For the first time in the history of the Austrian Press Agency (APA), the media company will have a female editor-in-chief. 38-year-old Viennese Maria Scholl succeeds Johannes Bruckenberger, who is applying for a leadership position at ORF after five years at the helm of the news agency.
Scholl has served as an APA alternate since 2019. The Viennese mother studied comparative literature and psychology, obtained her PhD in reading research methods and has been working at the company since 2007. From 2010, Scholl was editor of Culture and Science. Since 2018, she has regularly fulfilled the role of news manager/head of service.
A year later, she was promoted to deputy. Editor-in-chief and in this role most recently responsible for central structure and technology projects for the editorial staff.
Scholl as an absolute “role model”
Scholl is a “role model for future-oriented editorial management in agency journalism,” APA director Clemens Pig praised the new editor-in-chief in a press release: “I am very pleased that we have chosen Maria and her internationally recognized agency and media expertise for this central and “We have been able to acquire a responsible leadership role in the APA.”
Recognized as a “logical successor”.
The APA committees have already approved the change. Hermann Petz, Chairman of the Board of Directors, and Roland Weißmann, Chairman of the Supervisory Board of APA, congratulated Scholl and described her as a “logical successor and reliable guarantor of quality and digital transformation of the newsroom.”
The much-praised woman was convinced that the APA is currently in demand due to its specific strength in the mix of journalism and innovation: “The editorial staff of the APA ensures a non-stop supply of relevant, high-quality and independent reporting and at the same time it plays a pioneering role in the digital transformation of the media landscape.”
Bruckenberger is leaving after almost thirty years
Scholl’s predecessor Johannes Bruckenberger had worked for the APA since 1994, almost three decades. After starting his journalistic career at the “Salzkammergut Zeitung”, he joined the news agency, where he worked, among other things, for the media, education, research and chronicles departments.
In 1998 he became media editor of the APA and two years later head of the department. In 2004, Bruckenberger was promoted to deputy editor of the APA and from 2016 headed the domestic policy department. In 2019, he eventually took over as editor-in-chief from Michael Lang.
Former boss sees ‘point of no return’
For his work at the helm of the APA editorial team, Bruckenberger was twice named Editor-in-Chief of the Year. The industry magazine “Österreichs Journalist:in” presented him with the awards in 2019 and 2022. “Even though the advertisements, the hearings and the selection process at ORF are only just starting and every order depends on the outcome of this process, it It is clear that my role as editor-in-chief of the APA is already a point of no return,” said Bruckenberger, explaining his resignation. For the time being, he will remain a member of the editor-in-chief.
Source: Krone
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