About Pressesprecher

Pressesprecher

Pressesprecher — since its 2021 relaunch titled KOM – Magazin für Kommunikation — is the German-language trade magazine for strategic communications and the official organ of the Bundesverband der Kommunikatoren (BdKom), the German-speaking communications industry's leading professional association with around 4,300 members. Founded in 2003 under the title pressesprecher, it has appeared since in the Quadriga publishing house (formerly Helios Media) with eight issues per year and a sold circulation of 8,000 copies; its publishers are Rudolf Hetzel and Torben Werner, its ISSN 1612-7668. On 6 July 2021 the magazine was renamed and relaunched as KOM, because fewer and fewer communications managers identified with the job title "Pressesprecher". The portal pressesprecher.com now presents the live KOM magazine — with current October 2026 content on climate-post studies, tennis personal branding, personnel news and AI reputation.

Overview

Pressesprecher/KOM is a German-language trade magazine for strategic communications, published by the Berlin-based Quadriga publishing house and serving as the association organ of the Bundesverband der Kommunikatoren (BdKom). It appears with eight issues per year and a sold circulation of 8,000 copies. The eight issues per year — the magazine's rhythm — carry the profession's calendar: the conferences, the awards, the seasons. The programme: the communication of companies and other organisations in the German-speaking world — the corporate communications, the digital and internal communication, the media relations — the profession's portraits, the training and continuing-education opportunities, the scientific backgrounds, the professional-political developments. The readers: the communications managers — the corporate spokespersons, the digital and internal communicators, the association's 4,300 members. The corporate spokespersons read the magazine as their profession's organ: the benchmarks, the portraits, the politics. The digital and internal communicators — the association's new target groups — read it for the expanded profession: the AI reputation, the internal podcasts. The members read the KOMszene newsletter: the personnel changes, the commentary. The weekly newsletter KOMszene (formerly Sprecherszene) publishes personnel changes and commentary on current events. KOM is regularly media partner of industry conferences and congresses on current communications topics — the magazine's event presence. The portal pressesprecher.com carries the magazine's current digital edition — the October 2026 articles on CEOs' climate posts (University of Hohenheim study), tennis's personal branding, Henrik Schmitz succeeding Philipp Schindera as corporate spokesperson, the "Unter eins" podcast with Lilly Blaudszun, and practical tips on AI reputation.

History

Pressesprecher's history begins in 2003 — the same year as its association's. The first issue under the title pressesprecher appeared in 2003, published in the Quadriga-Verlag (then Helios Media) as the organ of the newly founded Bundesverband deutscher Pressesprecher (BdP) — the association itself founded in October 2003 in Berlin. The parallel foundings — the association and its organ in the same year — show the institution-building: the profession organising itself, the magazine as the organisation's voice. For 18 years the magazine served the spokespersons' profession under its founding title. The 2019 turning point: the association's members voted on 11 September 2019 in Berlin to rename the Bundesverband deutscher Pressesprecher into the Bundesverband der Kommunikatoren (BdKom), with the articles amended and the new brand (logo and corporate design) presented in April 2020 — because identification with the term "Pressesprecher" had declined, and the association wanted to address communications managers beyond media relations, especially younger digital-communications professionals. The rename's rationale — the spokesperson title's shrinking identification — reflects the profession's transformation: the media-relations officer becoming the communications manager, the press work expanding into digital, internal and strategic communication. The April 2020 brand presentation — the new logo, the corporate design — sealed the institutional change. The magazine followed in 2021: it was renamed and relaunched as KOM — the first issue under the new title appearing on 6 July 2021 with the theme "Berufsbild der Kommunikationsbranche" (the communications industry's professional profile). The pressesprecher.com domain now serves the KOM magazine's live portal — the continuity under the new name.

