About Übermedien

Übermedien

Übermedien is a Berlin-based, German-language online magazine devoted to media criticism. Founded in 2016 by journalists Stefan Niggemeier and Boris Rosenkranz and operated by Übermedien GmbH, it is Germany's most prominent independent outlet for journalism about journalism: a publication whose entire beat is the work of other media — their errors, their successes, their business models, and their place in public life.

Overview

Übermedien defines its mission in deliberately plain terms: to analyze where the media go wrong and why, and to point out what goes right. In style and topic selection it deliberately addresses a broad readership rather than only industry insiders, although much of its impact is felt within the profession it covers. The magazine publishes articles, investigative pieces, interviews, photo essays, moderated video formats, caricatures, and columns contributed by a circle of freelance authors, along with the interview podcast "Holger ruft an," hosted by Holger Klein. A long-running column called "Bahnhofskiosk" devotes itself, author by author, to individual magazines — an unusual format that reviews periodicals as cultural objects rather than merely consuming them.

The founding idea was that Germany was missing genuinely good media criticism. Media coverage of media events existed, but there was, in the founders' view, no independent, rigorous publication that held newsrooms to account with the same seriousness that newsrooms apply to politicians, companies, and institutions. Übermedien set out to close that gap, and it has since become a reference point in German media discourse: when German journalism itself becomes the story — from fabricated reporting scandals to debates about political bias in newsrooms — Übermedien is frequently where the most detailed analysis appears.

The magazine has received some of the most significant recognition available to German-language media journalism. In 2017 it was awarded the Bert-Donnepp-Preis für Medienpublizistik, the German prize for media commentary; the jury praised its combination of clever commentary, deeply researched investigation, and satirical approaches, "always with a clear stance and an unshakable optimism: it can be done better." In 2018 the outlet was nominated for the Grimme Online Award. Contemporary observers described its approach as differentiated, balanced media criticism — one early profile called it the media section that established publishing houses could no longer afford to maintain themselves. Media scholar Stephan Ruß-Mohl characterized the work as background-rich media journalism that fact-checks established outlets rather than chasing the fakes and conspiracy theories circulating on social platforms.

History

Übermedien was founded by two of Germany's best-known media journalists. Stefan Niggemeier had built a national reputation as the founder and long-time operator of the Bildblog, which critically dissected the coverage of Germany's biggest tabloid from 2004 until he handed it over in January 2010; he then worked as an author for Der Spiegel from October 2011 to May 2013 and for the crowdfunded online magazine Krautreporter from 2014 to June 2015. His co-founder, Boris Rosenkranz, is a media journalist who also writes for the NDR television media magazine Zapp. The two launched Übermedien online in January 2016, and the outlet has published continuously ever since.

The launch combined an editorial idea with a business concept. Rather than selling advertising or depending on a corporate owner, the founders chose to finance the magazine exclusively through its users, via paid subscriptions on the membership platform Steady. Subscribers are playfully called "Übonnenten" — a pun on "Abonnenten" — and the model has held: nearly a decade after launch, Übermedien remains one of the few German editorial outlets funded entirely by its readers.

The strategy worked. In an interview given around its fourth anniversary, the founders reported that Übermedien had grown to nearly 5,000 subscribers, employed a full-time managing editor hired in early 2020, and paid honoraria to freelance contributors from the very beginning. Around a hundred authors had written for the magazine since its founding, with roughly a dozen forming a stable core, supplemented by regular columnists covering different areas of expertise. The magazine had become, in the founders' words, a full-time job in media criticism.

A significant ownership change followed in 2025. In March of that year it was announced that the Cologne-based media trade magazine DWDL.de GmbH had acquired Niggemeier's 50 percent stake in Übermedien GmbH, effective retroactively from 1 January 2025. Co-founder Boris Rosenkranz retained his 50 percent, and Niggemeier remained an author for the magazine. The two companies announced that nothing would change for readers: the editorial teams would continue to work independently, exchange ideas, and keep their distinct financing models — Übermedien exclusively subscriber-funded, DWDL.de advertising-funded. Management and the editorship-in-chief are held by Alexander Graf. Niggemeier had already stepped back from the editor-in-chief role at the end of 2023, remaining as shareholder and author before selling his shares the following year.

Programming

Because Übermedien is an online magazine rather than a broadcast outlet, its "programming" is best understood as its mix of editorial formats and content strands. The core output is critical reporting and commentary on the German media landscape: investigations into editorial failures, analyses of coverage patterns, and detailed debunkings of widely circulated media errors. Interviews with media makers form a second pillar, giving the people behind the headlines space to explain their decisions and defend their work.

The podcast "Holger ruft an," hosted by Holger Klein, extends the magazine's range into audio, presenting in-depth interviews in a conversational format. Photo essays and caricatures provide visual commentary on media events, while moderated video pieces address stories that benefit from a visual treatment. The column section brings in outside voices, with freelance authors writing on their areas of specialization, and the "Bahnhofskiosk" series — in which a single author engages intensively with one magazine — has become a signature format.

Across all formats, the editorial line is consistent: criticism that is precise rather than polemical, grounded in verifiable evidence, and willing to acknowledge when media get things right. The magazine does not position itself as an adversary of journalism as a whole; it positions itself as journalism's own critical corrective, arguing that a media system that claims a special role in holding power to account must accept being held to account itself.

Coverage & Audience

Übermedien publishes in German and covers the German-language media landscape, with an emphasis on developments in Germany. Its distribution is entirely digital: the magazine's website, its podcast feeds on common podcast platforms, and the membership infrastructure through which its readers subscribe. It does not publish in print and maintains no regional editions; its audience is wherever German-language readers interested in media affairs are found.

In style and topic choice the magazine deliberately addresses a broad public rather than a narrow professional circle, and its readership includes both media professionals and an engaged general audience. Verified figures on audience size are limited: in an interview around early 2020 the founders reported nearly 5,000 paying subscribers, and more recent figures have not been publicly confirmed. Traffic and reach statistics are not published by the outlet, and no reliable third-party measurement of its total readership is available.

Ownership

Übermedien is operated by Übermedien GmbH, a Berlin-based limited liability company. Following the transaction announced in March 2025, the company's shares are held equally by co-founder Boris Rosenkranz and DWDL.de GmbH, the Cologne-based operator of the advertising-financed media trade magazine DWDL.de. Stefan Niggemeier, who co-founded the company and served as its editor-in-chief until the end of 2023, sold his 50 percent stake to DWDL.de and remains associated with the magazine as an author. Management of the company and the editor-in-chief role are held by Alexander Graf. The editorial team listed by the outlet includes Alexander Graf, Lisa Kräher, Annika Schneider, Johanna Bernklau, and Boris Rosenkranz.

The outlet's stated financing model is exclusivity of user funding: Übermedien carries no advertising and is financed solely through reader subscriptions. DWDL.de, as the new co-owner, guarantees that this model will be preserved, and the two editorial operations continue to work independently of one another.

Digital Presence

The magazine's home is its website at uebermedien.de, where all articles, columns, photo essays, and videos are published. Subscriptions and membership management run through the Steady platform, which also hosts the magazine's community of "Übonnenten." The podcast "Holger ruft an" is distributed via common podcast platforms, and the outlet maintains a presence on social networks to distribute its articles and engage with readers. There is no print edition and no app; the website is the single publishing hub, complemented by audio distribution and the membership platform that sustains it financially.