Stefan Aust, the longtime editor of Germany’s leading newsweekly, Der Spiegel, was on a boat trip near the Indonesian island of Ambon when he learned that he was out of a job. Although Der Spiegel’s circulation numbers were good, many of its journalists thought there had been a decline in the quality of the magazine’s journalism. The nation’s elites no longer considered Der Spiegel an absolute must-read. Working there didn’t feel as glamorous as it used to. Besides, Aust wasn’t exactly an easygoing boss, and the newsroom had never entirely supported him. So the committee that represents Der Spiegel’s employees in shareholder meetings made use of its majority stake in the company, and canned him.

Aust’s ouster, which was announced in November 2007, and the drawn-out search for his successor, filled the pages of rival publications for months. The top job at Der Spiegel is easily the most challenging (and coveted) in German journalism—and that’s not only because of the quasi-socialist ownership model, a legacy from the 1970s when the owner, Rudolf Augstein, bequeathed half of the company’s shares to the staff. Launched by the Allies after World War II, Der Spiegel introduced U.S.-style investigative journalism to the fledgling democracy of the Bonn republic. For decades, the magazine dominated the competition, uncovering everything from illegal campaign financing to the Nazi pasts of government officials. Lately, though, the Hamburg-based magazine has struggled to maintain its preeminent position. Other publications have become more aggressive in their reporting. Internet news sites, including Der Spiegel’s own Spiegel Online, are attracting younger readers. In response, the magazine has broadened its coverage of nonpolitical issues, from crime stories to cultural events, and placed more emphasis on elegant writing. The hard-hitting political scoops that made Der Spiegel famous, meanwhile, have become rare.

Faced with this...

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