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Quick Facts about the Iraqi Media System
Chapter 1: Introduction
Chapter 2: Media History
Chapter 3: Society & Areas of Conflict
Chapter 4: General Information about the Media System
Chapter 5: Media Use
Chapter 6: Media Politics & Press Freedom
Chapter 7: Ownership structure
Chapter 8: Journalism & how to become a Journalist
Chapter 9: Social Media
Chapter 10: Outro
Film about the Iraqi Media System
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Full Script
Intro
Iraq is located in southwest of Asia continent, and enjoys an important position in the global transport, as it is located at the shortest land crossing between the Mediterranean coast and the Arabian Gulf. Iraq is 435 square kilometers, and despite its small size, Iraq has played an important role in the history of the Arab world during different eras.
Far back in the past Iraq was a homeland for the Babylonian and Assyrian civilization and culture. Baghdad was Iraq’s capital during the era of the unified state of the Abbasid Caliphate, known as the “golden age” due to the prosperity in science, medicine, engineering and mathematics.
As for the geographical nature of Iraq, it has a broad valley surrounded mostly by highlands. It is also called the Mesopotamia referring to Tigris and Euphrates rivers that pass through its territory.
As of 2014, Iraq’s population estimates 36 Million.
The capital, Baghdad, located in central Iraq, has the highest number of population with seven million people, followed by Nineveh province, in northern Iraq, with 3.5 Million, and Basra province in southern Iraq, with 2.5 million people.
The Iraqi Media System
What was the influence of Iraq’s geographical, religious, ethnic reality on the media and how did the content of the media change after the recent ethnic and sectarian conflicts in the country?
In the past, the media landscape included several newspapers and only two channels, one broadcast and one satellite, however, today there are dozens of media outlets.
How does the media operate under the current status of the country’s liberties? And where does it get its financial resources?
What is the rate of internet penetration and mobile phones’ use? and what is their impact on the creation of a new generation mastering the use of these techniques?
Geographical characteristics of Iraq, its population size and characteristics in terms of religion, race and sex.
The development of Iraqi media since the founding of the first newspaper, radio, television till the Internet.
Conflict areas and conflicts that influenced the content of the Iraqi media.
A review of the most prominent newspapers, radio stations and satellite channels, and what are the most prominent means used in Iraq?
The main owners of the media in Iraq and the role of the new officials in the world of electronic media.
The infrastructure for Internet and mobile distribution and the development in the use of these technologies.
2. Media History
Since its inception, the Iraqi media went through many stages that changed the concept of modernism and development, and the way Iraqi reality is covered.
One can consider June 15th, 1869 the birth of the Iraqi press, under the Ottoman rule in Iraq, which culminated in issuing the first edition of "Zora" newspaper as the first Iraqi newspaper published in eight pages in Arabic and Turkish.
Following Zora, another newspaper “Almousel”, started to publish in 1885. After 15 years, “Albasra” was published in Arabic and Turkish. It lasted until the start of the British Mandate in Iraq. These three papers “Zora”, Almousel” and “Albasra” were published on weekly basis.
The first political newspaper “Baghdad” was founded by Murad Suleiman in 1908, and was published three times a week in both Arabic and Turkish. It was a prominent pan-Arab newspaper and considered one of the most powerful Iraqi newspapers at that time.
In 1936, the first Iraqi radio started to broadcast, and in 1956 the first TV. The Iraqi News Agency began to work in 1959. The color TV entered Iraq in 1976.
In the beginning, the media impact and spread was limited to the cities rather than the countryside, and this was due to the limitation in broadcast coverage, and the higher interest among the cities’ residents compared to the countryside. This is related to the traditional differences and the limitation of accessibility and distribution in the countryside.
Thus, the elements of what composes today the Iraqi media were completed at the fifth decade of the previous century, which consist of the three main components: the visual, audio and print.
Two weeks after the USA and its allies occupied Baghdad (April 9th, 2003), the Iraqi Ministry of Information was dissolved by Paul Brimer. This has shifted the Iraqi media landscape from state monopoly and domination with multiple newspapers, three broadcast channels and one satellite, into a liberated media without any restrains, nor on quality neither on quantity. The media faced a new era with no regional experience to look at.
The beginning of this phase has witnessed the emergence of a huge number of newspapers and publications. This was one of the new Iraqi media landscape features due to the ease in production and distribution, to the extent that the number of publication has reached 180-200, daily and weekly, with different political, ideological, sectarian and nationalist trends. Many of these publications have later expanded into radio and TV stations, operating either locally, or across the different governorates of the country.
3. Society and Area of Conflict
Iraqi society consists of several religious, ethnic and social groups. However, Iraqis are equal citizens before the law without discrimination based on sex, race, nationality, religion, sect, or the belief.
Islam is considered the official religion of the state, as 97% of the population are Muslims. Sunni and Shiit sects are the two fundamental components of this religion in the Iraqi society.
Islam is spread all over Iraq and then comes Christianity, Sabians, Mandaeans and Yazidis.
Christianity is considered the second followed religion after Islam, and it is acknowledged by the Iraqi constitution, including 14 Christian denominations in the country. They all speak Arabic, in addition to small percentage of Syriac and Armenian speakers.
Christians reside in all governorates of Iraq in various numbers, but the larger numbers are concentrated in Baghdad and in northren Iraq, especially in Nineveh valley next to Mosul.
Arabs compose the majority of the population (75-80% of the total population), followed by the Kurds (12-18%).
This diversity and mixture have resulted in the emergence of different groups and communities, where different religion believes or ethnicities are merged. For example, there is a group called “Al-Shabak”, that lives in east of Musel, and includes different nationalities; Arabs, Kurds and Turkmans.
The main three nationalities in Iraq, are Arabs, Kurds and Turkmans.
Dr. Sarmad Ahmad Alsalmani
Iraq’s contemporary history, according to many observers, is divided into two parts, the first one refers to the era before 2003 and the second is after 2003. The conflict areas have changed between the two eras, and this is due to the political, demographic and geopolitical change in Iraq. This change has also overshadowed the media, which became more open and free with multi-outlets and satellite channels.
This change has led to broader and bigger media landscape and that is why we see how media coverage of conflict areas vary between the different media outlets. This difference is usually attributed to the finance, the political orientation, the policy, and the strategy of the channel.
For an example, if we look at the media landscape today, we see that terrorism is one of the most issues discussed by the media. Indeed, Iraq today is where terrorism is practiced massively, and where the conflict zones are increasing. Therefore, TV channels discuss the issue accordingly, but we can’t find any of them who discusses it impartially and objectively.
These channels are divided into those who do not give much importance to terrorism and ISIS threat, and this is related to the channels policy.
The other part includes the channels who inflate the issue beyond reality. This is also due to political reasons but also could be due to problematic professional morals.
We look today for channels that discuss these issues impartially, objectively and accurately, which can portray the threats of ISIS and its ideology. We are facing today not only an ideological invasion, but also an intellectual invasion that is storming our region.
4. General Information
The Iraqi media have changed a lot in the aftermath of 2003, especially the widespread of newspapers and the freedom of publishing, in the absence of any regulations.
