For Germany, I would rate it 9 out of 10. We have solid constitutional guarantees concerning the freedom of press that ensures a favorable environment for journalists in Germany. However, also recently, far-right groups and demonstrators have threatened and injured journalists. Other problem: in Hamburg, last year during the G20 summit, some journalists had lost their accreditation which created a scandal because it showed the scale of the illegal data on journalists held by the police. And: compared with other countries in which institutions are committed to show their archives/documents, German laws on access to information are relatively weak. In Germany, fortunately, there are still various media in contrast to other European countries, a variety of printed and online newspapers and blogs such as multiple broadcasting channels. However, the fact that more and more newspapers and publishing houses are closing for economic reasons is a slowly but steady threat to media pluralism.

2.

To be honest I do not know anything about the media system in Ukraine such as the media system in Moldova. I would assume, that the freedom of press is lower than in Germany and that journalists are more prevented to work properly.

Concerning Ukraine, I would be curious to get to know, in how far ownership of publishing houses is distributed, is it in the hands of some oligarchs or not? How is the access of state-held information? How media is financed and how transparent is the finance system and the distribution of leading positions within the media? In how far does the conflict with Russia affect the freedom of press (banning information/ “propaganda”) and the investigative work of journalists?

In Moldova, I would like to know, in how far the unresolved autonomy aspirations of Transnistria; the relationship to Russia vs EU polarizes the media itself? How big is the influence of oligarchs? How far journalists can be independent, “objective” or “neutral” in a very divided and polarized society?

3.

I read primarily a weekly quality newspaper; I am listening daily to the radio and during the evening time I watch the news on TV (public channel ARD). I sometimes also read the online newspaper Spiegel Online.

If there is no freedom of press, there cannot be a civil society. The base for civil society is the free access to information, and the information must be independent, at best researched and transmitted by numerous media, which address different milieus. Ideally the information / articles / news allow analyzes, comments from journalists, but also make it possible for citizens to form their own opinion through the diversity of the media.

4.

I prefer traditional media to inform myself, but use social media mostly to plan my leisure activities (such as event sites in the city of residence on Facebook), information exchange about events with friends but also to recommend articles; TV documentations etc. So, for me it goes hand in hand.

I do not believe that there won’t be any quality press anymore and that professional journalism will die out. The trend is however, that quality media is very costly; we are observing everywhere that more and more newspapers and publishing houses are closing for economic reasons. There will be more niche media and more privately, commonly financed media, which threatens media pluralism and the freedom of press, of course.

5.

I do not know if I have ever fallen for a fake news or not. I consume generally traditional media and would not trust any “news” on Facebook or other social media. I trust traditional media, but of course, due to economic reasons, even experienced journalists do sometimes research less properly and a lot of articles are copy pasted. As a reader and media consumer, it is not possible to check every information but we need to be cautious with loud and aggressive claims with common sense.