Giant Penis a Weapon in War Between Berlin Papers

Left-wing journal parodies rival editor with obscene sculpture
By Nick McMaster,  Newser Staff
Posted Dec 4, 2009 4:48 PM CST
Giant Penis a Weapon in War Between Berlin Papers
A cartoon mural shows BILD Editor in Chief Kai Diekmann at the building of left winged newspaper TAZ (Tageszeitung) in a pornographic pose with a huge penis on November 19, 2009 in Berlin, Germany.   (Getty Images)

A sculpture depicting a monumental male member has upped the ante in a long-running feud between two Berlin newspapers. The staff of the left-wing Tageszeitung, known as "Taz," have long thumbed their noses at Bild, the widely read, highly profitable tabloid. Taz's latest move: installing a sculpture on the face of its building—which can be seen from Bild's offices—depicting Bild editor Kai Diekmann naked and endowed with a massive penis that stretches the height of the building.

The sculpture alludes to a satirical story Taz ran in 2002, which reported that Diekmann was the victim of a botched genital-enhancement surgery. Not all of Taz's staff, including new editor-in-chief Ines Pohl, like the joke. Pohl says the sculpture is "a pathetic provocation" but—like many on the Taz staff who dislike looking at what Pohl calls "a 6-meter-long schlong" every morning—doesn't want to give Diekmann the satisfaction of taking it down, Der Spiegel reports.
(More Berlin stories.)

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