And after the diminishing of the copyright regulations, which were prevalent in Iraq under Saddam's regime, and the decision of the head of civil administration, Bremer, to dismantle the ministry of information, which was responsible for regulating the copyright in IrThe “Iraqi Media Network” was established. It was a semi-governmental institution that adopted the publishing of a daily newspaper called “Alsabah”, other TV and Radio channels, and some other print media. The head of this network is appointed by the Prime Minister, and it is directly subject to the government.
“Alsabah” newspaper is the most important newspaper in Iraq, considering the big financial support it receives from the government, and it’s viewed by the population as the official mouthpiece of the government. This paper makes large profits due to its monopoly over the governmental ads. It was established in 19.5.2003, its first chief editor was Ismail Zayer, and it’s still published until today.
The second most popular newspaper is “Azzaman” and it’s an international Iraqi paper, published by “Azzaman Institute for Journalism and Publishing”. Its founder and head of its board is Saa’d Albazzaz. Its first trial edition was published in 1.4.1998 in London. Later on, a first-in Iraq-edition was published in Basra province in 9.4.2003 following the American invasion. The paper is printed with “The Basra edition” stamp on its first page as it was published in Bahrain and distributed in Basra. Its chief editor is Dr. Ahmad Abd Elmajid.
Then comes “Almada” newspaper, which is an independent newspaper, published by “Almada Institute for Culture and Arts”, founded by Fakhri Karim. Its first edition was published in 5.8.2003. It started to issue twice a week, and later it became a daily. The institution has a private printing house, a publish house and an advertising company. Almada started as an Arab magazine, featuring many of prominent Arab intellectuals.
There is another newspaper called “Al-Ittihad Al-Kurdistani”. It is a political daily, that it belongs to the Kurdish National Union. It is the first Kurdish paper published in Arabic in the Kurdish part of Iraq. Its first edition was published in 24.10.1992 in the Erbil governorate, and one of its main missions was to defend the Kurds’ rights in Iraq. After the invasion of Iraq in 2003, “Al-Ittihad” became the first Iraqi newspapers to be published in Baghdad, it was in 22.4.2003 and it was its 539 edition.
As for the radios, “Radio Dijla” is considered the first commercial radio station in Iraq, which adopted the format of “call in” programs, regardless of the listeners political, ideological, partisan, ethnic, or religious affiliation. It was established in 2004 by the journalist Ahmad Al-Ruqabi.
Radio “Almutamar” was founded in 2005 with the direct guidance and financing of the politician Ahmed Jalabi, head of the National Congress. It is a secular radio station that promotes democracy and the agenda of its owner. Its CEO is Entifad Qanbar, and it broadcasts from Baghdad.
As for the TV satellite channels, “Al Iraqiya” channel was the first semi-official Iraqi channel, that belongs to the Iraqi Media Network. Its programs are diverse, including entertainment, sports, cultural, religious, development and political. A department for drama production was established, which had produced many drama productions that were screened on the “Iraqiya”.
“Al Sharqiya” channel is an Iraqi satellite channel that started the broadcast in 4.5.2004 from Dubai, Erbil, London and Amman, on Satellites Arabsat, Nilesat and Hotbird.
Al Sharqiya is the first Iraqi channel owned by the private sector and has reporters in different countries around the world.
It is considered the most watched Iraqi channel and has one of the most financial and human capacities in the Arab world. It relies on commercial advertising and owned by the prominent media figure, Saa’d Albazzaz.
“Al Baghdadia” is another Iraqi satellite channel based in Cairo. It started to broadcast in 12.9.2005, owned and founded by A’wn Hussain Alkhashluk. Some of its reporters were killed during the violent events in Iraq. It has offices in Amman and Damascus, and licensed in Beirut, Sweden, Norway, Netherlands and Australia.
“Afaq” satellite channel, belongs to the “Islamic Da’wa party”, headed by Nouri al-Malki.
“Alforat” satellite channel, belongs to the Islamic Supreme Council of Iraq, headed by Sayed Ammar al-Hakim.
5. Media Use
Eng. Diaa Algariri, communication and internet expert
Before 2003, internet use was limited to e-mail and simple internet services. There were few internet cafes operated by the Ministry of Communications and the General Company for International Network Services.
After 2003, there was rapid development and openness towards the spread of the internet in Iraq. Internet services covered most of Iraq using optical cable technology, 3G, wireless and fixed broadband.
Different companies distributed Internet to subscribers, as a subcontractor to the Iraqi Ministry of Communications, which owns the supplies of optical cable within the country and is responsible for determining the capacity.
The infrastructure is under the exclusive responsibility and ownership of the Ministry of Communications. The number of subscribers for internet services with licensed mobile companies is approximately 4.250.000, the number of online users that are subscribed with fixed broadband companies is estimated to be 250.000 and the subscribers with the State Company for Internet Services are 168.000 subscribers.
E-governance has been adopted by the Ministry of Science and Technology and the Ministry of Communications. The government issued decree number 46 to apply electronic governance for all departments, ministries and institutions, in cooperation with the Communications and Media Commission.
However, the process in the past five years has been very slow, except some simple applications in some ministries, and the e-service that allows citizens to submit complains. Through the websites (ca.iq ، eqs.iq ), these complains are then presented to the relevant governmental bodies.
The first mobile company was “Iraqna”, then “Atheer” company joined the market. The two were merged at a later stage into “Zain Iraq”. About 12.5 Million Iraqis are subscribed to this network. 11 Million are subscribed to “Asia cell” mobile company, and 10 Million to “Korek” mobile company.
I use a lot Instagram, but many citizens use Facebook, for me Facebook spreads sectarianism, gossip, problems, disputes, while Instagram is a better website, more organized and not used by many.
Twitter, because on Twitter there are real people, not fake. It also allows you to have one account only, and if you create a fake account, twitter will discover that.
Facebook allows me to follow on the various issues in the world, as well as communicating with my friends through the messaging feature.
Facebook, even though its cons are more than it pros, and despite its promotion of sectarianism and abuse.
Instagram, because all my friends are not there.
Facebook, it allows me to communicate with others, especially in other countries.
Facebook, Instagram, and whatsapp, because my friends are there.
The most used site is Facebook, but it has disadvantages and advantages. It helps to rally for the public opinion. While the disadvantages, include the risk of exposing Twitter users, for example, to legal repercussions by politicians or by individuals, for cases of defamation and libel. Many of them face trials, or tribal prosecutions and some of them were even killed.
There are many legal cases that reached the courts, because of practices on Social Network Sites.
We hope that these sites employ technicians who will prevent sectarian sentiments on Social Networking Sites.
There are users of these websites that are undisciplined, sectarian, and young. These are the disadvantages of these websites.
6. Media Politics
Freedom of press and expression in Iraq haven’t met yet the international-western standards. What exists in Iraq is the pluralism of media, which reflects the partisan, ethnic and religious pluralism.
These media outlets do not work freely, they often face harassment from the different political parties, who are also part of the confused scenery in Iraq, which suffers from instability and foreign interventions, making journalists risk their and their family lives if they reveal facts related to the widespread corruption.
Since 2003, over 700 journalists were killed in Iraq, and that reduced massively the presence of international media, especially foreign journalists.
