Three of German's weekly news magazines are suffering from sales falls while a fourth, Die Zeit, is bucking the downward trend.
Der Spiegel's circulation fell to 883,000 in the first quarter of this year, down from more than 1m in 2009. Stern, once a million-plus seller, is down to about 800,000. And sales of Focus have fallen away too.
By contrast, Die Zeit's circulation has risen by 22% since 2002, reaching a record of 520,000 in the first quarter of this year. Both advertising and sales revenue have increased in that period by 74% and 58% respectively, reports the New York Times.
Why should that be? According to the article, it goes back to the appointment of Giovanni di Lorenzo, a German-Italian, as editor in 2004. Since then the magazine - once known for its grey layout and lengthy analytical, academic articles - has become much more populist, colourful and upbeat.
Source: New York Times
