Category: Focus

Edition 3-4/2025, Focus

Looking back – to see today The fight for the freedom of the press in 1733

By Gunter Reus | Historical analogies are always somewhat questionable. And yet, when reading the following text, it is difficult not to think of the current situation in the US. It was published in 1733 by the publisher, printer, and journalist John Peter Zenger (1697–1746) in the weekly newspaper New-York Weekly JOURNAL. The article was not written by him, but by one of his correspondents, who remained anonymous and was probably one of the democratically oriented authors of the Cato’s Letters distributed in Great Britain.

Edition 3-4/2025, Focus

Attacks by the far right The impact of right-wing extremist threats on journalistic practice in Germany. An interview study

By Olivia Mangold | Journalists reporting on right-wing extremism are increasingly confronted with hostility, intimidation, and assault. This development endangers freedom of press and challenges fundamental democratic values. The qualitative study examines the evolution of right-wing extremist threats over the past five years and their implications for journalistic practice. It focuses on four journalists who reported in semi-structured interviews about repeated threats ranging from verbal abuse and legal intimidation to physical assaults. In response, the journalists developed various protective strategies, such as publishing anonymously, adapting their research methods, and exercising greater caution in topic selection. Despite their professional commitment to unbiased reporting, tendencies toward self-censorship and growing mistrust of state institutions became apparent. Thus, threats by right-wing extremists not only affect individuals but also structurally restrict press freedom. In order to counteract this, targeted protection measures, institutional support, and broader societal awareness are needed.

Edition 3-4/2025, Focus

»It determined my everyday life, it makes you just afraid.« A socio-spatial investigation into the effects of freelance and local journalism on the far right in East Germany

By Michael Krell, Klemens Köhler and Tom Böhme | The emergence of the far right in Germany has resulted in an elevated risk for the safety of journalists covering this beat. Attacks on the press have escalated considerably since the rise of large-scale anti-asylum protests, such as PEGIDA, particularly in East Germany (cf. ECPMF 2017). Despite the fact that the media has repeatedly expressed dismay at the severity of violence against the press by far-right groups, there has been little academic discussion of this phenomenon to date. This article addresses this research gap by examining the impact of the far right on journalistic work and the professional and everyday lives of journalists. The main finding of this study is that freelance and local journalists, who are typically positioned at the ›front line‹ of reporting, are exposed to a diverse array of threats from the far right. Utilizing the spatial concept of performative and affective territorialization, hostility towards the press is analyzed in terms of its function as a spatialized form of far-right power seeking. The findings reveal the existential threat posed by hostility towards the press at the individual level to journalists and thus to press freedom as a whole.

Edition 3-4/2025, Focus

Freedom of the press and right-wing extremism A dilemma? Theses on how journalists should deal with the AfD

By Horst Pöttker | The freedom of the press is regarded as a necessary but insufficient framework for social communication and democratic problem-solving. It is the task of journalists to fill this framework with appropriate content. Right-wing extremism is understood as the disregard of constitutionally guaranteed fundamental rights, favoring instead ethnic unity and nationalist aggression. Journalists cannot effectively counter the threatening rise of right-wing extremism by ignoring it or expressing outrage. And treating the AfD like any other party leads to a problematic normalization of right-wing extremist statements and intentions. In contrast, a strategy of objective, fearless, concrete, and, at the same time, sober reporting on intentions and plans that violate fundamental rights, as well as their foreseeable consequences in the event that organizations such as the AfD come to power, can contribute to curbing right-wing extremism. In order to implement such a strategy, the repression of the Nazi past, populist tendencies in journalism, and the journalistic focus on political institutions must be overcome.

Edition 3-4/2025, Focus

Media freedom in the shadow of right-wing extremism Challenges for Romanian journalists

By Iulia Bârză and Veronica Câmpian | This study examines the relationship between the far right and the media in Romania and highlights the associated tensions that influence journalistic work. The Romanian media system, which historically has been characterized by authoritarian control followed by rapid commercialization, is now facing considerable political pressure, fragile editorial independence, and limited economic stability. The article is based on comparative media system research, e.g. the typology of Hallin and Mancini (2004). To illustrate the current situation, two experienced journalists were interviewed. The journalists emphasize that far-right actors undermine press freedom not through open censorship, but rather through delegitimization, manipulation, and disinformation. The interviewees report hostile relationships characterized by intimidation, verbal aggression, and the exclusion of critical media. At the same time, social networks, the main channels for spreading extremist narratives, are weakening traditional journalism. Nevertheless, there are also signs of resilience: journalists are responding with mutual solidarity, thorough fact-checking, and a renewed commitment to fundamental democratic values. The study concludes that, while the far right creates a climate of intimidation, it also triggers collective resistance from journalists. In order to preserve the press as a democratic safeguard, stricter digital regulations, greater transparency, and the promotion of independent media are essential.

