Editor’s note: In an ongoing series, INMA is profiling our most engaged members — our super fans — to give members a chance to learn more about each other. Today we profile Markus Schöberl, editor and publisher for pv digest in Hamburg, Germany.

The biggest challenge Markus Schöberl, editor and publisher for pv digest in Hamburg, Germany, sees is the about product: “I doubt that paywalled Web sites are the ultimate ratio. Newsletters, for sure, are a successful product. But will that be what replaces newspapers and magazines?”

Schöberl thinks that even in the distant future, the world will need journalism products that cover “everything of importance” plus “something of interest or inspiring.” But what will such a product look like in 2040? That is one of the questions he is frequently asking himself. 

INMA recently caught up with him to learn what else is on his mind.

INMA: What big lesson have you learned over the past couple of years that helped shape your plans for 2022?

Schöberl: Trust data. But also trust your reasoning. Data of today might not be valid in the future.

INMA: If you had your career to do over again, what would you want to know in the beginning?

Schöberl: That there is an infinite number of career paths. That most of these paths pop up suddenly. Planning a career is a stupid idea.

INMA: What makes you excited to get out of bed in the morning?

Schöberl: I spend the first few hours of every day screening newsletters, Web sites, and other formats of trade publications. And literally every morning, I switch on my PC (OK, mostly first the phone, where are all the newsletters are available) with curiosity. There is so much happening in our industry. It excites me every morning to know that this day I will learn something new.

INMA: What is the craziest job or project you’ve ever done in media — and what did you learn from it?

Schöberl: Once, a lot of years ago, I tried to launch a highly personalised print subscription product based on digital printing technology. It was really a beautiful product. But it was a product born out of a business case. It didn’t meet too many people’s needs. So what did I learn? Make sure your product serves your customers, not primarily your own strategic plans.

INMA: What success within your company are you most proud of right now?

Schöberl: Having started a digital subscription-based business about paid content in a time when the majority of industry insiders were adamant that paying for digital journalism would never work out.

INMA: What’s the biggest lesson you’ve learned in your career?

Schöberl: Forget about contracts. It’s all about trust and reliability.

INMA: What do you do to relax?

Schöberl: Running, reading, and playing piano. Also, I became addicted to online chess during the pandemic.

INMA: If you hadn’t gone into news media, what was your backup plan?

Schöberl: Media was my backup plan. As a student, I was interested in following a career as a social scientist. Only later I found out that being part of the societal and economic reality is even more interesting than doing research into these topics.

INMA: What is your favourite thing to read?

Schöberl: I read anything. From high literature about news and magazines to the product info on the milk bottle. But if I were to pick one single thing: I’d never miss the most recent issue of the German magazine Dummy.

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