About pro

pro

pro — the Christliches Medienmagazin pro — is the German-language Christian media magazine from Wetzlar, published six times a year by the Christliche Medieninitiative pro e.V. Since 1987 it has presented current developments in the media world and taken positions from a conservative-Christian perspective on topics from church, society, media and politics. Its authors write from evangelical, Roman Catholic and free-church backgrounds. The print run was stated at 78,500 copies (November 2013); the 2021 media data speaks of over 70,000 copies — one of the highest-circulation Christian magazines in Germany. The print appears together with the Israelnetz Magazin, free of charge. The print editorial head: Jonathan Steinert; the digital editorial head: Nicolai Franz. The portal: pro-medienmagazin.de — with daily media news, the weekly email newsletter proKOMPAKT (since 2006), and the Thursday PDF magazine.

Overview

pro is a German-language Christian magazine for media and journalism, published by the Christliche Medieninitiative pro e.V. in Wetzlar (Hesse). It appears six times a year (bimonthly) with 48 to 56 pages, together with the 16-page Israelnetz Magazin — free of charge. The programme: current developments in the media world — the journalism, the broadcasting, the digital media — and positions from a conservative-Christian perspective on church, society, media and politics. The media developments section tracks the industry: the newspapers' crises and renewals, the public broadcasters' debates, the platforms' power. The positions section takes the Christian stance: the church's voice in the society — the evangelical alliances' statements, the free churches' concerns; the society's Christian critique — the family's protection, the life's dignity; the media's Christian reflection — the press ethics, the truthfulness; the politics' Christian evaluation — the religious freedom worldwide, the Israel solidarity. The authors: evangelical, Roman Catholic and free-church writers. The readers: the Christian media-interested — the evangelical congregations' members, the free churches' leaders, the Christian journalists, the Israel friends. The congregations' members read pro as the Christian media compass: the positions, the Israel news. The free churches' leaders read it for the advocacy: the religious-freedom reporting. The Christian journalists read the Deutsches Journalistenkolleg-listed trade journal: the media industry's Christian reflection. The Israel friends read the Israelnetz bundle: the Jerusalem office's reporting. The print run: 78,500 copies (November 2013), over 70,000 (2021 media data) — one of Germany's highest-circulation Christian magazines, the free distribution's scale. The German Journalists' College (Deutsches Journalistenkolleg) lists pro as a trade journal for media and journalism — the professional recognition, the Christian title's trade-press status. The digital programme: the internet portal's daily media news, the weekly email newsletter proKOMPAKT (launched 2006), the PDF magazine — subscribed by around 11,500 readers (December 2016), appearing every Thursday. The daily portal — the news from the Christian perspective — is the digital front: the media world's Christian wire. The proKOMPAKT newsletter — the weekly compact since 2006 — is the email tradition: the Thursday PDF's predecessor and companion. The PDF magazine's 11,500 readers — the digital subscribers — show the online community: the print's digital twin.

History

pro's history is the evangelical-publisher movement's media story. The publisher's roots: on 30 May 1975 the association Konferenz Evangelikaler Publizisten e.V. was founded in Stuttgart by Bärbel Wilde, Friedrich Hänssler, Horst Marquardt and Waldemar Murjahn — the guiding idea "Mehr Evangelium in den Medien" (more gospel in the media), on the common basis of the German Evangelical Alliance, coordinating the hitherto scattered public-relations work. The 1975 founding's context — the evangelical movement's media awakening, the secular press's perceived hostility — gave the initiative its mission: the Christians' organised media presence. The founders' quartet — the Wilde, the Hänssler (the publisher), the Marquardt (the ERF broadcaster), the Murjahn — combined the publishing, the broadcasting, the journalism: the evangelical media's founding generation. In 1999 the association was renamed Christlicher Medienverbund KEP e.V.; in 2013 thirty staff worked in Germany, Israel and Russia for the donations-financed association. In March 2019 the renaming to "Christliche Medieninitiative pro" was decided. The magazine pro itself has appeared since 1987 — presenting current media developments and taking conservative-Christian positions. The editorial leadership: until 2020 the former FAZ author Stefanie Ramsperger headed the editorial office — the quality-press pedigree in the Christian media; the print editorial head is Jonathan Steinert, the digital editorial head Nicolai Franz. The managing director: Christoph Irion; the chairman: Dr. Hartmut Spiesecke.

