About Blick aktuell Selters

Blick aktuell Selters

Blick aktuell Selters is the free weekly newspaper for the Westerwald town of Selters in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany, published as one of 36 local editions in the Blick aktuell network of KRUPP Verlags GmbH, Sinzig. Reaching approximately 7,020 households each week in tabloid format, the edition has been published since 2016. Selters, the town whose mineral springs gave the world the word "seltzer," sits in the southern Westerwald between Montabaur and the Rhine, and the paper covers its municipal life, its spa heritage and the village communities around it. Produced by local editors and freelancers with the support of the network's central desk in Sinzig and printed by the family's KRUPP Druck OHG, it is financed entirely by advertising and contains no syndicated national news section, dedicating every page to the town and its surroundings.

Overview

Published once a week in tabloid format, Blick aktuell Selters is delivered free to some 7,020 households in Selters and the neighboring communities of the Westerwald district. The delivery area covers the town itself, with its districts, along with surrounding villages that share its schools, clubs and administrative life.

The edition is one of 36 titles in the Blick aktuell network published by the Krupp family's KRUPP Verlags GmbH of Sinzig, with a combined weekly circulation of roughly 430,000 copies. The Selters paper was launched in 2016, one of the network's younger editions, extending coverage into the southern Westerwald around the famous mineral springs.

In line with the network's editorial philosophy, the paper carries no mantle: no bought-in bundle of national and international news fills its pages. All content is generated within the KRUPP organization, by the central editorial desk in Sinzig under Daniel Stoffel, by local editors and by freelance contributors from a network-wide pool of around 100 reporters and photographers. The paper is local from the first page to the last.

The readership is the Westerwald town's community: families, commuters to Montabaur, Koblenz or Limburg, spa and health workers, club members and seniors. Advertisers are local businesses, craftsmen, retailers, car dealers, gastronomy and service providers, drawn by the paper's complete household coverage in its zone.

History

The Selters edition was founded in 2016, when the KRUPP publishing house extended its free-weekly network into the southern Westerwald. The Sinzig family firm, rooted in the Sinziger Zeitung of 1876, had been filling the remaining gaps in its coverage, and Selters, with its world-famous mineral water heritage, its spa facilities and its active town life, was a natural market for a dedicated edition.

Launched directly as a Blick aktuell title, the paper began with a modern tabloid design, a presence on the blick-aktuell.de portal and an editorial team recruited for the market. In the years since, it has documented the town's contemporary life: the mineral water heritage and its marketing, council debates over development and infrastructure, the spa and health facilities, and the steady rhythm of club anniversaries, parish festivals, carnival sessions and town events.

The town's name carries global resonance: "Selters water" became the generic term for carbonated mineral water, "seltzer," in English, a heritage the paper celebrates in features on local history. The edition's young history is already intertwined with the town's efforts to build on this unique identity.

The launch reflected the publisher's continued confidence in the free-weekly model. Family ownership, with Hermann Krupp as editor-in-chief and Hermann and Peter Krupp as managing directors, provided the backing for new editions even in the digital age.

Coverage and Content

Blick aktuell Selters' journalism is rooted in the mineral-water town's distinctive heritage. The Selters town council's decisions on development, spa facilities, schools, roads and cultural funding are covered in the detail residents need, giving the community its essential record of local government.

The Selters water heritage provides signature themes: the historic springs, the bottling tradition, the spa facilities and the global journey of the word "seltzer." Features on the springs' history, on the town's efforts to market its heritage and on the health tourism built around the waters appear regularly, giving the edition a profile unlike any other in the network.

The Westerwald landscape offers additional material: the forests and hills, the hiking trails and the rural traditions. Club life is the paper's backbone: sports clubs, carnival societies, music associations, volunteer fire brigades and church congregations announce events, celebrate anniversaries and publish photographs, and the freelancers' picture pages of these events are the most-read sections.

Service journalism completes each issue: classified advertisements, job listings, property offers, family announcements, church service schedules and official municipal notices. Seasonal specials on home and garden, health, travel and the holidays give advertisers themed environments.

The tabloid's large color photographs show Selters in its character: the historic spring buildings, the Westerwald landscapes, the town festivals and the familiar faces of local celebrations. The editorial tone is sparkling, constructive and community-minded.

Organization and Ownership

The publisher is KRUPP Verlags GmbH of Sinzig, the family-owned company of the Krupp family whose publishing tradition began with the Sinziger Zeitung in 1876. Hermann Krupp leads the Blick aktuell network as editor-in-chief, with Daniel Robbel as deputy editor-in-chief since 2018; Hermann Krupp and Peter Krupp serve as managing directors of the publishing house.

All 36 editions are coordinated through the central editorial desk in Sinzig, headed by Daniel Stoffel, which oversees production, layout and the digital portal. Local reporting comes from editors and freelance contributors drawn from a network-wide pool of about 100 journalists and photographers who live in the areas they cover. In Selters, they attend council meetings, photograph the town's festivals and keep the newsroom connected to community life.

The papers are printed in tabloid format by KRUPP Druck OHG, the family's printing company, appearing on weekdays between Tuesday and Saturday, each edition on its fixed publication day. The integration of publishing and printing under family ownership gives the company control of the production chain.

The paper lives entirely from advertising revenue: display ads, classifieds, inserts and special publications sold to local and regional businesses. There is no cover price and no subscription income. The company follows the German Press Code (Pressekodex), the voluntary ethical code of the German press.

Digital Presence

Blick aktuell Selters appears online on blick-aktuell.de, the network portal gathering the local journalism of all 36 editions in geographically organized, continuously updated sections. Readers can follow Selters news daily, browse photo galleries from town festivals and club events, and search the archive of past coverage.

The e-paper presents the printed tabloid as a page-faithful digital replica for computers, tablets and smartphones, serving readers away on publication day and former residents following home from afar. Archived issues build a digital chronicle of the town.

On social media, primarily Facebook, the Blick aktuell brand shares story links, event tips and photo galleries directly with readers. The town's heritage content, historic spring buildings, Westerwald landscapes, festival scenes, performs well on social platforms, and the newsroom uses the channels to collect tips and reader photographs.

For advertisers, the publisher markets combined print, portal and social campaigns through a single sales contact. The approach reflects the company's strategy: sustain the profitable printed weekly, with its complete household coverage in Selters, while expanding the digital channels through which Westerwald journalism will increasingly be read.