Media issues

1. My rate for Germany is 8 out of 10. On one hand, the media landscape is characterized by a large number of newspapers, radio and television stations with a diverse background. There is no state repression that impedes journalistic work, as is the case in some countries of the European Union. On the other hand, there is increasingly economic pressure – journalists may lack time for thorough research and remuneration for freelance work can be poor. As a result, both journalists and the quality of their work suffer.

 

2. I have heard, that after the Maidan Revolution a kind of spirit of optimism concerning new media projects has developed in Ukraine. Furthermore, I do not know much about media in both countries.

 

3. I usually start my day by reading the news on the online version of the newspaper “Süddeutsche Zeitung”. Whenever I come to a topic of personal interest, I compare different items to the same topic to find out more about controversial issues in the reporting. Besides I love to watch documentaries, most featured by “Arte”, and to listen to the “Deutschlandfunk” studio discussions. Media should be regarded as a mirror of the civil society. Nowadays there is to determine whether there is a gap between the established media and parts of the society in Germany (and elsewhere).

 

4. I rarely use social media, although I know that it plays an important role in modern communication. Indeed it can generate a kind of counter-public, especially in countries with limited freedom of speech and information. In my view, social media in the western world currently undermines balanced reporting, but often promotes an emotional, irrational and abusive expression of opinion. Journalism has already changed. It has taken the task to check and classify information, instead of just spreading them, which can today be frequently observed in social media.

 

5. Long before the term „fake news“ became popular, a lie started the Iraq War: The assertion Saddam Hussein has hidden weapons of mass destruction is maybe the biggest fake news story in the 21st century I remember. There are influential narratives on national and global issues in media and politics, which may sometimes lead to a noticeable sidedness of opinion or a kind of capaigning journalism – if a coverage of a certain topic seems too one-sided to me, I trust a particular well-known journalist more than a bunch of journalists.