Profil (magazine)

Profil
Editor-in-chiefAnna Thalhammer
Former editorsChristian Rainer
CategoriesNews magazine
FrequencyWeekly
Circulation34,649 sold copies
PublisherProfil Redaktion GmbH
FounderOscar Bronner
First issue7 September 1970 (1970-09-07)
CompanyProfil Redaktion GmbH
CountryAustria
Based inVienna
LanguageGerman
Websitewww.profil.at
ISSN1022-2111

Profil (stylized as profil) is an Austrian weekly news magazine published in German and based in Vienna. It was founded by Oscar Bronner in 1970 as a monthly magazine and later became a weekly. The magazine is known for political reporting and investigative journalism in Austria. It is sometimes considered the Austrian counterpart to Der Spiegel.[1][2] In 2008 the magazine was described as the "most important Austrian news magazine".[3]

History and profile

Profil was founded in 1970[4] by Oscar Bronner,[5][6] who also founded the business magazine trend and the daily newspaper Der Standard.[7][8] The magazine is headquartered in Vienna.[5][9]

The first edition of Profil came out as a monthly on 7 September 1970. Starting in October 1972, it was published every two weeks and from January 1974 every week.[10] The first issue had a cover illustration by Erich Sokol and the lead story "FPÖ zwischen Macht und Pleite". Its initial circulation was 25,000 copies and the cover price was 20 Austrian schillings.[11] In 1975 the business magazine ecco merged with Profil.[8]

Profil includes sections for Austria, abroad, economy, society, science, and culture. Glosses, caricatures, and letters to the editor are also published. In the mid-1980s it had an independent and liberal leaning.[12] In the 2000s the magazine was described as having a left-liberal political stance.[13] It targets Austria's intelligentsia.[8] Both Profil and trend initiated investigative journalism in the country.[8]

In 1980, Profil journalist Alfred Worm reported extensively on the AKH scandal, a corruption affair connected to the construction of the Vienna General Hospital.[14] The magazine also played a major role in the Waldheim affair. In 1986, Profil journalist Hubertus Czernin published documents concerning Kurt Waldheim's concealed wartime record during Waldheim's presidential campaign.[15][16] Czernin later served as the political editor of Profil.[17][18]

On 27 March 1995, Profil published allegations of sexual abuse against Cardinal Hans Hermann Groër, then Archbishop of Vienna. The reporting contributed to one of the major scandals in recent Austrian church history and preceded Groër's resignation as archbishop.[19]

Christian Rainer succeeded Josef Votzi as publisher and editor-in-chief in 1998.[6] The chief editorial staff later included Sven Gächter, Stefan Janny, and Herbert Lackner. In 1998 the newly founded weekly magazine Format became a direct competitor of Profil.[20]

Following the 2001 magazine merger, Profil was organizationally split between the News group and the Kurier group.[5][21] In 2019, Kurier took over the remaining publishing and economic functions, bringing the magazine fully back under the Kurier media house.[22][23] The media owner of the magazine is Profil Redaktion GmbH, which is wholly owned by Kurier Zeitungsverlag und Druckerei GmbH.[24]

Restructuring after 2022

In December 2022 it was announced that Richard Grasl would also become Profil managing director in addition to his journalistic work for the Kurier.[25] On the same day it was announced that Christian Rainer would end his role as editor-in-chief and publisher of Profil.[26] Due to Grasl's appointment, the editorial team publicly emphasized the magazine's "untouchable journalistic independence".[27] At the same time, management reported three Profil editors to the works council for termination.[28]

The editorial company led by Grasl became the new publisher in January 2023.[29] Anna Thalhammer became editor-in-chief on 1 March 2023.[30][31]

The economics department head and deputy editor-in-chief Michael Nikbakhsh also left the magazine in this context. He was offered the opportunity to run the planned investigative academy of Kurier and Profil as a self-employed person.[32] Before the academy started, Nikbakhsh resigned from its leadership in February 2023. According to Nikbakhsh, a program he had presented to Richard Grasl, Martina Salomon and Anna Thalhammer led to a dispute over the perceived political affiliation of proposed speakers. Salomon, Grasl, and Thalhammer disputed Nikbakhsh's account.[33]