Coverage and Content

The magazine's programme is the media world through Christian eyes. The media developments: the journalism's trends — the press, the broadcasting, the platforms; the media policy — the regulation, the press freedom; the digital transformation — the social media, the AI. The positions: the conservative-Christian perspective on church (the evangelical alliances, the free churches, the Catholic Church), society (the family, the bioethics, the education), media (the public broadcasting, the press ethics), politics (the religious freedom, the Israel). The Israel focus: the Jerusalem office and the daily reporting on the israelnetz.com news portal — the "direct line to Israel", the reliable, factual reporting and thoroughly researched news and analyses as the brand's hallmark. The Jerusalem bureau — the Wetzlar magazine's Middle East outpost — grounds the Israel reporting: the correspondents on the ground. The israelnetz.com portal — the daily news — is the German Christian pro-Israel community's wire. The authors' breadth — evangelical, Catholic, free-church — is the magazine's ecumenical claim: the Christians' common media voice across confessions. The journalism is the Christian media's: the witnessing, the positioning, the informing — the gospel in the media, from the 1987 first issue to the current editions.

Organization and Ownership

pro is published by the Christliche Medieninitiative pro e.V., Charlotte-Bamberg-Strasse 2, 35578 Wetzlar (telephone 06441 5667700). The publisher emerged from the 1975-founded Konferenz Evangelikaler Publizisten, via the Christlicher Medienverbund KEP (1999), to the 2019-renamed Christliche Medieninitiative pro. The managing director (Geschäftsführer): Christoph Irion; the chairman (Vorsitzender): Dr. Hartmut Spiesecke. The editorial leadership: Jonathan Steinert (pro print), Nicolai Franz (pro digital), Elisabeth Hausen (managing editor Israelnetz). The association is financed exclusively through donations. The commercial model is the donation-financed Christian media's: the donations, the free distribution (pro appears together with the Israelnetz Magazin free of charge), the advertising. The donations — the association's exclusive financing — fund the journalism: the readers' and supporters' gifts. The free distribution — the 70,000-plus copies given away — maximises the mission's reach: the gospel in the media, literally delivered. The advertising — the Christian businesses', the publishers' — supplements the income: the mission-compatible commerce. Current staffing beyond the above is not publicly confirmed in the sources available — the donation-financed association's discretion.

Digital Presence

pro's portal is pro-medienmagazin.de — the daily media news from the Christian perspective. The weekly email newsletter proKOMPAKT (since 2006) — the Thursday PDF magazine with around 11,500 readers (December 2016). The Israel portal israelnetz.com — the Jerusalem office's daily reporting, the "direct line to Israel". The publisher's site medieninitiative.pro — the initiative's home. In the German Christian-press landscape pro occupies the media-magazine pole: the 1987-founded Wetzlar title — the 70,000-plus circulation, the Israelnetz bundle, the proKOMPAKT newsletter — on pro-medienmagazin.de, the Christian media magazine, Wetzlar's voice since 1987, the gospel's media witness, six times yearly, freely distributed, faithfully Christian, always. The media-magazine positioning — the media world as the beat, the Christian perspective as the lens — is the title's uniqueness: the journalism about journalism from faith. The donation financing — the association's exclusive funding — is the title's independence: the readers' and donors' magazine, not the advertisers'. The Israel bundle — the Jerusalem office, the israelnetz.com — is the title's distinctiveness: the Christian Zionism's media expression.