Article 36 of the Iraqi constitution guaranteed the freedom of press and expression.
Firstly: The freedom of expression by all means.
Secondly: The freedom of press, print, advertising, media and publishing.
Although these freedoms are guaranteed by the Constitution, the Iraqi journalists face many difficulties in ensuring objective and neutral media coverage. Many governmental bodies apply restrictions on media institutions or try to forcefully prevent journalists from covering events. This is usually practiced in the name of protecting the country from media discourse that threatens the social fabric, and the unity of the different factions and ethnicities. In some cases, the Communications and Media Commission, which is a government body, have suspended or closed Iraqi satellite channels under this pretext or other.
The Constitution also stipulates a complete and absolute freedom of the press as an essential part of freedom of expression, but this constitutional provision adopted in 2005 did not translate into legislation. The only law that protects Iraqi journalists was passed in 2011.
Its fourth article states:
“Journalists have the right to obtain information, news, data and statistics, which are not restricted from their different sources and have the right to publish them in accordance to the law.”
Many journalists and media activists objected against this article, and considered it a violation of freedom of expression.
They have also objected against Article 6 of the same law, which states: “Journalists have the right of access to reports, information and official releases, and related entities must enable them to have access to them and make use of them unless the disclosure of the mentioned material is harmful to public order and is in conflict with the law.” Objectors state that this article blocks the full freedom, and prevents publishing any information about administrative or financial corruption, and it also may allow putting journalists on trial, based on the Iraqi Criminal Laws related to libel.
Article 7 of the same Law states: “The tools of journalistic work should not be intercepted except in accordance to the law.” Objectors say this article allows the confiscation of equipment for various reason.
The same goes for Article 8: “Journalists may not be questioned or harmed for their opinions or information they publish, unless their action was against the law.” Objectors agree that this article does not provide protection for journalists, because any free journalistic work, is a violation of the law.
These laws, are added to the authority’s decision number 14 from 2003, which gave the prime minister the authority to close any media institution, confiscate its equipment and money, and even imprison its staff.
Dr. Muhsen Aboud Kashkul
Social Network Sites have special presence in Iraq. Facebook is very popular among Iraqis. People use it to discuss different issues, especially political, considering the free space it offers.
The recent judiciary's decision to consider Facebook a media outlet, does not hold a legal status, since Facebook, on the one hand, is not a media institution registered in Iraq according to the Iraqi law, and on the other hand, is originally a US site, located outside the jurisdiction of the Iraqi judiciary.
Not to mention the possibilities of hacking of some pages that puts the owners under legal liability.
We do not deny the citizens right to be protected against attempts of defamation or insults and slander, as we also do not deny the need to protect the society from the infiltration of hate speech and extremism, but we believe that in principle, this conflicts with the right of access to information and media freedoms.
Adding to this, our apprehension of the political exploitation of such decision will have a negative impact on media pluralism.So when publishing materials, there must be a professional and objective control, under moral standards. Recognizing the right of the media to know everything, should not mean saying anything. The choice to publish should take into consideration the specificity of the society and the nature of its problems.
8. Ownership Structure
The oil sector dominates the Iraqi economy, as it provides nearly 95% of its income. Iraq was a founding member of OPEC and began the oil industry in 1925. It is considered a rich country, where its oil reserves come second after Saudi Arabia’s reserves, and it is estimated to be 150 billion barrels. The major part of the oil reserves is concentrated in the southern regions and it amounts to 71% of the total reserves, while the reserves in the the center and north of the country are estimated to be 12%.
Interview with Dr. Kazem Almeqdadi
Iraqi media is financed by many sources. The main source is the religious parties, which are financed by regional countries, in particular Iran. It funds some of the Iraqi satellite channels that represent the so-called political Islam, and those approach only one sect.
There is also the financing by Iraqi businessmen, who own banks, or have wealth. These businessmen own many of the satellite channels and usually direct their messages to the politicians aiming to blackmail them, so they can get contracts for mega projects, or a political position.
Even though the Iraqi economy depends on oil, this economy did not contribute to the finance of the Iraqi media, i.e. the national economy. Unfortunately, the only case is the case of the Al-Iraqiya and the Iraqi Media Network, that receive funding from the state. The rest of the media, receive suspicious funding, meaning that they do not serve the national Iraqi interest.
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There is no red line imposed on the ownership of media in Iraq, however, in reality it is the capital who controls the media. The capital has become powerful after 2003, especially the political, partisan and religious capital. Those who have this power, are the ones who establish media outlets.
Worth noting, most media outlets that emerged after 2003, were means to promote factional, partisan, political and religious interests, which made its coverage unprofessional. However, many known journalists established their own media outlets and were appreciated and distinguished by Iraqis for their professionalism. This was not the case with media outlets that were established by people who have no relation to the profession of journalism and all what they have is their money and power.
Saa’d Albazzaz, head of the Independent Media Group.
He was born in Nineveh governorate in 1952. He is an Iraqi journalist and a business man, who left to London in 1992, after a dispute with the old Iraqi regime, in which he held many media positions, including the vice head of the journalists’ syndicate, who was at the time Uday Saddam Hussein. He established “Azzaman” newspaper in London, which was an opponent to the regime, and established the satellite channel “Al Sharqiya” in 2004, which developed into various TV channels.
Fakhri Karim, head of Almada Institute for Culture and Arts
He is an Iraqi Kurd, born in 1942. He established a publishing house called “Ibn Elshaa’b” in 1959. In 1970, he was elected as the head of the journalists’ syndicate. In 1983, he established “Almada Institute for Culture and Arts” in Damascus, as a pan Arab cultural institute. His media institution owns today a radio station, TV channel and a widely spread daily newspaper and they are all called “Almada”.
A’wn Hussain Alkhashluk, head of Al Baghdadia
He is an Iraqi business man born in 1961 in the city of Qalat Sukkar in Dhi Qar governorate. He left Iraq in 1979 and received his PhD in civil engineering. He founded “Alkhashluk” Investment Group, which operates in Europe, USA, Britain, Africa, UAE and Turkey. He owns Al Baghdadia channel, which is considered one of the most important Iraqi channels.
Nuri al-Maliki, an Iraqi politician, holds a bachelor's degree from the Faculty of Theology in Baghdad and a master's degree in Arabic from the University of Salahaddin in Erbil. After the decision of the former regime to ban the Da’wa Party, he fled to Syria. After the occupation of Iraq, he became the prime minister in 2006, and he supervises “Afaq” channel.
Ammar Abdul Aziz Mohsen Hakim, an Iraqi politician and cleric, born in 1971. He is the grandson of the religious figure, Mohsen al-Hakim, the Shiite cleric. He left Iraq in 1979 with his father and studied at a secondary school in the Iranian capital of Tehran. Then completed his university studies in the city of Qom, where he earned a law degree. He supervises “Al Forat”, a prominent Iraqi satellite channel.
Ali Asem Aljanabi, head of “Al Rasheed institute for media services”
He was born in Baghdad in 1964. Holds a master’s degree in economy. He is the brother of Saa’d Asem Aljanabi, a well-known politician who heads the Iraqi Republican Assembly, and also runs many companies, in addition to being the original founder of Al Rashid.
