Franz Josef Wagner (born 7 August 1943 in
Olomouc) is a German author and journalist. He was editor-in-chief of Bild, Germany's largest newspaper, launched Elle magazine's German edition, and has written a number of books, one of which was adapted for television.
Life
Wagner grew up in
Regensburg. His father was a teacher. After finishing his schooling, Wagner worked for the Nürnberger Zeitung [
de], one of Germany's oldest
daily newspapers.[1] In the early 1960s he worked as a journalist for Bild in
Munich. In 1966 Wagner joined the
Axel Springer media company in
Hamburg. During this stint at Axel Springer, Wagner was for a time a
war correspondent. In 1988, Wagner moved to
Hubert Burda Media in Munich.[2] At Hubert Burda Media he served as editor-in-chief of the magazine Bunte. Wagner, together with journalist
Günter Prinz [
de], started the German edition of Elle magazine in 1988, and the magazine Superillu in 1990. In 1991 Wagner started the short-lived tabloid Super! [
de].[3][4] In July 1998 Wagner returned to Axel Springer, becoming editor-in-chief of Bild.[5][6] He was replaced as editor-in-chief in 2000.[7][8][9][10] Since 2001 Wagner has written a column, Post von Wagner, for Bild.[11] Wagner is the author of eight books. His most recent book, an autobiography, was published in 2010.
^"Medien: "Bild": Einstand der neuen Springer-Chefs". Aktuelle News (in German). 1 January 2001. Retrieved 31 August 2023. Sein Vorgänger Franz Josef Wagner hatte indes am Dienstag seinen ersten Auftrag als Chefkolumnist des Axel Springer Verlages zu erfüllen. Er schreibt ab heute täglich in "Bild" einen Brief. Die Kolumne mit dem Titel "Post von Wagner" auf Seite 2 der heutigen Ausgabe ist an Bundeskanzler Gerhard Schröder adressiert.