Die Presse, newspaper published in Vienna, Austria’s leading daily (though far from its largest) and one of Europe’s outstanding journals.
It was founded in 1848 during one of the Austro-Hungarian Empire’s intermittent periods of freedom of the press. It emphasized quality, balanced reporting, and commentary from the start. In 1864 most of its editors and staff left the paper to establish another under the name of Neue Freie Presse, dedicated to the same kind of excellent writing and thorough news coverage. The new paper quickly gained recognition and influence.
Neue Freie Presse was merged into a Nazi-propaganda publication in 1939, but after World War II it was reestablished as the independent Die Presse and resumed its longtime emphasis on solid national and world news coverage, perceptive editorial and cultural commentary, economic and financial news, and features, often using contributions by noted authorities. The modern Die Presse takes a liberal view of some issues and a conservative view of others. It is an active supporter of freedom of the press.