Al Rashid institute operates Al Rashid TV channel, which was established in January 6th, 2009, and Al Rashid radio stations in Baghdad, Basra, Nineveh and Kirkuk.
9. Journalism
Since I was young, I like journalism, and I wished to work for a media institution as I thought that the national issues, needs to reach the media.
Journalism and media is a hobby, those who look to make money, do not enter this domain.
When I was a child, I used to sit in front of the mirror as if I was a TV host. My father, was a prominent media and academic figure Dr. Muzaffar Mandoub, may he rest in peace. When my brother thought I was crazy, my father smiled and said I was not a crazy and I would be one day a journalist.
I had the desire to work in the media, so I can be a TV host. I started at Al Iraqiya as a news editor and received a lot of support from the director of the channel, Abd Eljabbar Alshabout.
I wanted to work in the media even before I entered the journalism school, and then I did my internship at “Al Rashid” TV channel.
Many ask us how they can be journalists. You need three keys to become a journalist: the talent, the academic education, and to love your profession and work hard to express the concerns of your society.
The journalist is the mirror of the society. Journalism can be the profession of troubles, but the fatigue disappears as soon as you manage to convey your message to others.
Interview with Muayad Al Lami
The Iraqi Journalists Syndicate is responsible for all Iraqi journalists working in media institutions, including TV channels, radio stations, press agencies, newspapers as well as periodicals.
The reality on the ground requires a body that protects these journalists and provides them with training workshops.
The syndicate are for professional journalist and not for amateurs. In order to join the syndicate, one should be working for an accredited media institution. The journalist will also be subject to a test. Also freelance journalists can join the syndicate but they have to go through the editorial and practical tests. A member can be a Photographer, reporter, editor, editorial secretary, chief editor or anyone who works in the media.
The syndicate’s role is not limited to Iraq. It is currently heading the Federation of Arab Journalists, which includes 21 Arab countries. It is a member of the International Federation of Journalists, its main office is located in Brussels and it includes about one million members from 140 countries.
The Syndicate is influential and considered the fourth estate. Its power is equivalent to the power of the judicial, legislative and executive authorities.
Iraq has the highest number of martyrs in the world. It might have more victims than the victims of World War II and the Vietnam War. It has also a high number of journalist-martyrs. Since 2003, over 420 journalists were killed by militants, terrorists attacks or US forces.
10. Social Media
People vary in their use of media, including traditional or electronic. What are the communication means you prefer; mobile phone, iPad, laptop, or other, and why?
I prefer the electronic.
At these times, I prefer the electronic media.
I prefer the electronic, like the mobile.
Electronic is better, like the mobile.
Electronic media, because its faster in terms of use and in terms of access to information.
Everything is within reach by the mobile, we can get any information, we can get to newspapers, television and radio. They all have sites on the Internet.
The electronic media overshadowed the traditional media.
The mobile, because it is easy to hold and to access any information I need.
I prefer the traditional media, starting with the TV, then the radio and lastly the newspapers.
I prefer the traditional because it has more credibility. Even though some channels promote rumors and disinformation, I generally prefer the traditional.
The traditional is considered a reliable source and when it passes information, it is sourced by an institution or a person, who is held responsible for the information.
Interview with Dr. Abd Al Amir Faisal
Iraq, like other countries in the world, is up to date with technological developments. It has the infrastructure, which helps the citizens to use it easily. The small electronic devices have encouraged this trend. In addition, the increase in mobile usage among people in the age range of 10-40 years or even up to 50 years, enabled them to consume the electronic media.
Today, 80% of the Iraqis use electronic media due to the availability of internet and the required devices, which made internet the favorite media source.
The difficulties facing the traditional Iraqi media, have contributes to this trend, including the decline in newspapers due to lack of funding. In some newspapers the number of pages have shrank. The highest number of print for any Iraqi paper is 7000 copy only and this number is only relevant for the prominent papers. The number of copies for smaller papers is between 1000 to 3000 copies, daily. The total number of Iraqi newspapers copies, don’t reach more than 100.000.
If you multiply 100.000 by 5, which is the highest rate according to International institutions, equals 500.000, this is half million copy. How will half million copy make an impact among 30 Million people.
Therefore, the alternative to this media is the electronic media, and that is why electronic media occupies the first place, followed by the TV satellite channels, then the newspapers and the Radios.
Welcome to the course about the German Media System. Germany is the most populated and probably most powerful country in the EU, located in the center of Europe. Its media system has many unique features, which we seek out to explain in the following chapters. You will also find a full transcript in the tabs next to the video, as well as additional learning material and links. You can download the videos if you right-click on the player and click "save video as..."
Good luck and enjoy the course!
Click here to watch the full movie
Quick Facts about the German Media System
Chapter 1: Introduction
Chapter One: Intro
Who WE are
This course unit will give you an introduction to the German media system. It is part of a series of online lectures on media systems in the Arab World and Europe. These are produced by the leading media studies institutes in the respective country brought together by AREACORE, the Arab European Association of media and communication researchers.
This session on the German media system has been produced on behalf of the institute for media and communication studies at Freie Universität Berlin. With 9 professors and 1300 Students on undergraduate, master and doctoral studies level it is one of the biggest institutes in Germany and features the expertise to tell you more about the German media system.
Student Questions
Student questions: What questions do you have about the German media system?
Q1: Is the number of audience high for TV, newspapers, radio, and online comparatively?
Q2: I have a small question about press freedom. How is it protected and something about it?
Q3: So I have a question about the foreign media ownership. I would assume that after the fall of the wall, are there changes in foreign media ownership in Germany. And if there is so, what are the main key players and stakeholders?
Structure of the lesson
We hope to answer some of those as well as your questions by our lecture.
- First, we will give you a historical overview
- Second we will provide more general information on German society and its current challenges
- Third, you get an overview of the overall structure of the media system
- Fourth, we will tell you about the political and legal framework of the media
- Fifth, the economic context such as ownership structures are explained
- Sixth, we will give you more information about the state of journalism
- Last but not least we talk about the digital infrastructure and Internet use in Germany
You can get more information and find lectures on other countries on our website www.areacore.org.
But now: let's get started!
Chapter 2: Media History
Chapter Two: Media History
In order to understand Germany’s media system, one has to know its history.
Many of its particularities are results of the countries moved past. Media history begins even before the German national state was constituted.
- a first important landmark was the invention of the printing press with movable letters. Approximately around 1450 Johannes Gutenberg developed a machine that could print bibles in larger quantities, making them available for more and more people
- In 1609 the first periodical newspaper “Aviso” was published, but it took nearly 200 years more until a serious press landscape developed in Germany. A necessary precondition was further technological progress, like the invention of the quick-printing press.
- 19th century more and more regular and daily newspapers were established, mostly “opinion press” or “party press”: media was strongly affiliated with certain parties or political fractions, like conservative, liberal and socialist press. By that time, according to Habermas, a “bourgeois public sphere”, emerged. We would call it today polarized pluralist: each paper very biased but together expressing broad pluralism. This general tendency continued until the Weimar Republic in the 1920s.
