“To say what is”, is the motto that exhorts Der Spiegel’s 1,200 staff to write and produce what is; to report, analyse and critique the world as it is, factually and faithfully, without fear, bias or influence.
Inside Der Spiegel’s Tent, a thorough article published in the Global Mail (a great web magazine, check it out) where Eric Ellis explains how Der Spiegel is a profitable, print magazine.
It seems like they know their base reader as well and quite accurately so:
“I would love to say [it’s] a 22-year-old, very bright woman [but] it’s probably a male, in his 40s, a family man, a bit sceptical, professional, interested in politics, business and history, a bit sports-minded. A banker maybe, who has another language, most likely English and [is] fairly well-travelled.”