Since January 2025, Thalhammer has also served as publisher of the magazine.[24][34]

Circulation

The circulation of Profil was 72,000 copies in 1985.[12] In 1993, the magazine had a circulation of more than 100,000 copies.[35]

The weekly had a circulation of 76,000 copies in 2003 and 78,000 copies in the first quarter of 2004.[10] In 2006, the magazine had a readership of 6%, being second to NEWS magazine.[36] The circulation of the magazine was 251,000 copies in 2007.[37] Its circulation for the first half of 2008 was 59,124 copies.[38] The 2010 circulation of Profil was 93,000 copies.[39] The circulation of the magazine during the first half of 2013 was down to 71,033 copies.[40] According to the Austrian Circulation Control, the sold circulation in the 2024 rolling annual average was 34,649 copies.[41]

See also

References

  1. ↑ profil Presseurop. Retrieved 3 December 2013.
  2. ↑ Reinhold Wagnleitner (Summer 1999). "The Empire of the Fun, or Talkin' Soviet Union Blues: The Sound of Freedom and U.S. Cultural Hegemony in Europe". Diplomatic History. 23 (3): 500. doi:10.1111/0145-2096.00179.
  3. ↑ Harald Fidler: Österreichs Medienwelt von A bis Z. Falter-Verlag, Wien 2008, ISBN 978-3-85439-415-0, p. 497.
  4. ↑ "European News Resources". NYU Libraries. Archived from the original on 28 January 2015. Retrieved 24 January 2015.
  5. 1 2 3 "profil". Euro Topics. Archived from the original on 15 October 2013. Retrieved 7 October 2013.
  6. 1 2 Kimberly Bradley (October 2014). "Alive and kicking". Monocle. 77 (8).
  7. ↑ "Despite Everything: The Oscar Bronner Story". Deutsches Haus. Retrieved 15 October 2013.
  8. 1 2 3 4 Charlotte Natmeßnig (2006). "Business Press in Austria" (Conference Paper). Helsinki.fi. Retrieved 12 November 2014.
  9. ↑ "The Media in the German Speaking Countries". University of Chicago. Retrieved 9 October 2016.
  10. 1 2 "Media Markets: Austria Country Overview". Russian Telecom. August 2004. Retrieved 1 January 2015.
  11. ↑ Trappel, Josef (2018). Österreichische Mediengeschichte, Band 2: Von Massenmedien zu sozialen Medien (1918 bis heute) (in German). Wiesbaden: Springer Fachmedien. p. 212. ISBN 978-3-658-23421-8.
  12. 1 2 Ulf Jonas Bjork (August 1985). "Excitement, Tinged with Jingoism: British Public Opinion and the Falklands in Four News Magazines" (Conference paper). ERIC. Retrieved 12 December 2014.
  13. ↑ "Communicating Europe: Austria Manual" (PDF). European Stability Initiative. 12 December 2007. Retrieved 12 October 2013.
  14. ↑ "1972: AKH-Skandal". Haus der Geschichte Österreich (in German). Retrieved 25 September 2020.
  15. ↑ Richard Mitten (1992). The Politics of the Antisemitic Prejudice. The Waldheim Phenomenon in Austria (PDF). Boulder: Westview Press. Archived from the original (PDF) on 28 January 2015. Retrieved 24 January 2015.
  16. ↑ "Letter from Europe". The New Yorker. 30 June 1986. Retrieved 9 July 2016.
  17. ↑ Elisabeth Penz; Jon Thurber (15 June 2006). "Hubertus Czernin, 50; Austrian Journalist Had Role in Return of Art Seized by Nazis". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 9 July 2016.
  18. ↑ Richard Winter; Susan Winter Balk; Gregory Weeks (2007). Vienna's Conscience: Close-ups and Conversations After Hitler. Reedy Press. p. 39. ISBN 978-1-933370-08-8.