- 1819: since the press became more vivid and important, the ruling aristocrats agreed on censoring it
- in 1848: however, after the March revolution press freedom was implemented in several constitutions across Germany
- in 1871: the formerly scattered German countries are united to form the “German Empire” and national media started to grow for example major publishing houses were founded since 1870 like Ullstein Verlag, Scherl, Mosse
- 1914-1918 during WWI, press freedom was once again abolished by military censorship. However, technological development advanced quickly:
- in 1917 the Universum Film AG (UFA), as first German film company is founded
- in 1926: first radio broadcast was transmitted in Germany by Deutsche Welle AG) and in 1929 the first television was broadcast as well, but dark times approached as the Nazis seized power in 1933 and started with it a dark phase of media manipulation and instrumentalization. Under the term of “Gleichschaltung” (bringing into line), all media had to adapt to the Nazi ideology. Media was centralized and media companies and publishers were expropriated. Especially the radio (“volksempfänger” or “people’s receiver) and public weekly newsreels in cinema were heavily utilized for Nazi propaganda, spreading anti-semite hate-speech and justification of the war
- 1945: at the end of the WWII the huge task was to establish a democratic and pluralist media system, preventing abuses like during the Nazi era in the future, the allies vowed for a re-Education of the German population: newspapers had to be licensed and were subject to censorship after publication
- 1949: Germany is officially separated: this leads to completely different media systems. In the eastern GDR a heavily state-controlled media system was implemented, including party-press and censorship alike the soviet model.
Its main task was to serve as the “voice of the working class” and to educate citizens to “socialist personalities” - In western Germany, a federal public broadcasting service similar to the British bbc was introduced as well as a press System allowing only minimal interference by the state. While press products did not cross the border between the two states, East German citizens were able to receive West-German television (and vice-versa). This led to a subtle propaganda-war on both sides. However, it was West German radio and television which had a strong audience in East Germany.
- In 1984: the dual system is introduced in Germany, meaning that for the first time private broadcasting is allowed. Technical progress like cable & later satellite TV made it possible to broadcast more channels, but in particular the pressure of market liberalization in the 1980s in Europe were the main reasons for this development.
- In 1990 Germany was reunified: The east German media landscape was to be incorporated into the West German. State owned TV and radio channels are transformed into public broadcasters, many (regional) newspapers were sold by the reunification trust agency to West-German publishers and media companies. While the principal structure remained, there was a strong decline in east German newspaper circulation
- Since 2000: new dynamics in press landscapes emergence. Online journalism leads to declining circulations and a downfall of the ad-sales. This development is coined as “Zeitungssterben” or “dying of the press”, but compared to the US the crisis is not as severe. However, it leads to a diversification of media formats, content and distribution and the emergence of new business models, cross-media formats, blogs and web formats.
Chapter 3: Society & Areas of Conflict
Chapter Three: Society & Areas of Conflict
For visitors, Germany tends to seem peaceful, safe and excessively tidy. In fact, Germany has relatively low crime-rates and hasn’t experienced much inner state-violence since World War II. Autochthonous minorities like the Sorbs in the East or the Danish in the North are granted specific right to protect their culture and ensure political participation. But still there are lines of conflict in the German society: Even more than 20 years after the German reunification the division between East and West Germany remains.
During the reunification, there had been massive transformations in the former GDR that took place in a very short period of time. Many of these changes still have ramifications until today. Most obviously, there is still an income gap between the former east and the west, but there are also con siderable cultural differences. E.g. in their media usage patterns, east Germans watch in general more TV, prefer private channels over public broadcasters and read fewer nation-wide newspapers in general. Possible explanations are a higher focus on entertainment and a lack of trust in political institutions compared to west Germany. Besides this, the question of how to deal with the socialistic past and its heritage is a matter that remains subject to debate in the German media landscape.
A development with unpredictable long-term effects is the “demographic shift”. Birth rates are quite low in Germany, so a transition to a more and more elderly society seems inevitable. This poses major challenges towards the social systems and the economy, but also has an effect on media.Traditional media such as TV, radio and print media are still dominating. Also media content caters often to the interests of the elderly.
An undissolved area of conflict is the adequate representation of migrants and minorities in German media. The biggest migrant community in Germany are Turkish and Germans from Turkish decent. Tens of thousands were invited to come to work in (West-) Germany as so called Gastarbeiter (Guest workers) during the 1960s. Since then, there has been a constant, often paternalistic debate about the problems of integration and alleged segregation. Existing problems are often framed by German politicians and the media as being connected to Islam. Especially in the light of recent developments, like the rise of ISIS and growing refugee movements, the image of Muslims has worsened and people of Turkish or Arab descent are perceived as a threat. Islamophobia is once again on the rise and is expressed through populist mass-movements like PEGIDA but also in extremist right-wing terrorism like in the so called National-Socialist Underground.
However, it is also a major debate in the media:
Interview: Rana Göroglu (Mediendienst Integration)
Unfortunately they [Germans are represented mostly negative. But this doesn’t only concern topics revolving around Muslim and Islam but generally most of the issues because negative headlines simply sell better.And unfortunately this applies also to issues regarding Islam and Moslems.
But I do also believe that journalists tend to reproduce stereotypes. There is a dominating negative image of Muslims and Islam in the society also partly due to this negative coverage and I think it’s hard to break this circle.
There has been a shift in this image since 9/11. You could say “the Muslims” are the new “foreigners”. Back then there was a lot reporting about “the foreigners” and all problems like problems with integration, “retrogressively”, worse graduation results and everything connected to that. This image was more and more superimposed in the past years by “the Muslim”. When we have negative reports then mostly about “the others”.
So the Muslims are mostly those “others” we report about.
Interview_Göroglu.mp4 Interview with Rana Göroglu about the way Muslims are pictured in German media
Chapter 4: General Information about the Media System
Chapter four: General Information about the Media System
TV
Television is by far the most used and widest spread media in Germany and is therefore particularly important. TV doesn’t only serve entertainment purposes; most of the Germans use it also for political education and for information. The German broadcasting is characterized by a dualistic system: a public broadcasting service on the one hand, and private broadcasters on the other hand. Until 1984, private broadcasting wasn’t allowed. Therefore the mission of the public broadcasters is to provide a full program, consisting of a mix of entertainment, information and education. The broadcasting mandate also requires to offer a “basic supply” of information and to offer a pluralistic range of views.
Interview: Prof. Dr. Jan Tonnemacher (Professor for Media Studies at Freie Universität Berlin):
The first or core principle of the founding fathers of the German broadcasting system was to give broadcasting freedom from government influence. The second, driven by the same experiences, was decentralization and division of powers which is normal as a basis for democracy. In both totalitarian regimes, radio and television were centralized under the power of the government and the parties.
The solution was – for the newly funded Federal Republic of Germany – cultural sovereignty of the states, not of Germany as a total. They found this better and included responsibility for the mass media.
Thirdly, there should be public funding for public broadcasting. But the money should not be raised by a state tax. Every household is responsible for public broadcasting by paying a monthly fee. So that gives independence as well. And the fourth principle: obligation of public broadcasting to offer a diversity of programs for all with program variety, one could say, possibly serving all needs in the best possible way.
