Kritischer Journalismus im Kampf um Aufklärung

With the end of Nazi rule, press and broadcasting freedom arrived in West Germany, leading to the emergence of early forms of critical journalism modeled after Anglo-Saxon examples. However, unlike in those countries, these forms quickly became entangled in party politics and fell under the influence of the ruling majority parties at both the federal and state levels. This development was most evident in the political magazines of ARD since the early 1960s, and it continues, albeit in a diluted form, in many political programs of public broadcasting to this day. Other influences have also posed challenges to critical journalism: increasingly strong tendencies toward isolation in the state, politics, and economy, alongside widespread surveillance of employees in critical media. This book, written by an insider, provides numerous exciting examples of this. However, there are also counter-initiatives at both the national and European levels aimed at protecting critical journalists and their sources, including so-called whistleblowers, from state and intelligence surveillance and scrutiny. The European Media Freedom Act (EMFA) is intended to ensure this protection and is set to be adopted in 2024. The contentious issue of "national security," which includes military, arms, and intelligence matters, has been excluded from the legislative text for this purpose. Critics, however, see this as a new opportunity for states to intervene against journalists working in this area.