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In your view, how has the relationship between politicians and media changed since the last federal elections in Germany?
It is not just my personal impression that parts of society are increasingly distrusting the mainstream media and accusing them of biased or agenda-driven reporting, it’s a fact. As a media company we must take those sentiments seriously. At the same time, a clear, pro-democratic stance that we take as a company does not prevent us from delivering independent and critical journalism. I think that transparent communication and thoroughly researched journalism are strong tools in the fight against the division of society. And as a media company with more than 1,700 journalists we are in an excellent position to provide just that. With its broad range of formats, RTL Deutschland reaches almost everyone in Germany – and as national media champions we take our responsibility towards society very seriously.
What impact do the changes in the media landscape have on your day-to-day work?
We are significantly more agile as a company and we are trying many new things, in particular in terms of technology. This has been quite a process for a company like RTL Deutschland that has had to change barely anything in its proven formula for success for many years. Today, change is the new normal for us. Luckily, we understood that we need to change in order to remain successful before it was too late. One example is our all-inclusive streaming app RTL+, an innovative and globally almost unique service that we have implemented and established on the market in a very short space of time, making it the most successful product of its kind in Germany today. We are now continuing with a clear strategy along this path of expanding services like RTL+ and preserving our established channels and successful brands at the same time.
How do political communications need to change to get through in particular to young people against the backdrop of the strong influence of TikTok and other social media? What will the implications be for the electoral campaigns in next year's federal elections?
It might sound like a given, but for good communications to work it must reach its intended target groups. For young people, social media are the main source of information. We must thus thoroughly and expertly place information on these channels. In this context it is paramount that we aren’t condescending in our communications and that we provide comprehensible information. To this end, we have developed relevant news formats for our B2C social channels that are very successful with younger target groups. I am sure that political parties have the same awareness for the importance of social media in their communications as we do as a media company.
Eva Messerschmidt took over as Chief Communications Officer at RTL Deutschland in April 2023 and is responsible for the company’s internal and external communications. She previously held the positions of Chief Streaming Officer, Co-Managing Director RTL+, and Head of Innovation at the Cologne media company.
Photo: Eva Messerschmidt
