About Der Reporter

Der Reporter

Der Reporter is the weekly advertising paper for the Baltic Sea region of Schleswig-Holstein, Germany, published in Neustadt in Holstein with six regional editions across the Ostholstein and Plön districts reaching a total distributed circulation of around 143,000 copies. Published by the Balticum-Verlagsgesellschaft und Werbeagentur of Neustadt in Holstein, the paper has appeared since 18 January 1983, when the first Reporter for Neustadt in Holstein was published. The paper's stated mission is to spread non-political information from the region for the region, and it is delivered every Wednesday to all households in its distribution area, with around 400 postal subscribers receiving it by mail. The publishing house at Hochtorstraße 19 in Neustadt, occupied since August 1993, is the paper's home. Its digital home is der-reporter.de, complemented by the derreportertv YouTube channel.

Overview

Der Reporter appears weekly, every Wednesday, as the advertising paper of the Schleswig-Holstein Baltic coast. Its total distributed circulation is approximately 143,000 copies across six regional editions in the Ostholstein and Plön districts, making it one of the highest-reach print products in the region.

The publisher is the Balticum-Verlagsgesellschaft und Werbeagentur of Neustadt in Holstein, the publishing house behind the paper. The six editions cover Neustadt in Holstein, Timmendorfer Strand, Fehmarn/Heiligenhafen, Oldenburg in Holstein, the Eutin/Plön/Preetz region and the Bad Doberan/Kühlungsborn area, the last in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern.

The paper's structure follows the free-paper model: non-political regional information, community news, event tips, service content and reader features, surrounded by the display and classified advertising that funds the free household distribution. Every Wednesday, the paper is delivered to all households in the distribution area, and around 400 subscribers receive it by post.

The readership is the Baltic coast's households: families, tourism workers, commuters, club members, seniors and the holiday guests who pick up the paper at the many public display points. The paper's free distribution gives it a reach that the subscription dailies cannot match.

History

Der Reporter was founded with the first issue for Neustadt in Holstein on 18 January 1983, in the publishing house's early days when the operation was housed in the basement of a terraced house. The paper's mission, non-political information from the region for the region, defined its journalism from the start.

The expansion followed quickly: in July 1983 the regional edition for Timmendorfer Strand appeared, on 5 April 1984 the edition for Fehmarn/Heiligenhafen, in 1988 the Oldenburg in Holstein edition, in 1992 the Bad Doberan/Kühlungsborn edition, and in 1995 the editions for Eutin, Plön and Preetz. License agreements with partner publishers secured the Reporter's principles in each edition.

The publishing house grew with the paper: in 1988 the offices were extended, in September 1992 the groundbreaking for the new publishing house on Hochtorstraße took place, and in August 1993 the company moved into its new home. In 1994, the publisher donated a granite town coat of arms to Neustadt in Holstein, set into the pavement before the town hall.

The paper's history is the history of the Baltic coast's free press, serving the Ostholstein and Plön districts for over four decades with community journalism.

Coverage and Content

Der Reporter's editions are the weekly record of the Baltic coast's communities. Each edition covers its region's affairs: the town councils' decisions, the tourism season, the harbor news, the beach life, the club events and the community stories, presented in the accessible style of the free paper.

The tourism provides the seasonal themes: the Baltic beaches, the seaside resorts, the events, the excursion destinations and the holiday guests, covered with the enthusiasm of a paper in one of Germany's great holiday regions. The paper's event calendar is the region's comprehensive guide to the Baltic coast's cultural life.

Community journalism is the heart: the club anniversaries, the school events, the parish festivals, the volunteer fire brigades and the local initiatives announce themselves in the Reporter's pages. The paper's non-political mission keeps the focus on the community's practical life.

The classified advertising remains a signature: jobs, real estate, vehicles, services and the private ads that connect the region's buyers and sellers. The tone is neighborly, service-oriented and engaged.

The Baltic resorts' events give the paper its seasonal rhythm: the summer festivals, the beach concerts, the harbor celebrations and the winter markets fill the Reporter's pages with the announcements that the tourism region's guests and residents rely on. For the region's clubs and associations, the paper's pages are the essential free forum, while its 143,000-copy distribution, delivered to every household each Wednesday, gives the advertisers a reach that no other print product in Ostholstein and Plön can match.

The paper's non-political mission shapes its community journalism: the focus on the practical, the cultural and the human, rather than the partisan, has sustained the Reporter's reader loyalty for over four decades. For the Baltic coast's newcomers, the weekly is the orientation guide to regional life, while its publishing house on Hochtorstraße, the paper's home since 1993, anchors the operation in Neustadt in Holstein.

For the region's tourism businesses, the Reporter's pages are the essential advertising channel to the holiday guests, while its 400 postal subscribers, receiving the paper by mail beyond the distribution area, testify to the reader loyalty that the free weekly has built since 1983.

For the Baltic coast's clubs, the paper's anniversary features preserve the associations' histories, while its coverage of the region's harbors, from the fishing ports to the marinas, serves the maritime life. The Reporter's real estate and employment sections connect the region's job seekers and house hunters with the local opportunities.

Organization and Ownership

Der Reporter is published by the Balticum-Verlagsgesellschaft und Werbeagentur of Neustadt in Holstein, based at Hochtorstraße 19, 23730 Neustadt in Holstein. The publishing house has been the paper's home since August 1993.

The paper's editorial organization covers the six editions through its regional newsrooms, with reporters producing the community journalism that distinguishes the free paper. License agreements with partner publishers secure the Reporter's principles in the editions produced with partners.

The paper is printed with modern production infrastructure and distributed to all households every Wednesday through the free-paper delivery network, with around 400 postal subscribers. The digital operations are integrated through der-reporter.de.

The company follows the German Press Code (Pressekodex) in its editorial journalism.

Digital Presence

Der Reporter's digital home is der-reporter.de, the portal for the Baltic coast's community news. The site carries the paper's local reporting, event calendars, e-paper access and service content, extending the weekly's reach to online readers.

The derreportertv YouTube channel is the paper's video arm: news reports, event coverage, the Ostsee-Perlen video podcast series on the Baltic resorts, from Fehmarn to Grömitz to Scharbeutz, and the community features, distributed to the region's audience. The channel's resort portraits have drawn thousands of views.

On social media, the paper maintains presences that distribute Baltic coast news, event tips and community stories. The holiday region's visual appeal gives the content strong engagement.

The digital strategy follows the free paper's logic: use the portal and video to extend the weekly's reach between the Wednesday issues, while the printed Reporter, with its 143,000 distributed copies, remains one of the Baltic coast's most widely read print products, in the region's households every Wednesday since 1983.