  19. ↑ "Das erste "Spotlight": Die Groer-Affäre als historischer Tabubruch". profil.at (in German). 12 March 2016. Retrieved 9 February 2025.
  20. ↑ "Format". Eurotopics. Retrieved 23 February 2026.
  21. ↑ ""Profil" und "Kurier" gehen heim ins Raiffeisen-Reich". ORF.at (in German). 25 September 2019. Retrieved 25 May 2026.
  22. ↑ "Grünes Licht von der Bundeswettbewerbsbehörde: profil kehrt vollständig ins KURIER Medienhaus zurück". OTS.at (in German). 31 October 2019. Retrieved 23 February 2026.
  23. ↑ ""Profil" darf vollständig zum "Kurier"-Verlag zurückkehren". Die Presse (in German). 1 November 2019. Retrieved 23 February 2026.
  24. 1 2 "Impressum und Offenlegung". profil.at (in Austrian German). Retrieved 25 May 2026.
  25. ↑ ""Kurier"-Vize Richard Grasl wird zusätzlich "Profil"-Geschäftsführer, Christian Rainer gibt Chefredaktion ab". Der Standard (in Austrian German). Retrieved 13 February 2024.
  26. ↑ "Christian Rainer gibt Chefredaktion des "Profil" ab". Der Standard (in Austrian German). Retrieved 13 February 2024.
  27. ↑ ""Profil"-Redaktion betont nach Grasl-Bestellung "unantastbare journalistische Unabhängigkeit"". Der Standard (in Austrian German). Retrieved 13 February 2024.
  28. ↑ "Anna, das Profil hamma". Falter (in German). Retrieved 13 February 2024.
  29. ↑ ""Profil"-Herausgeber wird die von Richard Grasl geführte Redaktions-GmbH". Der Standard (in Austrian German). Retrieved 13 February 2024.
  30. ↑ "In eigener Sache". profil.at (in Austrian German). 26 April 2023. Retrieved 25 May 2023.
  31. ↑ "Generationswechsel beim profil: Anna Thalhammer wird neue Chefredakteurin". OTS.at (in German). Retrieved 13 February 2024.
  32. ↑ "Michael Nikbakhsh verlässt "Profil"-Redaktion, leitet neue Investigativakademie von "Profil" und "Kurier"". Der Standard (in Austrian German). Retrieved 13 February 2024.
  33. ↑ "Aufdecker Michael Nikbakhsh verlässt Investigativakademie von "Kurier" und "Profil" vor Start" (in Austrian German). Retrieved 1 March 2023.
  34. ↑ "Chefredakteurin Anna Thalhammer wird auch profil-Herausgeberin". profil.at (in Austrian German). 31 January 2025. Retrieved 25 May 2026.
  35. ↑ Eric Solsten, ed. (1994). Austria: A Country Study. Washington: GPO for the Library of Congress. Retrieved 23 March 2015.
  36. ↑ Günter Bischof; Fritz Plasser (January 2008). The Changing Austrian Voter. Transaction Publishers. p. 133. ISBN 978-1-4128-1932-9.
  37. ↑ Anne Austin; et al. (2008). "Western Europe Market & Media Fact" (PDF). ZenithOptimedia. Archived from the original (PDF) on 5 February 2015. Retrieved 8 April 2015.
  38. ↑ "Austria: New circulation figures for the 1st half 2008". Publicitas. 20 August 2008. Archived from the original on 14 October 2013. Retrieved 8 October 2013.
  39. ↑ "Western Europe Media Facts. 2011 Edition" (PDF). ZenithOptimedia. Retrieved 6 March 2016.
  40. ↑ "List of represented titles. Magazines" (PDF). Publicitas International AG. Archived from the original (PDF) on 30 October 2014. Retrieved 29 October 2014.
  41. ↑ "Auflagenliste. Rollierender Jahresschnitt 2024" (PDF). Österreichische Auflagenkontrolle (in German). Retrieved 25 May 2026.
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