Edition 3-4/2025, Focus

Journalism in the U.S. in times of crisis Interview with Jelani Cobb, Dean of the Columbia Journalism School

By Stine Eckert | On January 20, 2025 Donald Trump was inaugurated for his second term as U.S. president, accelerating his aggressive attacks on journalists and universities, including those with journalism degrees, such as Columbia University. On March 10, Jelani Cobb, the Dean of the Columbia Journalism School and Henry R. Luce Professor of Journalism, gave the 2025 Reuters Memorial Lecture, entitled »Trust issues. Credibility, credulity and journalism in a time of crisis« discussing that journalism has not yet found its footing to report on the Trump administration. In an interview with Wayne State University’s journalism scholar Stine Eckert on September 15, Jelani Cobb expounded on the thoughts he shared in the lecture and spoke about how U.S. news media handled the reporting on the killing of the right-wing activist Charlie Kirk and how to cover government in repressive times.

Edition 3-4/2024, Focus

Blue country Austria has voted

By Martina Thiele | In an interview with Nina Horaczek, chief reporter at the Viennese weekly newspaper Falter, the University of Tübingen’s media scholar Martina Thiele discusses the role of media in the National Council election campaign and the possible consequences of the election result for press freedom in Austria. Independent journalism does not have it easy in a country that, as a small European state, struggles with the consequences of a highly concentrated media market. Quite a few people abroad think of political scandals when they hear Austria, involving media and politics – whether it be the Waldheim affair around war crimes during Nazi times or the recent Ibiza scandal surrounding corrupt party politics and biased reporting, leading to the collapse of the governing coalition and early elections in 2019.

Edition 3-4/2024, Focus

TV debates as slingshots of lies Lessons from German and US election campaigns

By Tanjev Schultz | TV debates like the presidential debates in the United States are prominent events in election campaigns. Their rules and effects have been the subject of public and academic discussions for decades. Against this background, this article presents observations and lessons learned from the most recent TV debates in Germany and the United States. It suggests new formats and structures for such programs and uses examples to highlight the dangers that political populism and extremism pose to the seriousness and substance of TV debates.

Edition 3-4/2024, Focus

Plagiarism accusations during election campaigns: How should suspicions be reported? Recommendations for editorial offices when dealing with discoveries by "plagiarism hunters"

By Jochen Zenthöfer | Shortly before an election, the editorial office receives some accusations of plagiarism. What should they do? Report on them or ignore them? This paper provides a structure that ensures that journalists do not become instruments of plagiarism hunters. After all, once reported on, some accusations take on a life of their own; while others later turn out to be false. Accusations of plagiarism have now become part of the political contest. The principles for reporting on accusations are also relevant. Just a few days before an election, absolutely nothing should be reported regarding accusations that cannot be investigated in such a short time. Yet media do not need to wait until a university has made its final decision, either.

Edition 3-4/2023, Focus

Reform or Repair A distress call from the engine rooms of public broadcasters

By Peter Welchering | Public broadcasting is under fire. That is not new. Too closely aligned with governments, political bias towards one party or another, unbalanced programming, red tape and high-handed executives, some of them remarkably self-serving – I have been hearing these points of criticism ever since I produced my first piece for West German public broadcaster WDR 40 years ago.1 But in the past, at least until the Schlesinger affair, there was a general truth, encapsulated in a quote by Johannes Ludwig, speaking in the voice of a public broadcasting executive in February 2009: »It’s like water off a duck’s back.« And: »Public broadcasters think they can get away with it.« (Ludwig 2009:6) The Schlesinger case, however, has rattled the smugness of public broadcasting bigwigs. Now at least, they could no longer refuse to engage in a reform debate, as they had before. One group, however, has hardly been heard at all in this debate so far: freelancers, with or without contracts.