Die Presse is an Austria

Austria

Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...

n daily newspaper

Newspaper

A newspaper is a scheduled publication containing news of current events, informative articles, diverse features and advertising. It usually is printed on relatively inexpensive, low-grade paper such as newsprint. By 2007, there were 6580 daily newspapers in the world selling 395 million copies a...

 based in Vienna

Vienna

Vienna is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.723 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre...

. It was founded in 1946 by World War II

World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

 resistance

Austrian resistance

The Austrian resistance to the Nazi rule that started with the Anschluss in 1938 had a prehistory of socialist and communist activism against the era of Austrofascism from 1934. These activists, limited primarily to adherents of the political far left, operated in isolation from the Austrian...

 fighter Ernst Molden

Ernst Molden

Ernst Hermann Wilhelm Molden was an Austrian journalist and historian. He founded the Austrian daily newspaper Die Presse in 1946....

 and stands in tradition of the Viennese newspapers "Die Presse" (1848–1896) (founded by August Zang

August Zang

August Zang, , a nineteenth century Austrian entrepreneur best known for founding the Viennese daily "Die Presse"...

) and "Neue Freie Presse

Neue Freie Presse

Neue Freie Presse known locally as "Die Presse" was a Viennese newspaper founded by Adolf Werthner together with the journalists Max Friedländer and Michael Etienne on 1 September 1864...

" (1864–1938; founded by Max Friedländer

Max Friedländer (journalist)

Max Friedländer was a German-Austrian journalist.After studying law like his cousin Ferdinand Lasalle at the universities of Berlin, Breslau, and Heidelberg, he became assessor at the city court of Breslau, and while holding this position he published his book on copyright, Der Ausländische und...

). The paper covers general news topics. It is frequently quoted in international media concerning news from Austria. It is the leading Austrian daily newspaper, though not the largest, with around 350,000 readers. Since March 15, 2009, it has also been operating a weekly newspaper

Weekly newspaper

A weekly newspaper is a general-news publication that is published on newsprint once or twice a week.Such newspapers tend to have smaller circulations than daily newspapers, and are usually based in less-populous communities or small, defined areas within large cities; often, they may cover a...

 under the name "Die Presse am Sonntag".

The "Presse" had been struggling for financial survival for a long time, until during the 1960s, the Austrian Chamber of Commerce

Chamber of commerce

A chamber of commerce is a form of business network, e.g., a local organization of businesses whose goal is to further the interests of businesses. Business owners in towns and cities form these local societies to advocate on behalf of the business community...

 became the main shareholder. Since 1999, it has been owned by the Styria Medien AG, a conservative-liberal media group founded by the Catholic Church.

The political position of the "Presse" can be described as classical liberal, with a strong emphasis on free-market economy and small government

Small government

A Small government is one which minimizes its own activities. It is a concept important to classical liberalism and libertarianism.-In Hong Kong:...

, traditionally opposing Austria's grand coalition

Grand coalition

A grand coalition is an arrangement in a multi-party parliamentary system in which the two largest political parties of opposing political ideologies unite in a coalition government...

 and its neocorporatist

Corporatism

Corporatism, also known as corporativism, is a system of economic, political, or social organization that involves association of the people of society into corporate groups, such as agricultural, business, ethnic, labor, military, patronage, or scientific affiliations, on the basis of common...

 tendencies. It therefore stands in contrast to other Austrian newspapers of quality including the more conservative Wiener Zeitung

Wiener Zeitung

Wiener Zeitung is an Austrian newspaper. It is one of the most famous newspapers in Europe and one of the oldest, still published newspapers in the world. It is the official publication used by the Government of the Republic of Austria for its formal announcements. It was founded in 1703 under the...

 and the leftist Der Standard

Der Standard

Der Standard is an Austrian national daily newspaper which is published in Vienna . It was founded by Oscar Bronner as a financial newspaper and the first edition was published on 1988-10-19...

. Emphasis is put on the 1848 revolution as the beginning of its tradition as a liberal newspaper, citing it in its slogan "Free since 1848".

In 2009, reports claimed that the "Presse"'s long-time editor, Otto Schulmeister, had been working for the CIA in the 1960s and 1970s.