Q: What are advantages and disadvantages of the German public broadcasting system?
To have an autonomous public broadcasting service. Being independent from the government and from economic powers as well. Offering quality programs which are better for information. Furthering investigative journalism, adding to form public opinion/s with education and entertainment. Plus, functioning as a controlling institution for the economic and political powers in Germany.
But I would as well see major disadvantages: A weakness in the construction of the broadcasting councils, the regulating boards. A council consists of members of a number of different societal, social relevant groups and among others but with heavy weight – the political parties. So independence from government is rather secured but not from the political parties. There representatives are more or less dominant in many boards of the broadcasting stations.
Secondly, the corporations ARD and ZDF partly tend to follow the run for viewer shares, the quota, in order to compete with commercial television. This results maybe in a tendency of assimilation, at least for parts of the program, mostly in the prime time. But looking for mass attractive entertainment programs is not the solution for the competition with the private commercial televisions.
They should think of their advantages.
Private television exists in Germany since 1984. Today, private channels hold a market share around 45%. The market is basically divided between only two companies: one is Bertelsmann and the other one is the ProSiebenSat1 AG. Since the beginning, private broadcasters are criticized for offering lower quality content and focus on (light) entertainment.
In general, the share of informational and news programs is lower than the ones of the public broadcasters and the coverage focuses more on scandals than on political issues. However, they are obliged by law to incorporate news in their program if they wish to broadcast nationally. Furthermore, there is a growing convergence between the content of both public and private broadcasters.
The Press
Germany is characterized by its wide-spread regional press. People from Berlin tend to read papers from Berlin, people from Munich tend to read papers from Munich and so on. Even national newspapers specific regional parts in order to be more attractive to readers. Altogether, regional dailies reach nearly 50% of the population. However, due to advancing press concentration, in over half of the administration districts only one regional newspaper is available – which is problematic in terms of diversity.
The most widely spread daily newspaper is the tabloid “BILD” owned by Axel Springer publishing house. Due to its enormous reach of over 12 Mio readers, BILD is regarded as a political actor itself. It has been involved in the rise and fall of several politicians including president Christian Wulff. Like other tabloids, BILD has often been criticized for neglecting journalistic ethics. Politically, BILD is rather conservative. In its guidelines it demands from its journalists to hold solidarity with Israel, support the transatlantic alliance with the US and to defend the social market economy.
National high quality dailies do not have such a high reach in terms of sold copies, but nevertheless they have a high political influence and are seen as opinion leaders.Several newspapers differ in their political tendencies.
The most important ones are the Munich based “Sueddeutsche Zeitung”, which is more liberal, and the Frankfurt-based “Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung” which is more conservative. Each of them sells about 400.000 copies per day.
The Berlin-based “taz” is a leftist daily which is owned by a cooperative – unique in the German media landscape.
The “Handelsblatt”, based in Düsseldorf, which is the biggest newspaper with a focus on the economy is also important.
Also weekly political magazines like “Der Spiegel”, “die Zeit” and “der Stern” are very influential in the German public sphere. They formed the liberal “Hamburg-Cartel” of post war Germany.
In times of declining newspaper circulation, weeklies gather more popularity since they offer in-depths analyses that are rarely to be found in online journalism.
Online journalism
Online journalism is still far behind the traditional sources of information, but is getting more and more important. In 2013, 60% of the Germans used the internet as a source for political information. The most visited news sites are “Bild.de”, “Focus Online” and “Spiegel online” and “Zeit online”.
It is noticeable that these are the online versions of traditional newspapers. Despite having often separate editorial departments, the online versions still rely heavily on print journalism in terms of content and financing. However, websites like “Huffington Post” and “and “Vice” which produce primarily online content and are quite successful with it.
Axel Springer recently reorganized its prestigious press title “Die Welt” into an online pay-to-read news platform, which only secondarily releases a print version. Advancing digitalization and different forms of financing make it seem likely that the internet will overtake traditional print journalism one day as a major news source.
Chapter 5: Media Use
Chapter five: Media Use
Despite the spreading of the internet, television remains the most widely used medium in Germany. In fact, the average use further increased until last year. In 2014, the average German watched around 4 hours of TV per day. Second most used is radio broadcasting, slowly losing importance but still remaining an essential part of the media menu of the Germans.
In particular in the morning hours, Germans listen to the radio. Newspapers are used less extensively; in 2014 on the average people spend only 23 min per day reading newspapers. However, it is still important considering newspapers are mostly used for informational purposes and not for entertainment.
The internet usage is steadily increasing. Compared to other Western countries, Germans seem to be more reluctant – more than 20 % don’t use the internet at all or only rarely although there is almost complete internet infrastructure coverage.
Interestingly and due to media convergence and mobile media use, overall media usage significantly increased – the average German spends more than 10 hours per day consuming content from any type of media.
Interview: Prof. Dr. Martin Emmer (Professor for Media Studies at Freie Universität Berlin):
Q: But where do we get such detailed data about the German media usage from?
Basically, there are two types of research: First is more case study orientated dealing with small groups of people, exploratory research.This is something that is done for example by companies which try to develop new formats for example for TV shows. They usually do kinds like that; focus groups for example, qualitative interviews or things like that.
Then there is that highly standardized research, which usually is used for evaluating market shares of media. That’s necessary for developing the “currency” for selling advertisements and refunding production. And then third is scientific research. That is something that we are doing at university.
We use a lot of methods, often a mix of methods in order to answer specific research questions.
Chapter 6: Media Politics & Press Freedom
Chapter six: Media Politics
According to the world press freedom index 2015 of the NGO “reporting without boarders”, Germany is among the freest countries for journalist in the world, coming in at rank 12. Freedom of speech, as well as press freedom, is established as a fundamental right in article 5 of the German Grundgesetz – which is our constitution. Drawing from the experience of the instrumentalization of media during World War II, the constitution prevents the state from owning mass media or interfering into them.
Concerning newspapers and other print media, there is no need to obtain a license to publish. Every person can simply decide to publish a newspaper and do it. The journalistic profession itself does not require any sort of certificate or qualification – basically anybody can call him- or herself a journalist.
But the boundaries of press freedom are not unlimited. Article 5 also protects individual rights or the well-being of the youth according to civil or criminal laws. Wherever individual interests conflict with fundamental rights, each case has to be settled in court individually. German courts tend to uphold press freedom, in particular when it comes to satire and expressions of opinion.
The German Press is self-controlled through the “Presserat”, an institution where the public can complain about press coverage. However, this institution has very little power as it has almost no possibilities to sanction anyone – it is more an upholder of ethical standards. The quality of the press itself shall be regulated by the market and competition, which poses the threat that the press tends to follow market interests.
Broadcasting is a slightly different matter. As it requires huge capital and effort to start a broadcasting channel and frequencies are limited, privately owned broadcasters have to obtain a license from the “Landesmedienanstalt” – a public-corporatist body in each federal state in Germany. These bodies shall ensure a certain “inner pluralism” in each channel’s content. Private channels are obliged to present a diversity of opinions and to respect the “human dignity”. Full programs have to devote a certain amount of their program time to news.
If they do not comply with the conditions, their license might not be renewed.
