Armin Thurnher

thumb|upright|{{center|Armin Thurnher (2018)}} '''Armin Thurnher''' (born 21 February 1949) is an Austrian journalist. He is publisher and editor-in-chief of the Viennese city newspaper ''Falter''.

== Life == Thurnher was born in Bregenz. After studying Anglistics and American studies (1967/68) at the Wagner College in New York and Germanistics and theatre studies in Vienna from 1968 - which he did not complete - Thurnher became a member of the editorial collective of ''Falter'' in 1977, member of the editorial collective of the Viennese city newspaper ''Falter'' founded and published by {{Ill|Walter Kienreich|de}} and (since June 2012) continues to be its publisher as well as its editor-in-chief alongside {{Ill|Florian Klenk|de}}. He is also co-owner of the Falter publishing house. Since 1970 he has been active as a freelance author, actor and stage musician at the theatre; in 1972 he wrote the play ''Stoned Vienna'' together with {{Ill|Heinz Rudolf Unger|de}}. In the 1980s, he was the correspondent in Vienna for the cultural magazine {{Ill|Westermanns Monatshefte|de}}. In the 1990s, he worked for the weekly newspapers ''Die Zeit'' and ''Die Woche''. His columns appeared among others in the daily newspapers ''AZ'', ''Die Presse'' and ''Kleine Zeitung''. He also sits on the board of open television Okto, where he is also one of the presenters of the ''Das Medienquartett'' programme.<ref>{{cite book |title=Florian Klenk wird "Falter"-Chefredakteur |work=Der Standard |url=https://www.derstandard.at/consent/tcf/1338558740911/doppelspitze-florian-klenk-wird-falter-chefredakteur] |access-date=2 September 2021}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://okto.tv/dasmedienquartett |title=Das Medienquartett: Auf leisen Sohlen ins Gehirn |work=okto.tv |access-date=2 September 2021}}</ref>

Thurnher is a critic of the Austrian print media landscape, which is dominated by the ''Kronen Zeitung'' and the glossy magazines of the NEWS group. He concluded his editorials in the ''Falter'', every week for twenty years, in the style of Cato's ''Ceterum censeo Carthaginem esse delendam'' with the sentence: ''For the rest, I am of the opinion that the Mediamil complex must be smashed''. ''Mediamil'' is a word combination created by Thurnher from ''{{Ill|Mediaprint|de}}'' and the magazines ''Format'' and ''Profil'' from the NEWS group.

In August 2014, Thurnher discontinued the habit of the ''last sentence'', which had been cultivated over decades and had become dear to his readers. The word formation ''Feschismus'', a portmanteau from Fascism and fesch, also goes back to Thurnher.<ref>Ulrich Weinzierl: [https://www.welt.de/print-welt/article269308/Wenn-alle-untreu-werden.html ''Wenn alle untreu werden. Hooking up with the FPÖ is no longer at all chic in Austria before the election: On the decline of Haider's Feschism'']. Online at Die Welt, 23 November 2002.</ref><ref>[http://www.zeit.de/2013/08/Oesterreich-NZZ-Korrespondent-Ritterband/komplettansicht ''Österreich Wo man sich's richtet''] In ''Die Zeit.'' Online: "For twelve years Charles E. Ritterband reported on Austrian politics for the ''Neue Zürcher Zeitung''. Now he is resigning from this function. The résumé of a reporter who went out to learn to understand an operetta state." By Charles E. Ritterband 14 February 2013.</ref>

Armin Thurnher is not related to the Falter journalist Christa Thurnher.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Thurnher |first=Armin |title=Besuch auf der Buch |url=https://www.falter.at/seuchenkolumne/20231110/besuch-auf-der-buch |access-date=2024-10-13 |website=www.falter.at}}</ref>

