Why much of Munich’s media industry is feeling the cold
It’s a sunny afternoon in the offices of Munich Found. Sharin is creating some graphics, Rebecca, our intern, is trying to make herself understood to a lady at the Finanzamt, while Jean-Luc contemplates a huge pile of brochures and flyers that will be needed for the calendar. The cold wind of recession, which is blowing along the corridors of Munich’s media companies, has fortunately not, so far, reached our little offices on the Lilienstrasse. In the 1990s Munich was the media capital of Germany, creating the kind of dream statistics that make investors reach for their wallets: one out of three German television shows was produced in Munich, Antenne Bayern became Germany’s top radio station, Munich was second only to New York in the book printing sector and, in film production, a survey by the German Economical Institute showed that Munich topped all German cities in film employment and money spent on production. In fact, the number of media firms in Munich increased by 32 percent between 1995 and 1999 and by 40 percent in 2000, according to a study by the Chamber of Trade and Commerce for Munich and Upper Bavaria. Now, looking at the figures in a recent article of the Süddeutsche Zeitung in front of me, perhaps “cold wind” is too mild a term: a “big freeze” is what has hit journalists, cameramen, editors, photographers and translators working in the media capital of Germany in the last 18 months. According to the Süddeutsche 4,300 people in media-related jobs were registered unemployed at the beginning of this year, three times as many as in 2001. Freelancers who are lucky enough to have work report that their rates have been forced down to a minimum. If you don’t accept even very poorly paid jobs, says one self-employed reporter, there is a queue of other reporters willing to do the work in your place. And if you do find work, it often takes months for the paycheck to come through. In addition, many freelancers are unwilling to send reminders for payment, because this may jeopardize their chances of getting work in the future. A friend who works as a photo-journalist taking pictures for RTL, Bild der Frau and Bravo and wishes to remain anonymous—let’s call her E.—said that, for her, the biggest downturn came immediately after September 11, 2001. Suddenly, the phone stopped ringing, sure-fire projects were canceled and photo shoots delayed indefinitely. E. puts this down not only to the instability created by the September 11 attacks and Germany’s worsening economic situation, but also to what she calls the media bubble. During the 1990s, says E., the media industry had ballooned—the disastrous introduction of the pay TV station Premiere was a typical example of the overly optimistic mood of the time—and this bubble was bound to burst sooner or later. While E. is worried about the current situation, in the long term she is optimistic, saying that recession in the industry is no more than a natural weeding-out process and that once the industry has slimmed down it will get back on its feet. Reinhard Wieczorek, head of the City of Munich’s economic department, is also upbeat about employment in the media sector. Quoted in the Süddeutsche, he points to the city’s “creative potential” and “exemplary infrastructure” and says that as soon as the economy picks up, Munich’s media industry will be back on track. Just how long it will be before the economy does turn around and whether the likes of Haim Saban, who recently took over the embattled Kirch Media, will be able to give the industry a leg up remains to be seen. I for one will be dressing warmly, never mind the weather.