Coverage and Content

The magazine's programme is strategic communication in the German-speaking world. The current digital content (October 2026) shows the range: the studies — the Hohenheim researchers' finding that concerned CEOs' climate posts on platform X get more hearing than confident appearances; the portraits — the DZ Bank communications chief Martin Roth voted "Sprecher des Jahres" by 215 media professionals; the personnel — Henrik Schmitz succeeding Philipp Schindera as Konzernsprecher; the interviews — the media scholar Jana Wiske on tennis's personal branding and the fans' proximity; the podcast — "Unter eins" with Lilly Blaudszun on the SPD Mecklenburg-Vorpommern's election campaign; the columns — Dirk Benninghoff on office mandates ("First World Problem") and on TV documentaries' control loss; the career questionnaire — Niklas Feierabend of the Deutsche Energie-Agentur; the practical tips — Karoline von dem Bussche on what counts for AI reputation (KPIs beyond mere appearance in AI answers). The print programme adds the training opportunities, the scientific backgrounds, the professional-political developments. The journalism is the association organ's: the insider, the professional, the networked — the communicators' own magazine, from the 2003 pressesprecher to the 2021 KOM.

Organization and Ownership

Pressesprecher/KOM is published by Quadriga (formerly Helios Media), Berlin. The publishers (Herausgeber): Rudolf Hetzel and Torben Werner — the Quadriga house's communications-media owners. The magazine is the official organ (Verbandsorgan) of the Bundesverband der Kommunikatoren (BdKom) — the registered association founded in October 2003 in Berlin as Bundesverband deutscher Pressesprecher, renamed in 2019/2020, with around 4,300 members the German communications industry's largest professional association; its president: Regine Kreitz — the association's elected head. The sold circulation is stated at 8,000 copies; the ISSN (print): 1612-7668 — the title's bibliographic continuity from pressesprecher to KOM. The commercial model is the association-magazine's: the memberships' subscriptions, the industry's advertising, the events — and the Quadriga publishing house's portfolio (including politik&kommunikation, founded 2002, sold circulation 8,000). The memberships' subscriptions — the BdKom members' dues including the magazine — provide the stable base: the 4,300 members' readership. The industry's advertising — the agencies, the tools, the conference organisers — monetises the professional audience. The events — the media partnerships, the congresses — extend the brand: the magazine as the industry's meeting place. Current editor-in-chief details are not publicly confirmed in the sources available — the association publisher's discretion.

Digital Presence

The magazine's portal is pressesprecher.com — now presenting "KOM – Magazin für Kommunikation" with the current issue ("#Community": Gabor Steingart and Alev Doğan's financial-journalism plans, luxury watches, tennis communication), the latest articles, and the subscription offer ("Jetzt abonnieren") — the readers' gateway. The domain's continuity — the pressesprecher.com address serving the KOM magazine — preserves the brand's digital heritage: the 2003 title's URL, the 2021 relaunch's content. The current issue's "#Community" theme — the Steingart-Doğan financial journalism, the luxury watches, the tennis communication — shows the magazine's breadth: the media, the lifestyle, the sport. The weekly newsletter KOMszene (formerly Sprecherszene) covers personnel changes and commentary — the industry's Monday briefing. KOM is regularly media partner of industry conferences and congresses on current communications topics. In the German communications trade-press landscape Pressesprecher/KOM occupies the association-organ pole: the 2003-founded magazine — the BdKom's organ, the 2021 KOM relaunch, the 8,000-copy circulation — on pressesprecher.com, the German-speaking communicators' magazine, live since 2003, renamed 2021, still the organ, still essential. The association-organ positioning — the 4,300-member BdKom's official magazine — is the title's institutional anchor: the profession's forum, the members' benefit. The 2021 relaunch — the pressesprecher-to-KOM rename — is the profession's self-renewal: the spokesperson's magazine becoming the communicators' magazine. The Quadriga publishing — the Berlin house's communications portfolio — is the title's commercial home: the politik&kommunikation sibling, the conference partnerships.