Gruner + Jahr | Hamburg, 07/04/2017

#FightForOurWrite

Gruner + Jahr is greeting the heads of state and government leaders of the G20 nations with a campaign for freedom of speech and freedom of the press. With four huge posters on the facade of the publishing company building facing the Elbphilharmonie concert hall, where Recep Erdogan, Donald Trump, Vladimir Putin and others will attend a concert on Friday evening, and a multilingual social media campaign, the Bertelsmann publishing company is drawing attention to attacks on freedom of the press and advocating for unfettered media reporting.

At the heart of the campaign are motifs which, referencing imprisoned journalists around the globe, depict five G+J editors-in-chief behind bars. They demand an absolute renunciation of restrictions on the rights of journalists. The message proclaimed, for example, by Christian Krug, editor-in-chief of the weekly news magazine ‘Stern‘, is: “Criticism must never justify solitary confinement.” The campaign was conceived and created by G+J subsidiary Territory Webguerillas. The powerful photos of the editors-in-chief were created by photographer Anatol Kotte.

According to Gruner + Jahr CEO Julia Jäkel: “We want to impress upon the heads of state and government leaders of the G20 nations just how important free and uncensored reporting is. Freedom of the press and freedom of speech are the basis for legitimate journalism and a cornerstone of democratic societies. In far too many countries, some of them G20 member nations, critical journalists run the risk of being hampered in their work or even falling victim to governmental repression. It takes the constant commitment of all to guarantee freedom of the press in the long term."

In addition to Christian Krug, the campaign includes appearances by G+J editors-in-chief Brigitte Huber (‘Brigitte’), Christoph Kucklick (‘Geo’), Philipp Jessen (‘Stern Digital’) and Florian Gless (‘National Geographic’ and P.M. Group). An additional motif with the basic demand “For freedom of the press worldwide” in 13 languages directly addresses the participants in the G20 summit.

Beginning this Tuesday, oversized 4.5 x 7 meter versions of four campaign motifs will be flown for a week from the walls of the publishing company building located Am Baumwall on Hamburg’s waterfront. In addition, the campaign will be extended into the social web. All of the motifs are available in German, English, Turkish and Russian for sharing via Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and Google+ on a landing page especially created for the initiative at www.fightforourwrite.com  .