East Germany's bold new voice launches to challenge media bias this Friday
The OAZ Aims to Fill a 36-Year Gap—It Deserves Attention, and an Honest AssessmentAn editorial
It's rare for something new to emerge in Germany's shrinking newspaper market. But starting this Friday, the Ostdeutsche Allgemeine Zeitung (OAZ) will hit newsstands—a bold venture that might even sound a little reckless: a brand-new publication.
And not just any new publication. This newspaper seeks to close a gap that has existed for 36 years, one so glaring it's hard to miss. That deserves attention—including ours.
Let's be honest: Germany has an East problem. Not because the East itself is a problem, but because this part of the country has been either explained away, pathologized, or simply ignored by the media for decades.
Many people talk about the East. Few report from the East. And almost no one does so at a national level with genuine self-confidence. That's exactly where the OAZ comes in.
An Ambitious Concept with a Decentralized Structure
Behind the project stands publisher Holger Friedrich, who already heads the Berliner Verlag, publisher of the Berliner Zeitung. As editor-in-chief, he has brought on Dorian Baganz from the weekly Der Freitag, with Dirk Jehmlich serving as managing director.
The structure alone is intriguing: Instead of gathering all editors in a single open-plan office, the OAZ distributes its sections across multiple cities. Dresden will host the business desk, Weimar the culture section, and Magdeburg the politics team. Around 25 journalists are currently working on the project, with plans to expand to 50 in the long term.
The Right Idea at the Right Time
Baganz sums up the core idea: There's no shortage of local journalism in the East. What's missing are national stories told from an East German perspective. The goal is to restore a "fourth cardinal direction" to Germany's public discourse. The editorial team follows the principle "We describe, you judge"—prioritizing context over opinion.
This strikes a nerve—a raw one. Thirty-five years after reunification, millions of East Germans feel either overlooked or reduced to clichés in the media landscape.
Friedrich himself speaks of a lack of respect for East German life stories. He accuses West German publishers of squandering trust on a massive scale after 1990.
Not every one of his assessments may resonate. But one thing is hard to dispute: The diagnosis of a representation gap is accurate. And it stings.
Where We'll Be Watching Closely
Here at Telepolis, we're following this project with genuine interest. More voices, more perspectives, more journalistic competition—these things invigorate public debate. In the end, everyone benefits, including us as competitors.
A newspaper that gives East German experiences an equal platform could enrich Germany's media landscape.
Because it's still too often forgotten: East Germans bring unique experiences to the table. It's not just the 40 years in which they forged their own path in literature, philosophy, art, and culture. When they took their fate into their own hands during the upheaval of 1989/90 and dismantled the SED system, they also learned—often the hard way—what societal rupture truly means.
For all these reasons, they deserve more than folkloric nostalgia or condescending snapshots from West German newsrooms.
But—and this but is part of the honesty we owe—we will also scrutinize the project critically. The key question is: Will the OAZ succeed in directing East German perspectives forward, toward the future? Or will it slip into nostalgia and lament?
The temptation is strong to settle into righteous anger over the post-reunification era and turn it into an endless media loop. That would be a mistake.
Because today's East Germany is not the same as it was in 1990. Younger generations have grown up with a different reality than the Wende generation. East Germany has far more to offer than tales of grievance. It holds experiential knowledge that could be immensely valuable for the country's future—if someone unlocks it properly.
The OAZ deserves a fair chance—and a brutally honest assessment. We'll provide both.
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