeburg, where he wrote for the tabloid newspapers Neue Presse/Express and Bild-Zeitung, before moving on to the news agencies Associated Press and then Reuters, where he worked as a reporter and service manager. Before joining the dpa, Büchner worked spent eight years working for Spiegel Online, ultimately as co-editor-in-chief. In the German Medium Magazin’s Journalist of the Year awards, Büchner was twice elected Editor-in-Chief of the Year, in 2010 and again in 2012.

From July 2015, Wolfgang Büchner will be the new Managing Director of the Blick Group in Zurich, succeeding Alexander Theobald, Head of Operations and Business Development, who is currently carrying out these duties on an interim basis. Büchner will report directly to Marc Walder, Ringier’s CEO.

In the words of Marc Walder: “In appointing Wolfgang Büchner the Blick Group has gained a top European journalist. Büchner not only embodies journalistic relevance, he also has a strong track record in the digital transformation of media brands. Together with their editors-in-chief and management teams, he will be responsible for the ongoing development of our strong Blick, SonntagsBlick, Blick am Abend, Blick.ch and Blickamabend.ch publications.”

The Blick Group is the strongest media brand in German-speaking Switzerland. According to the most recent WEMF survey (Total Audience 1.4), the Group’s newspapers and online portals reach a total of 1.962 million readers and users every day.

Ringier AG, Corporate Communications

Wolfgang Büchner | Bild: Laurence Chaperon