Licenses for new channels can also be denied if the company behind the new channel has already a combined market share of more than 30% or its cross-media ownership in both the print and broadcasting market would give the company a dominant position in the German media sphere. For example, in 2005, Springer publishing house was denied to take over the second biggest private broadcasting company ProSiebenSat1 AG.
This press-friendly legal framework doesn’t mean everything is perfect for German journalists. Reporters without borders criticize various problems in Germany, e.g. state surveillance and bureaucratic hurdles to obtain official information.
Chapter 7: Media System & Public Broadcasting
Chapter seven: Media System & Public Broadcasting
Germany is the 4th biggest economy in the world with a per Capita GDP more than 45.000 USD per year. With such a high purchasing power in mind, it seems only natural that most of the privately owned media is financed through ad-sales. Television and daily newspapers generate the most income in advertising media. This has different implications: privately owned TV-channels rely almost exclusively on ad-sales, therefore above all depend on good ratings. This causes constant discussions about quality and ethics of private TV-programming.
Newspapers generate on average 40% through ad-sales and around 60% through subscription and copy sales. The dependency on ad-sales is less than compared to private broadcasting, but since the press’ normative claim of spreading political information to the public, this relationship can still be problematic. As revenues increase with a higher circulation, but production costs remain nearly the same, the ad-financed system favors press-concentration and monopolization.
Another relating problem is the possible influence of ad-clients on newspaper content. Through increasing financial pressure, many journalists are tempted to blur the borders between advertisements and articles or sometimes articles are only published because they synergize with an ad in order to please the client.
To avoid this problem for public broadcasters, they are financed by a fee every German household has to pay. From approx. 18€ per household per month, all the different public service broadcasters like ARD, Deutschlandradio or arte are financed. The KEF (Kommission zur Ermittlung des Finanzbedarfs der Rundfunkanstalten = Commission for defining the financial need of public broadcasters), a commission whose members are appointed from the prime ministers of each federal state calculate this fee, which is constantly disputed and subject to court proceedings. However, up to now, the fee which makes up most of the budget of the 9.1 billion Euro (and is the highest budget of a non-commercial media company world-wide) the public service broadcaster has been secured. Public service broadcasters are only allowed to include advertisement or product placement for certain events like football games or during specific time frames of the day.
Circulations of the traditional print-products are decreasing and so do the ad-revenues. For this reason many think that the future lies in different financing models. Today, there is another big question to be answered: How to finance Online-Media? Online offers of Germany’s newspapers have been traditionally free of charge for users, but the ad-sales do not generate nearly as much as their print-counterparts. The reason for this is that online-ads are much cheaper, but the editorial effort remains the same. Through the creation of online news-portals, many publishers created competitors for their own traditional press-titles.
Interview: Prof. Dr. Klaus Beck (Professor for Media Economics at Freie Universität Berlin):
Q: Online-Journalism is getting more and more popular. Why is it so difficult financing it?
First thing to say is: Maybe there are successful because they are free. So people are not willing to pay for them. That’s a great problem for professional journalism financing. And the appropriate way to finance quality journalism for a long time was advertising. But advertising isn’t working very well in the online sphere because advertising is very, very cheap and the reason for that is that everybody knows that advertising has only limited effects. That’s true for television and broadcasting media and print papers as well. But now we have the opportunity to measure that. We know exactly that it’s not working very well. That’s why the prices are so low. And that’s the problem to get enough advertising money for that.
Q: What about different financing models like crowdfunding?
I think the crowdfunding platforms have to face one problem, because they very much depend on the success of a specific news or article or contribution. And so if they would like to get more money, they have to select the pieces which are selling very well. And for the journalistic side, it’s a problem because it means a kind of marketing effect. So I have to write in a way, in a manner, that is good for selling this article and maybe it’s still independent but that’s not so clear. So you very much depend on the concrete payment.
Q: Especially Axel Springer is pushing forward a paid-content-model. Will it be successful?
Probably yes. Because I think even though advertising is not the real way to finance quality journalism, all the users have to learn that they have to pay for journalistic content as they did some years, some hundred years before since the foundation of the printed press. And paid content probably would be the model of success for the future.
Chapter 8: Ownership structure
Chapter eight: Ownership structure
One aspect that might endanger press diversity is concentration and one that might endanger the informational function of media is instrumentalization by media owners. Therefore, a critical review of who owns the media in Germany and which share of the media seems to be necessary. Besides the public service broadcaster and a few local civic broadcasters, all media in Germany are in the hands of private companies. Most of them are also international players. However and in contrast to other Western countries, most of them limit their investments to media and do not engage in other sectors of the industry.
Bertelsmann is the biggest media company in Germany with a turnover of over 16 billion Euros a year and thus the 9 biggest media company in the world. It operates internationally and owns TV-channels (RTL Group), the publishing house Penguin Randomhouse, such press titles as STERN and BRIGITTE, the music rights management group BMG and even the customer service provider Arvato. In Germany, Bertelsmann owns the RTL-Group, a group of private TV-channels that have a market share of over 25%. It also owns the Gruner + Jahr GmbH, Europe’s second biggest publishing house. Famous titles are the weekly “Stern” and the women’s magazine “Brigitte”. Gruner + Jahr owns also 25% of the influential weekly “Der Spiegel”. Originally been a family enterprise, the Mohn family is still strongly connected to the company.
The family still owns 19.1 % in stocks. Christoph Mohn, now representing the sixth generation since the company was founded in 1835, is chairman of the supervisory board. His mother Liz Mohn is also member of the supervisory board, as well as board director of the Bertelsmann foundation which owns another 77.6 % of stocks.
The highly dynamic media company Axel Springer aspires to be a multinational, cross-media operating corporation. Traditionally focused on press, Springer’s press titles have the reputation to follow a more conservative and US-friendly line, which caused controversy in the past. Famous titles are Germany’s biggest tabloid “Die Bild” and the national broadsheet “Die Welt”. Recently Springer invests more and more into digital media and is one of the driving forces for new business models in online journalism.
S: Influential People behind Axel Springer
Friede Springer: the widow of the company’s founder is probably the most important actor behind the company. Indirectly, she owns 51.35 % of the company and is also the associate chairman of the supervisory board. She influenced the development of the company heavily during the 90s and appointed current CEO Mathias Döpfner in 2002
Mathias Döpfner: The former editor in chief of Springer press title “Die Welt” is responsible for major strategy changes which finally led the company out of its crisis. He often appears in talkshows and comments in newspapers and openly presents his political views.
Having experienced many changes in ownership structure in the past years, the ProSiebenSat1 AG is the second biggest Television Company in Europe. It has a market share of nearly 20% in German television and focuses mainly on Free-to-air TV channels like “ProSieben” and “Sat 1” and relies heavily on entertainment.
The main focus of the Funke Mediengruppe is the regional press which is in Germany traditionally very strong. It owns 27 regional dailies and a number of magazines and other publications. Recently, Funke has got under economical pressure and was forced to shut down an entire editorial department of the regional daily “Westfälische Rundschau”. The title is still published, but the content is produced by editorial departments of other newspapers of the company.