== Works == * ''Schwarze Zwerge. Österreichs Medienlandschaft und ihre Bewohner.''<ref>[https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/246574116 ''Schwarze Zwerge. Österreichs Medienlandschaft und ihre Bewohner.''] on worldCat</ref> Sonderzahl, Vienna 1992, {{ISBN|3-85449-042-9}}. * ''Franz Vranitzky im Gespräch mit Armin Thurnher.'' Eichborn Verlag, Frankfurt 1992, {{ISBN|3-8218-1161-7}}. * ''Österreich neu. Der Report an den Kanzler. Zwölf Provokationen zu Themen der Zeit.'' Kremayr & Scheriau, Vienna 1994, {{ISBN|3-218-00585-X}}. * Aufgezeichnet: Leon Zelman: ''Ein Leben nach dem Überleben''. Kremayr und Scheriau, Vienna 1995, {{ISBN|3-218-00600-7}}. * ''Das Trauma, ein Leben. Österreichische Einzelheiten.'' Zsolnay, Vienna 1999, {{ISBN|3-552-04926-6}}. * ''Heimniederlage. Nachrichten aus dem neuen Österreich.'' Zsolnay, Vienna 2000, {{ISBN|3-552-04975-4}}. * ''Wie werde ich Magazin-Journalist?'' In Reinhard Christl, Silke Rudorfer (ed.): Wie werde ich Journalist/in? Wege in den Traumberuf. LIT Verlag, Vienna 2007, {{ISBN|978-3-7000-0687-9}}, pp. 161 ff. * ''Die Wege entstehen im Gehen. Alfred Gusenbauer im Gespräch mit Katharina Krawagna-Pfeifer und Armin Thurnher.'' Czernin, Vienna 2008, {{ISBN|978-3-7076-0243-2}}. * ''Der Übergänger.'' Roman, Zsolnay, Vienna 2009, {{ISBN|978-3-552-05367-0}}. * ''Thurnher auf Rezept. Die besten Kochideen aus Visa Magazin, Magazin Complete und Falter.'' ''Falter'', Vienna 2010, {{ISBN|978-3-85439-449-5}}. * ''Republik ohne Würde.'' Zsolnay, Vienna 2013, {{ISBN|978-3-552-05603-9}}. * ''Ach, Österreich!'' Europäische Lektionen aus der Alpenrepublik. Zsolnay, Vienna 2016, {{ISBN|978-3-552-05830-9}}. * ''Fähre nach Manhattan: Mein Jahr in Amerika.'' Zsolnay, Vienna 2019, {{ISBN|978-3-552-05925-2}}.

== Awards == * 1991: Preis der Stadt Wien für Publizistik * 1999: Ehrenpreis des Vorarlberger Buchhandels * 1999: Bruno-Kreisky-Preis für das politische Buch (Hauptpreis) für ''Das Trauma, ein Leben. Österreichische Einzelheiten'' * 2000: Silbernes Ehrenzeichen der Stadt Wien * 2001: Kurt-Vorhofer-Preis für Publizistik * 2002: Dr.-Karl-Renner-Publizistikpreis * 2005: {{Ill|Concordia-Preis|de}}, Kategorie Pressefreiheit [Wiener Stadtzeitung ''Falter''] * 2010: Ehrenpreis des österreichischen Buchhandels für Toleranz in Denken und Handeln * 2013: Otto-Brenner-Preis, Kategorie "Spezial" * 2016: Bruno-Kreisky-Preis für das politische Buch, Preis für das publizistische Gesamtwerk.<ref>[http://orf.at/stories/2373558/ ''orf.at - Milanovic erhält Kreisky-Preis für das Politische Buch 2016'']. Article from 32017, retrieved 2 September 2021.</ref>

== References == {{Reflist}}

== Further reading == * {{Ill|Andreas Puff-Trojan|de}}: ''Skeptischer Patriot''. In ''Börsenblatt'' 173 (2006) 37, {{pp.|28|30}}.

== External links == {{Commonscat}} * {{DNB portal|121479188}} * {{DDB|Person|121479188}} * {{Perlentaucher|armin-thurnher}} * {{Austriaforum|Wissenssammlungen/Biographien/Thurnher,_Armin|Armin Thurnher}} * [https://cms.falter.at/falter/kategorie/autoren/armin-thurnher/ Ausgewählte FALTER-Artikel von Armin Thurnher] * [http://www.mediathek.at/atom/137900CC-09E-000D8-00000ADC-13783121/ Radio-Portrait of Armin Thurnher] in the Ö1 broadcast series "Chronisten, Reporter, Aufklärer" aus dem Jahr 2002

{{DEFAULTSORT:Thurnher, Armin}} Category:Austrian editors Category:Austrian columnists Category:20th-century Austrian journalists Category:20th-century Austrian male journalists Category:21st-century Austrian journalists Category:21st-century male journalists Category:Opinion journalists Category:1949 births Category:Living people Category:People from Bregenz