Nachruf: Ex-ZDF-Chefredakteur Bresser tot

Klaus Bresser, a prominent figure in German journalism, has passed away at the age of 90. The former ZDF chief editor died in Berlin on Wednesday. Bresser served as the chief editor of the broadcaster from 1988 to 2000. Intendant Norbert Himmler praised Bresser, calling him a staunch defender of the public service information mandate and someone who shaped the journalistic profile of ZDF.

During his tenure, Bresser conducted numerous interviews with politicians and established the political interview series "Was nun, ...?" He was also the founder of the "heute journal" and the ZDF's "Morgenmagazin" and "Mittagsmagazin". Bresser's commitment to journalism was unwavering, as he stated that he had no other choice but to be a journalist.

His motto was "Who describes the world as it is, also changes it." Bresser was born in Berlin in 1936, and his family fled to Aachen shortly after the end of World War II. He started a handwritten newspaper called "Der Kurier" at the age of 12. Over the years, Bresser worked for various newspapers, including "Aachener Volkszeitung" and "Aachener Nachrichten".

After studying Germanistik, Soziologie, and Theaterwissenschaften in Cologne, he volunteered at the "Kölner Stadt-Anzeiger" from 1958. In the late 1960s, Bresser moved to the emerging medium of television, initially working as a reporter for the WDR before becoming the editor-in-chief of the political magazine "Monitor". He later became the head of the current affairs department, where he introduced the "Tagesthema" format, which was a precursor to the current "Tagesthemen" on Faz.

As chief editor at ZDF in the late 1970s, Bresser significantly increased the news portion of the broadcaster, raising it to over 40% of its programming. He also introduced formats like "Morgenmagazin" and "Bonn direkt" and increased the number of daily news broadcasts. Bresser's dedication to journalism was recognized with numerous awards, including the Hanns-Joachim-Friedrichs-Preis, the Golden Camera, the Herbert-Quandt-Media Award, and the Merit Order of the Land of Rhineland-Palatinate.