Family proprietorship has always been the traditional ownership structure in the German newspaper market. Yet structural changes taking place in readership and advertising markets as well as the general crisis facing the newspaper business model have cast this form of ownership into question. New actors such as financial investor David Montgomery have introduced alternative forms of ownership. Using case examples from Germany and abroad, the author analyzes a great variety of ownership structures, including classical family ownership, foundations, investors from outside the sector, stock corporations, private equity firms, and ownership by political parties. The study shows the degree to which the permanent changes affecting the newspaper market demand new answers, including the establishment of alternative forms of ownership.

Family proprietorship has always been the traditional ownership structure in the German newspaper market. Yet structural changes taking place in readership and advertising markets as well as the general crisis facing the newspaper business model have cast this form of ownership into question. New actors such as financial investor David Montgomery have introduced alternative forms of ownership. Using case examples from Germany and abroad, the author analyzes a great variety of ownership structures, including classical family ownership, foundations, investors from outside the sector, stock corporations, private equity firms, and ownership by political parties. The study shows the degree to which the permanent changes affecting the newspaper market demand new answers, including the establishment of alternative forms of ownership.