Similarly, the Hubert-Burda Media group, the Georg-von-Holtzbrinck-Group or the M. Dumont-Schauberg Group are all leading German cross-media groups that are characterized by a strong leading figure and shape the media landscape in Germany.
However, there are also other models of owning and financing media outlets beyond the typical capitalist model.
Interview: Konny Gellenbeck (national daily taz) about its cooperative financing model
We have until today 15,000 cooperative members. Each member gives us 500 Euros. He or she can pay it in 20 parts but the very special thing is that every person who becomes a cooperative member has only one vote and it doesn’t matter how many money you gave us. The special thing is that we have to sorts of cooperative members: the workers (they are here) and the membership from outside (they only give the money). That is a big difference in how to become independent from persons who give the money. The persons from outside, who became cooperative members, have no special rights concerning the content of the newspaper.
Media concentration
Regarding concentration, however, one can see that the biggest companies also dominate the market. As mentioned before, the TV market is divided between the public service broadcasters and a duopoly of RTL and ProSiebenSAT1.In the print market we can also observe concentration. In the regional daily market, which has the highest share in Germany, 10 companies own 60 % of the market. This is especially problematic because in 44 % of the districts only one regional daily is available. Companies hold regional monopolies.
The tabloid market is almost solely dominated by Axel Springer AG. Its market share is 79%.
Chapter 9: Journalism & how to become a Journalist
Chapter Nine: Journalism
Journalism is not a protected profession in Germany and free of access. Anybody can call him- or herself a journalist. There are some associations like the German Journalists’ Union who are allowed to issue individual press cards to those who proof that they are contracted by media. However, besides the advantage of getting easier access to press conferences, there is no legal status connected to that.
A study has come up with a description of the typical German journalists according to the statistical average: „the typical German journalist is a 41 year old, middle-class man, holding an academic degree, working in press, living in a committed relationship and earning around 2300€ a month. In fact, journalism is still dominated by men. Whereas more younger journalist are women than men, the percentage of male journalist gets higher with age. Leading positions are mostly held by men. Women earn significantly less than men.
This is partly due to “glass ceiling” effects and underrepresentation in leading positions, but women receive also less money for the same work as their male counterparts. The average age of German journalist is on the increase, most of them are between 36-45 years old and only one third is younger than 36. It seems that because of the media crisis fewer people are getting into journalism.
Those who do however, vary greatly in their way of education. Only a minority of German journalists went to an academic school or studied journalism. But the majority holds an academic degree and did an internship or traineeship.
Interview with Rudolf Porsch (Deputy Director of the Axel-Springer-Academy)
Q: What are the advantages of a journalism school like the Axel Springer-Academy?
Porsch: We are very mass market orientated. We are not academic orientated. If you are interested in an academic approach than you have to attend a university. But if you are interested in practical journalism that is mass market, audience orientated, we offer really a cross-media education, cross-media journalism. And a cross media journalism that has already proven its concept. That means, we do not work “l’art pour l’art”, only for school or for training purposes, we really work for the market. And we prove our quality day by day, minute by minute on the market, on the internet and on the market place out there.
There are tons of privately funded journalism schools, among them a few renowned journalism schools like the Henri-Nannen-School in Hamburg, the German Journalism School in Munich or the Axel-Springer-Akademie in Berlin.
Most German journalists work in newspapers. One third works in television and radio broadcasting. Another quarter write for magazines, the rest is distributed among online media, news agencies and advertising papers. Over the years, the general workload for journalists increased. Economical pressure and advancing digitalization require a broader set of skills and take up more time for additional tasks. Another strong tendency is that more and more freelancer are employed instead of regular employees.
Rudolf Porsch (Deputy Director of the Axel-Springer-Academy)
Q: What skills does modern journalism require?
Porsch: The answer seems to be very easy. The skills you need are the techniques of video, audio and internet. But to be honest, it’s not that easy. Because it means: First, you need these techniques. Within a couple of weeks you can learn that. That’s easy.
But then you need an understanding for your audience. What makes the difference? Not the difference between videos but the difference between a video shown on a screen, on a station screen, on a computer or a video shown on a mobile device on a small screen.
That’s a big, big difference. Both are videos but it’s a big, big difference first in the techniques and second in the expectations of your audience.
That means to your question: what skills? It means first of all, learn the techniques, second learn about your audience. Get a feeling for what your audience wants to have, what your audience needs to get.
And the third thing is: And then, be a journalist, still be a journalist, because the main job of a journalist is to provide the people out there with the information, with the reliable and modern and current information they need.
That hasn’t changed. That is still the same since hundreds of years. Or in other words as Gertrude Stein once said: A rose is a rose is a rose.
I say: A story is a story is a story. That hasn’t changed since Shakespeare. But the way you tell a story that has changed.
The term Civic journalism characterizes a trend to publish content aside from the professional work in a journalistic institution. Often, it is seen as a way to circumvent political restrictions in the media. In Germany, the field of media watch has become more prominent. Several journalists or public intellectuals have made use of blogs to comment on mainstream media discourse or discuss ethical problems. One of the most popular examples is probably BILD-Blog – a watchblog which reveals false news coverage of major German print and online news publications. But aside from a few watchblogs there hasn’t developed a huge blogosphere in Germany yet.
Chapter 10: Social Media
Chapter Ten: Social Media
Voxpop:
Q: What kind of social media do you use?
A1: I don’t use a lot of social media. I use Facebook.
A2: As a typical one like Facebook. And I guess that’s it. Because I do not use Twitter or something like that.
In terms of using social media, Germans are not as enthusiastic as other societies. The by far biggest network used is Facebook, over 50% of the internet users use also actively Facebook. Compared with other European countries, this is below average. The main motivation for using social media is to stay in touch with friends rather than for getting information. Twitter plays also only a minor role and is not widely used.
Q: What is an aspect of social media that bothers you?
A1: That Facebook is collecting so much data from us. And that’s quite hard.
A2: That people don’t talk so much anymore. They just chat and chat instead of getting together.
A3: How your personal information is in the Internet and anyone can see it and it will stay there forever and you don’t know what will happen.
What is special in Germany is a general skepticism towards social media. According to a poll, 58 % of the Germans don’t trust social media. Reasons are data security and concerns about the protection of privacy. Not only Facebook’s notoriously data-hungry policies, but also the fear that private information can be leaked and has negative effects on their career or private life, concerns people.
In fact, the biggest reason according to a study from 2013 is a general conservatism in their media usage: 74% of the people not using Facebook don’t see any sense in using it.
A1: I do not use actually any Social Media because I think that’s time waste. And also probably that I am not sure what or who is there behind the Facebook side in my computer.
Chapter 11: Outro
Chapter Eleven: Outro
We hope that our film helped you to learn more about the German media system. Of course, there is lots more to explore and to learn about. You are invited to check the literature references which are provided to you on our digital platform to deepen your knowledge. And you may want to test your knowledge in one of the quizzes provided.
We also suggest to take a look at the other units about media systems in Iraq or Lebanon or the other countries featured on our digital learning platform to get a comparative perspective on the world’s media systems. We are also interested in your feedback and open to suggestions. So do not hesitate to contact us!
Good bye, ma al-Salama und Auf Wiedersehen!
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