Home page - World Report

Germany

Print Send English Partager Tweet

16 out of 179 in the latest worldwide index

• Area: 356,959 sq. km.
• Population: 82,400,996
• Language: German
• Head of state: Angela Merkel, since 2005

The German press, which is renowned for the rigour and independence of its media, reacted badly to new laws regulating the use of electronic data and telephone communications and the resulting threat to confidentiality of information. The scandal of phone tapping by one of the biggest telecommunications groups on a section of the press added to media misgivings about the possible consequences of the application of the new rules.

The German press in May 2008 discovered the scale of phone tapping carried out by Deutsche Telekom against journalists, union leaders and a section of its own board of directors between 2005 and 2006 as the company’s management tried to discover the source of several months of internal leaks of strategic information to the press, which created a crisis of confidence within its management.

The year 2008 was also marked by a ban on foreign television broadcasts from Germany. The interior ministry on 19 June 2008 banned Kurdish exiled ROJ TV from operating there. The television channel which has a Danish licence is suspected of links with the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK). The company Viko Fernseh Produktion which runs ROJ TV in Wuppertal was searched and forced to halt is activities. Lebanese television channel Al Manar was also banned from broadcasting on cable networks by the interior ministry, on 1st December 2008, because the content of some programmes on the channel, which is owned by Hezbollah, were judged to be anti-Semitic. It remains accessible by satellite, although it is banned from selling advertising or receiving donations.

The German Supreme Court, anxious to protect confidentiality and private life of users on 27 February 2008 put major obstacles in the way of verifying emails and the use of electronic data. This new “fundamental right to the guarantee of confidentiality and integrity of information systems” could however be challenged by a decision taken by the federal constitutional court on 6 November 2008 forcing telecommunications companies to transmit personal details and the location of users’ calls to the national security services. Operators have to keep data for a maximum of six months but investigators can only be allowed access to the data in the case of serious offences. A final court ruling is still being awaited.

The government and the parliament in January 2009 adopted an anti-terror law that extends the role and the rights of the federal justice ministry. The new law allows an “online search” and the examination of suspect computers. This however can only be carried out with a court warrant, in line with the constitutional court ruling, and granted only in case of serious offences.

Surveillance carried out in April 2008 against a Der Spiegel editor Susanna Koelbl led to questioning of the robustness of safeguards. The federal information and intelligence agency had for six months monitored email exchanges between the journalist and Afghan trade minister Amin Farhang in a unacceptable practice contrary to instructions just given by the federal government to its agents not to spy on journalists.

Germany

Print Send Partager Tweet

16 out of 179 in the latest worldwide index

German media is renowned for its plurality, independence and courage in tackling sensitive issues and conducting investigative research. The media reacted negatively, however, to laws on regulating the use of electronic data and telephone communications breaching confidentiality of information. In addition, a discussion has evolved on the issue of whether the principle of the public broadcasting system‘s autonomy and independence can still be assured. The debate followed a controversial decision not to extend the contract of a public broadcaster’s chief editor. Futhermore, the trend of concentration of dailies is an increasing danger for the media’s diversity in Germany.

In January 2009, the government and the parliament adopted an anti-terror law extending the role and the rights of the Federal Ministry of Justice. The new law allows online searches and telecommunication surveillance. These measures of inquiry, however, can only be carried out with a court warrant in line with the constitutional court ruling and are granted only in cases of serious criminal acts.

In a similar way the law on telecommunication data retention (“Vorratsdatenspeicherung”) was met with criticism. The law on “Vorratsdatenspeicherung” was an implementation of a corresponding European Union directive. It requires telecommunications companies to retain data for six months as well as transmit personal details and the location of users’ calls to national security services. The directive endangers the protection of journalistic sources as well as the confidentiality of communication between journalists and informants. On 2 March 2010 the German Federal Constitutional Court ruled this regulation as being unconstitutional, a decision widely approved by RSF, journalists’ associations and organisations for data protection. The German government has, however, announced that it will be drafting a new law to implement the EU directive.

Nikolaus Brender, chief editor of the public television channel ZDF, was forced to resign from his position in November 2009. His contract was not renewed after several politicians on ZDF’s executive board – mainly members of Chancellor Angela Merkel’s Christian Democratic Union – questioned Brender’s qualifications for the job. Brender, a widely respected journalist, gained a lot of support throughout the German media. Media and organisations such as RSF judge the refusal to extend Brender’s contract as a blatant violation of public broadcasters’ principle of independence as stipulated by the Federal Constitutional Court.

Due to financial pressure, the situation of media plurality and quality worsened in 2009 and 2010. There is an increased number of layoffs and a general trend of merging editorial departments is being witnessed. The large media group Gruner + Jahr is cutting jobs in various magazines in order to reduce costs. Another example of press fusion is seen with the group of media WAZ – the source of information for three of its newspapers’ national pages is primarily a single news desk of the corporate headquarters based in Essen.