die Tageszeitung German Newspaper, was founded in 1978 in Berlin. It is a cooperative-owned German daily newspaper which is administrated by a workers’ self-management. Rising out of the midst of a progressive and politically left-leaning movement in the ’70s, its main focus has been on current politics and societal issues such as inequality and ecological crises both at the local and global scale and not covered by the more traditional and conservative newspapers at the time. It has often supported the German Green Party, but the taz has also been critical of the SPD/Greens coalition government (1998–2005).
From the beginning, the taz was intended to be an alternative to the mainstream press, in its own words: “irreverent, commercially independent, intelligent and entertaining.” One expression of its alternative approach to journalism was the payment of unified salaries for all employees until 1991. Nowadays, employees in highly responsible positions receive bonuses. Still, salaries paid by the taz are considerably lower than what is paid in the rest of the industry.