The Bild-Zeitung (lit. picture newspaper) is a German daily tabloidnewspaper. It was founded by Axel Springer in 1952 and quickly became the best-selling newspaper, by a wide margin, not only in Germany, but in all of Europe. The Bild is based in Hamburg.
Bild-Zeitung is modeled after British tabloids; although its paper size is bigger, this is reflected in its mix of celebrity gossip, crime stories and conservative political analysis. It has been accused of using cheap devices like sensational headlines and topless women on its front page to increase its readership.
Although it is still Germany's biggest paper, the circulation of Bild has been in constant decline in recent years. After selling more than five million copies every day in the 1980s, circulation dropped below the four million mark in the fourth quarter of 2002 and the first of 2003 for the first time in almost 30 years.[1] (http://www.ivw.de/)
The newspaper still remains as a controversial newspaper on the German newsstands because it uses sometimes illegal practises to sell its newspapers. The 1974 Heinrich Böll novel The Lost Honor of Katharina Blum used a fictional stand-in for the "Bild-Zeitung" to make a point about its allegedly unethical journalistic practices.
In 2004 the newspaper cooperated with the American fast-food giant McDonalds to sell the newspaper at the 10,000 fast food chain restaurants country-wide.
Although it is still Germany's biggest paper, the circulation of Bild has been in constant decline in recent years.
After selling more than five million copies every day in the 1980s, circulation dropped below the four million mark in the fourth quarter of 2002 and the first of 2003 for the first time in almost 30 years.
In 2004 Bild was publicly reprimanded 12 times by the Deutscher Presserat.
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